harvesting potatoes?

[busylizzie]

I've got a few containers planted up with potatoes - Red Duke of York, Charlotte and Maris Peer. They've been in about 9 weeks.

The Red DOY ones are just about to flower and I thought that was the time to harvest them. I had a rootle round in the compost this morning but couldn't find anything except one teeny tiny potato, about the size of a quail's egg. So, Im guessing not really ready yet!

How do I tell when they are ready to harvest? Just keep rootling? And is there anything i can/need to do in the next couple of weeks to get the best crop? Watering? Feeding?

[shirlthegirl43]

Make sure they are well-watered even if it has been raining. The leaves can be quite dense and keep the water off the soil. After the flowers have died off and the haulms start to go yellow is a good time to check for your spuds being ready.

[Cutecumber]

Varieties differ a lot in the signs that they are ready, so it's best just to keep checking.

Whilst you would wait until the foliage dies back for the maincrops, you usually wouldn't for earlies. Flowering - or at least the formation of the flowers, which often drop off - is a good starting point but you shouldn't just take it for granted.

9 weeks is pretty young, try again at 12 or 13 weeks.

[Alice]

I give my Charlotte about 13 weeks Busylizzie. Keep them well watered from now on in as this is when the potatoes really start to grow. And as Shirlthegirl says you'll probably have to water them even if it has rained as the haulms can stop any rainwater getting in. Hope you get a lovely crop. Here's some of mine from last year.
Desiree and Charlotte

[gojiberry]

I have had three tubs of potatoes so far (planted just before Xmas). The bigest potatoes are always going to be at the bottom of the container, Mine were only pea sized at the top but reasonable sized at the bottom. You have to decide what you are trying to achieve, I prefer to harvest and get a couple of meals when new pots are £2.50 rather than wait and get a better crop when the price has dropped drastically. The other thing is that when I emptied my tubs the top the top compost was quite moist but the bottom was almost bone dry.

Ian

[Alice]

Gojiberry, I drill holes in the sides of my buckets at the bottom, then when I water I can see that water is getting all the way to the bottom if it is running out the holes at the sides. See what I mean ?

[busylizzie]

Right, will get watering and try to be patient for a couple more weeks. It was so stupidly exciting to find that one tiny potato!

My potato buckets have holes about 4 in up from the bottom so I usually water them till water comes out of those.

[Alice]

We understand your excitement BusyLizzie. It never goes away - for goodness sake - I take photographs of mine !

[nilling]

Gojiberry, I drill holes in the sides of my buckets at the bottom, then when I water I can see that water is getting all the way to the bottom if it is running out the holes at the sides. See what I mean ?

That's what I have done to my Tesco flower buckets - drilled holes all round the sides about an inch from the base and then filled the bottom with stones. So hopefully it keeps just enough water to keep the compost moist.

[suee]

Hello - we ate our first mouth watering charlottes from the bucket this week (slightly earlier than the advice on the packet & 2 meals!). I was trying to take off the decent sized ones and leave the smaller ones to earth up in the pot but it didn't work, so my plan is to stick the haulms and tiny potatoes left behind on the top of the ready to use compost heap and keep watering. Hopefully we'll get a few more meals from that, and then the OH can dig up the line of earlies!