potatoes blown over, is it a problem?

[lynda66]

the weather was very windy last night, and my potato plants are mostly horizontal today, i thought i should tie them up to the fence, but this resulted in a few of the stems snapping off, so is it ok to leave them fallen over, or should i do my best to get them upright even though some of the stems will snap ....... they are all in flower, but after a furtle/dig the other day couldn't find any potatoes (couldn't get down to them i think)

now i've typed that it sounds like a really daft question, but i'd appreciate your views.

thanks

Lynda xx

[quark1]

Oh Lynda - I had the same problem last week when the gales were a'blowin' down here on the s.coast.

Should have done it before - as I knew the bad stuff was coming - but staked and bound with twine the next day. They're in tubs - so was able to carefully put stake down extreme side of the tub and do same for each of 6 - tied these together as a group rather than individually - there is some damage, some completely having dropped off - but they seem to have recovered quite well and only time will tell if whats in the heart of the tub will Also the flower heads have ll been blown away - which would have been another useful haul for the TPS project next year - ah well!

I think it will be worth staking and getting some sort of support. Obviously if your spuds are well advanced you may pierce one or two - but better than losing the lot if they've got a few weeks to ge yet. I guess if you would be harvesting say in the next 2 weeks it may be best to leave alone as I believe that even with damaged stems the tubers still advance underground.

How did the party go?

[lynda66]

the flower heads are all there, and the stems hadn't snapped ..... till i tried to get them upright, then i snapped a couple ..... they are planted quite deep, and they aren't overhanging anything, i was thinking i'd dig a couple up this week to see what's down there.

party went great ........... ie no one puked on the carpet, and nearly all the food went,(apart from the cakes i saved for later ) and what didn't the dog and cats ate. they seem to have had a good time.

was quite amusing when the cat brought a guest to the party ...... he brought a mouse, that proceeded to run round the gazebo ...... it turned out sunny in the end too

[middlefield]

I just leave mine, at this time of year they generally start dying back, when this happens the wind will affect them.

Last year I trimmed all the foliage and left the spuds, harvesting them up to 3 weeks later - they were all fine.

[lynda66]

i was hoping to get some fruits on it as well,for a go at the TPS thing, so i don't fancy cutting them back they were still looking very green and healthy ........ the ones in the front garden didn't get squished.

[terrier]

Just leave them lying down, they'll still grow just the same. It's not worth risking snapping the foliage off.

[Alice]

Lynda, I would leave the potato foliage lying where it is. it will do no harm. I've seen whole fields of them flat on their faces and no harm done.

[sewer rat]

I can vouch for leaving them be. I had concerns about this earlier in the season due a serious seed tuber cock up by my supplier but everything was just fine, and the spuds are cropping really well despite having prone foliage.

[Two_Sheds]

Me too - I say leave them alone. My spuds look terrible, foliage going brown & crispy, foliage lying flat etc.
But underneath ... huge lovely spuds. I did them up as I need them, and they're still coming. I reckon to be digging Pink Fir Apples up into December.

[zazen999]

I'd also leave them be. They'll be dug up soon enough.

[lynda66]

ok i'll leave them then thanks