Potato growing

[Thongmas]

Afternoon all, first time growing potatoes here. I've been wanting a little advice on my potato growing if possible. I tried to follow step by step what Simplify Gardening on YouTube has said to do with growing potatoes in containers if anyone is familiar with him.

I'm growing Charlottes which I started on the 11th May but a couple of weeks back they started showing signs of stress/disease. I'm thinking Verticillium Wilt by what I've researched so far but I'm not 100% sure.

I don't seem to be getting solid answers about the actual cause of Verticillium Wilt. If you guys think that I'm correct then would you know the main causes of this? Thank you!

[burnie]

I don't think there is anything wrong with those tatties, the leaves do start to die back like that in my garden, I just take them off and put them in the recycling bin rather than my own compost bin.

[Thongmas]

Oh wow. Didn't expect a reply like that, I thought they were truly gonners - that's great!

Do you think the leaves should be dying back like that so early before they've flowered? They looked like this at around 9 weeks in.

Also they wilt quite often and as soon as I give them water they perk right back up. I moved some mulch the other day and saw a potato so I touched it ever so gently and it didn't seem to even be attached to anything so it was taken out. Could that be an issue if it came out so easy or are they quite fragile if touched?

Thanks again.

[burnie]

That's the problem of growing in containers, getting the water regime right, so potatoes can be finished and ready for harvesting before flowering, earlies can be lifted for a boiling long before flowers, they just might be a bit smaller, but taste great. George did this on the "Beechgrove" tv program the other night.

[Thongmas]

Thanks a lot for that, taught me something there as I had no idea.

Is there any chance you remember which Episode this was on Beechgrove as I'd like to watch it.

[burnie]

It was on the other day, latest one up here in Scotland, have a look on the iplayer

[Peteyd]

I planted my charlottes in almost exactly the same style bins on good Friday, 15 weeks later (this Friday just gone), i harvested my biggest and without a doubt best load of potatoes ever. not one sign of disease or problems with them

there was an odd leave on the plants that looked like yours although in the main part, they looked long and straggly.

[bobbin]

I had tatties in a raised bed last year. Foliage all went weak yellow and spotty but not blight as no one else affected. They looked very poorly.
Mine was definitely wilt. Yours look like just natural leaf die back. Some of mine are same. As far as I know wilt is soil borne. Even with wilt i got a crop. Poor..but still. They just stopped growing.
Here’s to eating your own spuds. There’s a lot of right old scabby ones in the supermarkets. They conceal the manky ones with bags that you cant see through to inspect them before you buy.