Two potato questions

[Scottishnewbie]

I have two questions which I hope someone can help me with please?!?

Firstly, can I plant potatoes in a raised bed that had kale in it last year? (It has been topped up with earth and manure this week).

And secondly, being a newbie (and a bit thick), I have managed to mix up my chitting earlies with my maincrop ones!! Can I plant them all in the same place or how do I tell them apart so I can plant them differently? Sorry to be such a divvy!

And seeing I'm asking anyway, can I sneak in a third question please.........I think the room some of them have been chitting in may have been a bit too warm and some of them have gone a wee bit wrinkled. Can I still plant them or should I just chuck them now?

Many thanks, I really appreciate all the help and advice.

Laura

[Capsid]

Potatoes following after brassicas is not usually advised because brassicas like alkali conditions and potatoes do not (it promotes scab). But if you haven't limed your soil for the brassicas to inhibit club root then there shouldn't be a problem. Adding the manure will help the spuds.

You plant all the spuds at the same time, earlies are harvested earlier than the maincrop, that's all really. I'll be planting my earlies and maincrop this weekend.

The wrinkling is nothing to worry about IMO, they have just dehydrated a bit and will swell up again once in the soil.

[teakdesk]

I have managed to mix up my chitting earlies with my maincrop ones!! Can I plant them all in the same place or how do I tell them apart so I can plant them differently?

If you study the seed potatoes very carefully you might be able to see a difference in the skins of the two type - such as colour, dirt, etc.

If you can see a difference you will be able to separate into two batches and plant them separately rather than mixing two types together.

At harvest time you can test each bed and see which type you think are (or even prefer) to be salad potatoes and use all that bed.

[Nicos]

Yup- I'd go along with all that advice

If you can't tell the varieties apart- let us know what you bought and we can do a bit of deective work for you!!!