Desiree flowering

[COMPOST CORNER]

My Desiree taters (grown in a compost bag) are starting to show flower buds. Should they be doing this yet? They have been in since 22/03 and have been left outside except in the extreme winds we had recently, when they were moved for a few ays into my unheated GH. I have Duke of York and Charlotte, both planted at the same time, but although they have better top growth, they show no signs of flowering. Any idea if I need to do anything?

[zazen999]

Nip the flowers off to put the energy into the tubers, or just leave them be.

I found a load of purple flowers on one of my mains today [all of the plants the same], so I'm nipping them off when I go back to the lottie after dinner.

[johninblackpool]

I put my desiree in about the same time and mine are the same just showing signs of buds forming

[tattieman]

I agree nip the buds off and let them grow on a bit.

[teakdesk]

The Potato Council database for your plants shows....

Desiree - Frequency of berries: Many
Charlotte - Frequency of berries: Few
Duke of York - Frequency of berries: Absent


So you are confirming their findings !!

[rogesse]

My desiree is in flower! Didn't realise you could remove the flowers - so yet another job for this weekend!

Given that I thought flowering meant nearly done. when will I know when to dig them up?

[Jardiniere]

i put in belle de fonteney for my first earlies and they are not flowering yet but my charlotte's (second earlies) are flowering beautifully...the desiree (main crop) are strarting to think about it very quietly....and i didnt know about taking off the flowers!!!!

[RobintheBobin]

I agree, I never thought of nipping the flowers off but mine are also starting to flower so I'll have them off before the end of the day! I also noticed some advice from Flummery in a different post suggesting that now is a good time to water, water and water those tatties some more so I did that last night too. Big potatoes here we come

[johninblackpool]

Once the flowers have been nipped off how do you tell when to harvest, i was always told that when the flowers start to die back the spuds should be ready, but without the flowers how do you know?

John