Potatoes still in the ground!

[peanut]

Oh dear....I've just realised I have a whole load of last years potatoes still in the ground ...Cara and another one I can't remember.

My question is should I dig them up or leave them in to produce more potatoes this year?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[zazen999]

Dig em up.

[Paulottie]

leave em in

[Flummery]

Neither!

What are we like?

Chances are that they might have got frosted by now. Worth digging one up to see what they condition is like. If they are firm and not mushy and nasty you could eat or leave them. I once had some autumn planting Charlottes for Christmas and they got blight. I dug up and thought I'd disposed of them and was surprised to get a good crop early the following year. So really, it depends on the condition of the spuds in the ground. If you do leave them, take care the new foliage doesn't get frosted. Cover them with soil each time they pop up until end of April/early May.

Best of luck, whatever you do!

[sagegreen]

If they look and feek ok should be good to eat for a couple of days but will probably go soft after that. Personally, would never leave them in the ground, too much risk of a build-up of pests and a good chance the end result would only be 'marbles'! But, as Flummery says, best of luck either way.

[rustylady]

Dig them up. You need to clear the ground anyway. They may or may not be usable. And if you leave them in and they all grow you will end up with potato plants so close together that you will probably not get a good crop from them this year.

[Pies]

Dig um up or you risk blight

[Lazgaot]

Dig em up! Anything you plant there will by out competed when they are in full leaf.

[peanut]

I'll dig 'em up!

Must remember next year not to cut down the haulms (because of blight) and then forget about them.

Just emptied out the last container of pot grown potatoes and they were great, been outside all winter!

Thank all

[Paulottie]

Shake em all about.

Really depends how much ground you have to spare in your rotation...if they weren't too diseased last year (especially if eelworm or virus a prob). I'd take a chance...free crop eh....Yes Yes I know you lot ...Volunteers are a pain and not a good idea as a rule blah blah... but frankly your as likely to get blight in fresh ground as anywhere else.I'm with flum here.....£10 fine or take a chance.

[SlugLobber]

Funny you should post this, as I just harvested the last of my 'overwintered spuds', which I'd put in during August/September sometime. They are very much usable if they've been protected well enough. My tummy can prove that, lol!

The tiny ones I did leave in, but the ones big enough to be proper spuds will be used as new potatoes or to thicken soups. The last lot I harvested (put in August) were under a heap of manure to protect them from frost and some of those were huge!

[King Carrot]

Just dug and cleared the last of our Sarpo Miras today - they tend to keep well and sprout late - we've been eating them for the last couple of weeks, the ground was far too wet to get them out over autumn and winter as they were " survival spuds".

They were grown in uncleared ground with lots of tree roots in and all we did was dig a hole plant them about 3" down, spread a bit of muck, seaweed and fertilizer and then later on earthed them up with the soil left over from when the earlies were dug

[BUFFS]

Oh dear....I've just realised I have a whole load of last years potatoes still in the ground ...Cara and another one I can't remember.

My question is should I dig them up or leave them in to produce more potatoes this year?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

it depends on how deep the frosts went in the winter,any below 8/9ins they should be okay,id put some pots fertiliser or chicken pellets on the area now ,to boost fertility on this second year in situ..

[vegnut]

It's always a bit of a concern that they may be harvesting slugs or eelworm or any of those other nasties lurking in the ground, looking for a nice cosy place to see out the winter months. And as rustylady said, they will probably be too close together and they will come to nothing. If you cut the haulms down because of blight then i would just worry to much, wether or not they will be carrying blight in the tubers. Ughhh what a mess that would be.
Good luck either way you do it.