Price of seed potatoes

[VirginVegGrower]

Does that mean i have to plant at night?

Yes in a bikini made from coconuts and wolf hair! Come on, have you not got over your vision of us dancing semi naked on our soil

[veggiechicken]

Semi-naked
You mean I'm supposed to wear..............something

[Kristen]

maybe try some maincrop in bags using supermarkest ones

Very low yield from Bags, compared to grown in open-ground IME (plus the cost of compost) so personally I would only grow First Early in bags so as to get some spuds earlier than those grown outside, and avoid late frost etc. (I also plant some bags at the start of August for New Spuds at Xmas)

I also do not bother with Main Crop to store; the farmers' chilled storage is far better than I can do, and my home-stored ones tend to be getting manky by Christmas (although I do seem to be able to store Pink Fir Apple successfully). Main Crop spuds are very cheap too - e.g. bought by the sack full from Farm Shop), so unless plenty of space personally I wouldn't bother with Main Crop.

Are main crop smaller yielding than seconds if you harvest them at the same time as second earlies

I would say "Yes". First, Second and Main can all be planted at the same time, the terms are used to describe how long they take before ready for harvesting. Main Crop produce more spuds-per-plant, and thus it takes longer for the plant to get them to a good size. So if you harvest them early they will be lower yield, and likely to be smaller. You should get about twice the yield from a row of main crop as you would from same length row of earlies.

[lez]

I agree with kristen. main crops are so much cheaper from the farm. They have the ground and have to store them. You also don't have to bother so much about blight. Any way I bit the bullet and bought 1st and 2nd earlies from the garden centre. There was 22 tubers in each pack. I bought 2 packs of each and will share with my son and his partener. I grew some in bags last year and was not at all successful. I put 4 tubers in each bag and though there was plenty of foliage nothing underneath. Watering could be the key as keeping them moist was a bit of hassle. Any tips would be welcome as new potatoes are one of the little lovely moments along with first fresh peas, runners, french beans etc. I think my first earlies taste bootiful and with fresh picked mint, oh yes one of lifes little luxuries. I grow Maris Bard and have opted for Maris Peer for my 2nd's. Got them in the garage to chit already as I am not allowed to use the spare room any more. I read the write up on spuds in the magazine and feel that Maris Bard are sweet and better than the write up said. Jersey royals taste a bit bland to me when I tried them, but that said, they do have be stored before eating and mine come fresh out af the ground.

[chris]

WB Kirsten, I wondered where you'd gone.

My local g/c allow you to fill a small paper bag with whatever spuds for 3.99 I think, or maybe 2.99. Supermarkets sell them at a £1 a small bag roughly, so I'm again in the thought of it's worth it!

The only thing with seed spuds - is that they're supposed to be guaranteed to be virus free. A few folk on my allotment site plant supermarket spuds too.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Don't forget that spuds are one of the easiest crops to save your own seed from. Don't know what the reasoning is but my Dad always left some smaller spuds lying on top of the ground to turn green. Possibly helps them keep better? I do likewise and then store in a frost free place until spring when they are taken out to chit before planting.

[JD85]

Poundland were putting out their gardening stuff today. Not a massive selection of seed spuds but you get 8 in a pack... Not bad for £1.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Lez, if you failed to get a crop it would really be one of two things.

Watering, without water and lots of it your tubers will never swell. at the time when the tubers are swellingI water my dustbins with a full 2 gallon bucket to ensure the compost is wet all the way through to the bottom. Erratic watering also leads to cracked tubers at harvest.

Feeding, potatoes are a big plant and need lots of food, Vitax is good as is tomorite these will add plenty of potash to the container and help with tuber growth.

The pics are main crop Picasso.

Potty.

[veggiechicken]

Don't forget that spuds are one of the easiest crops to save your own seed from. Don't know what the reasoning is but my Dad always left some smaller spuds lying on top of the ground to turn green. Possibly helps them keep better? I do likewise and then store in a frost free place until spring when they are taken out to chit before planting.

I've always understood that slugs won't eat green seed potatoes

[Aberdeenplotter]

I've never actually asked a slug . Green spuds are poisonous so slugs maybe instinctively know that.

[veggiechicken]

I think that's the reason Ap. Maybe, if we could isolate the green stuff poison we could use it as slug deterrent?

[veg man]

Has any one tried capitalgardens.co.uk they have them to order for £1-50 kg post free seems a good price.From what i read on there site orders beening taken from 15/Jan Thanks

[Kristen]

I get my Spuds from JBA
JBA Seed Potatoes | Buy Seed Potatoes
but I ordered mine in the Autumn and haven't checked if they still have any stock left. They are good about not shipping during very cold weather when the seed tubers may be left sitting in cold vehicles / warehouses en route to you, or on your doorstep at sub-zero temperatures.

[mick cssg]

cssg potato day free entry all potato's £1-00 a kilo buy as few or many as you like childrens activities plus seed swap & potato based refreshments commemeration hall huntingdon high street

[Doive]

I bought all my seed potatoes from our local garden centre, and spent a good proportion of time selecting a handful of quite a few varieties. The sum total for my manifold choices was £5.62. I was pleased, as I'd expected a lot more, and I still have more to buy. He stocks Jamieson Brothers seed potatoes from Dumfriesshire, well regarded as one of the best seed producers in the UK. Mine have been chitting for about a fortnight now, and they seem to be setting off quite nicely.