second crop potatoes....when?

[Polycarbclare]

Please can someone advise me if I can plant a second crop of potatoes now and have them
Ready for Christmas. Never done potatoes before so a complete novice. I was thinking of
Putting them in a raised bed and i have an added option of a polly tunnel attachment on top, if required!?

Is any of above possible!? Thanks.


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[zazen999]

I'm going to say 'no'. Not unless you have a proper polytunnel or greenhouse. And even then it would be 'possibly'.

[PAULW]

About as much chance as growing mangoes outside in scotland

[Polycarbclare]

I take it its a no then lol. So can someone explain When you do need to plant them by to have them ready for Christmas? I am new to all this and trying to understand what can be done when and by when.


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[Martin H]

Now is the right time to plant. But unless you can keep them frost free and blight free it isn't going to work.

Having said that, I planted some left over potatoes down the allotment a couple of weeks ago so I'll be finding out for myself. If it's ever going to work it's going to be this year, when blight has stayed away for an unusually long time!

[Martin H]

Oh, and I found this link:
Potatoes: growing for the festive season / Royal Horticultural Society

[zazen999]

I take it its a no then lol. So can someone explain When you do need to plant them by to have them ready for Christmas? I am new to all this and trying to understand what can be done when and by when.


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March/April and just leave them in the ground until you are ready to eat; or store in paper sacks.

This whole Christmas potato thing flies in the face of potatoes themselves. Unless you have a greenhouse or poly [and probably heated] it is a complete waste of resource [IMHO]...good for an experiment but just not worth it for the energy put into it and for what - 12 small new potatoes?

Potatoes put out their shoots between midwinter's day and the spring solstice, and do their main growing for the next 3-4 months. Then they dry off and store their energy until the next mid-winter day. Know this, and grow according to their cycle [and this goes for all veg] and you will be working with nature and not against it.

[Guykp57]

What about Autumn tubers you can get from most seed and plant sellers eg Dobies, Suttons, etc. I've put some in last wk and I'm waiting for another batch.


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[out in the cold]

I hear the advice of far more experienced gardeners than I on the thread.

Perhaps we were just lucky, but we planted our Xmas spuds about this time last year and had a lovely set of roast spuds which we grew ourselves. KCN will be putting ours in this week.

[zazen999]

I hear the advice of far more experienced gardeners than I on the thread.

Perhaps we were just lucky, but we planted our Xmas spuds about this time last year and had a lovely set of roast spuds which we grew ourselves. KCN will be putting ours in this week.

Were these grown outdoors?

[out in the cold]

They were Zaz.

Grew them in a 3ft tub (you know the ones you get for £20 for 2 at just about ever GC you go to these days?)

They were in the partial shelter from being beside the shed in the lea of the prevailing wind

[zazen999]

They were Zaz.

Grew them in a 3ft tub (you know the ones you get for £20 for 2 at just about ever GC you go to these days?)

They were in the partial shelter from being beside the shed in the lea of the prevailing wind

That's great, but they were sheltered...putting them into a raised bed and expecting a whole lot of spuds at Christmas time is setting people up for a fall; if I remember correctly last autumn was incredibly warm for weeks; and we had a very late winter. I was still picking tomatoes in November in my greenhouse. That usually doesn't happen. It may be worth a try but at £5.99 for 5 tubers; when you can get a 12.5 kg bag of spuds for the same price; I'd say that unless you get lucky, it will be incredibly hard to get any reasonable crop from them.

[Bill HH]

I have planted 12 bags of them (3 in each bag, 4 different varieties) I planted them on the 7th of August and have just given them their first earthing up. i intend to bring them inside the GH when the toms are finished. So I say nothing ventured nothing gained.Go for it. As for defying natures natural timing, isnt that what gardeners have been doing for years?

[Martin H]

I bought a spare bag of earlies for £1 in the GC sale in May and kept them in a cool spot until August. So not a huge investment for an experiment. As long as the blight stays off and we are frost-free until January they'll be fine.

[zazen999]

I have planted 12 bags of them (3 in each bag, 4 different varieties) I planted them on the 7th of August and have just given them their first earthing up. i intend to bring them inside the GH when the toms are finished. So I say nothing ventured nothing gained.Go for it. As for defying natures natural timing, isnt that what gardeners have been doing for years?

Potatoes are not frost hardy, and need warmth to grow. The OP was asking about growing them outside in a raised with a mere plastic frame over the top which is not the same as a polytunnel or a greenhouse. I personally think growing with the seasons and with the plants and their natural timings is actually quite a good thing. There have been tales on here of disappointment comes Christmad day and of money time and compost wasted on winter spuds.