Can I plant my potatoes now ? (NE England)

[rustylady]

Why are you waiting to plant maincrop?

[Kristen]

I used to plant mine at the earliest opportunity and look forward to New Potatoes on the table "real soon now" Took me several years to work out what a chore that was trying to keep the frost off them ... probably helped by the year we had -6C in May Mercifully I had been accumulating grass clippings right next to the plot and heaped them onto and over the spud plants. The ones covered only with double layers of fleece were knocked right back.

So ... now I grow a reasonable number in containers / bags, and they stay in the greenhouse until I need it fro Tomatoes, and they can easily come in for-the-night if we get a frost forecast - garage will do for that, they don't need light at night . We don't eat a lot of Spuds, so 4 - 6 containers is enough for me. That bridges the gap until the ones in the ground are ready for harvest, and takes the pressure off trying to get them into the ground "super early".

Then I plant out some first earlies "pretty early". I only plant a few at the end of the row. (I also start off some Pink Fir Apple at the same time, they usually take longer to get above ground, but we do like to harvest some of them early for BBQ's in the Summer). So if we have a late frost I have minimal amount to have to try to protect - often by torchlight at midnight when I take the dogs out for their final pee of the evening and only then realise that it a) looks very clear and b) is bitterly cold!!

And then I plant the rest of the row "a bit later" so that they are unlikely to be up (much) if late frost comes. I earth them up only when frost is forecast - because they push through that soil in a couple of days, and soon they are too tall to earth up. 1st Earliest planted early have no hope of being earthed up for late frost IME. They will be massively tall by middle of May

Nowadays I treat my lawns with selective herbicide which includes Clopyralid and it persists through composting or if used as a mulch, so I can no longer rely on grass clippings as a frost-protection mulch for the once-a-decade really cold late May frost.

Worth remembering that a mild winter, and early spring, is no safeguard against late frosts. They come because the day is sunny ... and thus the night is clear and cloud free.

[wbmkk]

Why are you waiting to plant maincrop?

Don't really know ... probably after reading some of the posts here.

If I lose my 2nd earlies ... no big deal (no I lie there .. I would be pretty miffed)

[Kristen]

If I lose my 2nd earlies ... no big deal (no I lie there .. I would be pretty miffed)

Unlikely to lose them, frost will kill off / blacken all foliage above ground, and the plant will make more from underground - but that takes Time & Energy, so delays the crop.

Blight is the big risk with spuds, sadly

[noviceveggrower]

Hi my first and second earlies went in on the first of April when I got my second plot. I had no room at home as my two available beds had spuds in last year. They couldn't go in my first plot as again the only bed had yet again had spuds in.
So today I planted my main crop. I just put them in and hope for the best. Am not mounding them up this year to see if it makes a difference. If there is a frost about I will put fleece down.
I planted really late last year as my ground was frozen solid for ages. Had it fleeced up to try and warm it up but no good. But did have a fairly decent crop to say they did go in so late.

[Snadger]

I used to plant mine at the earliest opportunity and look forward to New Potatoes on the table "real soon now" Took me several years to work out what a chore that was trying to keep the frost off them ... probably helped by the year we had -6C in May Mercifully I had been accumulating grass clippings right next to the plot and heaped them onto and over the spud plants. The ones covered only with double layers of fleece were knocked right back.

So ... now I grow a reasonable number in containers / bags, and they stay in the greenhouse until I need it fro Tomatoes, and they can easily come in for-the-night if we get a frost forecast - garage will do for that, they don't need light at night . We don't eat a lot of Spuds, so 4 - 6 containers is enough for me. That bridges the gap until the ones in the ground are ready for harvest, and takes the pressure off trying to get them into the ground "super early".

Then I plant out some first earlies "pretty early". I only plant a few at the end of the row. (I also start off some Pink Fir Apple at the same time, they usually take longer to get above ground, but we do like to harvest some of them early for BBQ's in the Summer). So if we have a late frost I have minimal amount to have to try to protect - often by torchlight at midnight when I take the dogs out for their final pee of the evening and only then realise that it a) looks very clear and b) is bitterly cold!!

And then I plant the rest of the row "a bit later" so that they are unlikely to be up (much) if late frost comes. I earth them up only when frost is forecast - because they push through that soil in a couple of days, and soon they are too tall to earth up. 1st Earliest planted early have no hope of being earthed up for late frost IME. They will be massively tall by middle of May

Nowadays I treat my lawns with selective herbicide which includes Clopyralid and it persists through composting or if used as a mulch, so I can no longer rely on grass clippings as a frost-protection mulch for the once-a-decade really cold late May frost.

Worth remembering that a mild winter, and early spring, is no safeguard against late frosts. They come because the day is sunny ... and thus the night is clear and cloud free.

Why use Clopyralid? Surely you don't have a propensity of creeping thistle (Circium) do you?

MCPA, Mecoprop & Dicamba are very effective against all other broad leaf weeds, are low in phyto-toxicity and won't persist.

[Kristen]

Why use Clopyralid?

Hadn't really thought about it TBH. The only two brands that I see in the shops are Verdone Extra Plus (or somesuch similar name ) and LawnClear 2 ... and both of those contain Clopyralid (AFAIK)

I alternate between the two as one misses some weeds, that the other one gets, and vice versa.

Maybe there are others that I could use (i.e. available to amateurs).

Having said that, I'm not adverse to using an agricultural chemical, and I do have a lot of lawn to treat so would probably a) be more cost effective and b) I'd probably get a better "kill" and thus use less chemical, over time.

I'm open to ideas

[Penellype]

[QUOTE=noviceveggrower;1228412] Am not mounding them up this year to see if it makes a difference. If there is a frost about I will put fleece down.


Mounding up potatoes is not just for frost protection. Potatoes produce tubers from sideshoots on underground stems, which means that many of them are fairly near the surface, and any which break through the surface will go green and be inedible (poisonous). Earthing them up stops the potatoes from going green. If you don't want to earth up you can mulch with something like cardboard or weed suppressant fabric which will exclude the light, but you will need to weight it down or it will blow away.

[Alison]

[QUOTE=Penellype;1228698]

Am not mounding them up this year to see if it makes a difference. If there is a frost about I will put fleece down.


Mounding up potatoes is not just for frost protection. Potatoes produce tubers from sideshoots on underground stems, which means that many of them are fairly near the surface, and any which break through the surface will go green and be inedible (poisonous). Earthing them up stops the potatoes from going green. If you don't want to earth up you can mulch with something like cardboard or weed suppressant fabric which will exclude the light, but you will need to weight it down or it will blow away.

I don't earth up, am quite lazy . I do plant quite deep and closer than the recommended distances in no dig beds but get very few green spuds so you really don't need to be obsessive about it.


Sent from my iPad using Grow Your Own Forum

[Kristen]

I earth up, and still get green spuds ... they seem to want to grow close to the surface for me.

Best ones I have had were mulched with grass clippings, which definitely kept the light off them ... but nowadays my grass clippings are polluted with persistent chemicals in the selective weed-killer I put on the lawn, and my mower doesn't have a collection box anymore

Its making me thing I ought to find something else to use as a light-proof mulch though.

[Snadger]

I never earth up. Since i stopped earthing up I never get a green spud. I apply a thick organic mulch of strawy muck on top of cardboard then just plant deeply with a trowel through it. Life is about experimentation and this works for me, plus its less hassle as well.

[stubedo]

I could throw some of my wife's coats ... she has enough of them

lol ........