No spuds formed

[Marb67]

No spuds. Just one tiny the size of a marble. :-(

[Noosner]

Oh dear, how disappointing! Wish I could advise, but spuds aren't my strong point - I always get some but never many and they tend not to be very big.

Dug up my Casablanca yesterday (3 plants) as the tops had died back and though the spuds look beautiful there weren't many and they weren't much of a size. Still, more than enough to make a couple of big stews I reckon!

[Samurailord]

I have had to harvest all of my Red Dukes this last weekend - almost all the plants had either died off or were looking particularly ill and withered.

From a few of the plants I only got one or two decent sized potatoes, but some of the others have given 6-10 decent sized tubers.

A small handul of the potatoes have started to rot in the ground - there are no signs of blight or black leg on the foliage.

In the next bed my Maris Peer are doing great - I have harvested a couple of plants and got nearly as many potaotes from them as I have from a full bed of 20 Red Dukes.

On the other side of the Red Dukes i have my 2nd earlies and a few maincrops, all of which are doing much better than either of my first earlies.

I dont think that I will try Red Dukes again - the Maris Peer are doing fantastic, and they taste much nicer too.

Andy

[Marb67]

Well O just dug them all up because most of the tops have gone dead and crispy. A couple of large containers had nothing. Not a sausage. After all the hassle and expense of getting compost, chitting, planting, feeding and watering etc its absolutely soul destroying. They do better in the ground for me but i only have a small garden so they take too much space. Cheaper to buy organic from the farm shop. Gutted :-(

[Knight of Albion]

Sorry to hear that. Gardening is a learning curve. There isn't a person here, even the most experienced gardeners, who hasn't had a 'wipe out'. The thing is to learn from your mistakes and have another bash next year.

And I would have another bash. Potatoes are a super food - if you eat the skins that is. That's where most of the nutritional goodness is.
Once in a while isn't going to kill you, but I wouldn't eat non-organic with the skins generally speaking due to pesticide use. That's the beauty of growing your own, you know what's been on them, or not, and its way cheaper than buying organic in a shop.

So don't throw the towel in just yet.

[Knight of Albion]

... or the trowel!

[Knight of Albion]

If its any consolation I had a complete wipe out the first year I grew sweet peas. But now, 2,000 - 2,500 blooms a season. I'm no expert. I've had no training. Didn't buy any books or do any courses. I just picked up the knowledge and now it just happens. So like I said, don't give up.

[veggiechicken]

They do better in the ground for me but i only have a small garden so they take too much space. (

Have you considered an allotment, Marb? It would give you more room for your plants and perhaps you'd have more luck there.

[bario1]

Does your garden get much sunlight Marb? I think there must be a general reason why you're getting such disappointing results...

[Jonnyt]

Too much nitrogen feed?


Sent from my iPhone using Grow Your Own Forum

[Fleurisa]

We've only grown Red Dukes the once because they were very disappointing compared to our other potatoes

[Marb67]

I fed them with organic potato feed I bought from Poundland a couple of years ago. I sprinkled some in the bottom before I planted in the sets. Just curious to know why the foliage has died a death so fast. Def not blight. One of the red duke spuds has a black mark on it which I will have to cut out.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Can you post a pic of the marked spud?

[Bigmallly]

I grew Red Dukes last year & got a fantastic crop.............mindst, they were supermarket bought that I planted.

[Marb67]

No because we have eaten them in one sitting. My wife said she cut the black bit out.