Is this a weed, or me spuds?

[Taterhead]

I planted some Pentland Javelin about 6 weeks ago, they went in nice and deep, about 1 foot deep. So far all I have seen is various weeds, however today whilst weeding I spotted this.



Can anyone tell me if this is a weed, or a shoot from my tatties?

I have earthed it up for the moment and marked the spot with some canes just incase we get a frost tonight.

I have been told PJs take about 12 weeks to grow, so am starting to wonder if I have planted them too deep...

Any tips or advice would be great,

Ta

[Lamboluke]

First time grower here but when my potatoes poked their shoots through the soil they were all green. Looks like these are white and then green so I'm not sure if all potatoe varieties are the same
Mine were marris pipers main crop.

[Bigmallly]

They don't look like tatties to me but there is no harm in leaving them a couple of weeks to see what happens. If they turn out to be spuds then no harm done, if they are weeds then just lift them.

[rustylady]

Don't look like tatties to me

[WendyC]

They are buttercups. A foot is very deep. I planted mine three weeks ago, not as deep as you, and they are through. Is is worth a little poke around to see what's going on?

[veggiechicken]

That's it Wendy, I knew they looked familiar but I couldn't get the scale & angle right

[Taterhead]

Thanks Wendy, as you can probably tell I'm rather new to this lark

[Bigmallly]

Even when you are old like me, you'll still be new Taterhead.

[mothhawk]

Give them a bit more time Taterhead.
I planted my spuds about a foot deep on 7th March. They started coming through last Monday, now they're nearly all up (Swift), so that's just over 6 weeks.

[BertieFox]

Potatoes NEVER need to be planted deeply, unless you need to protect the sprouted tubers from the frost and cold. Some people actually 'sow' them on the surface and then cover them with an inch or so of compost.

The potatoes are actually pieces of swollen stem so all you really need to do is provide the plants with good enough soil into which they can root while covering the stems with compost or some other mulch to keep the light away from the tubers; once tubers go green they are never any good to eat, even if they lose the green colour, as they contain a poisonous substance.

In future, I would recommend you plant them just an inch or two below the surface and concentrate your efforts on earthing them up or mulching the stems as they grow.

[Alison]

In future, I would recommend you plant them just an inch or two below the surface and concentrate your efforts on earthing them up or mulching the stems as they grow.

One of the reasons I plant mine deeply is to avoid having to earth up. Not something I ever find time to do and find that I don't need to if I plant deeply and then add a bit of a mulch when they first break through. MUCH less work

[Bigmallly]

Potatoes NEVER need to be planted deeply.

Never say never Bertie unless like me you've never earthed up a spud.............

[veggiechicken]

I plant mine deeply too and don't earth them up. They're just showing through now and I'll leave them to get on with it. There's too much to do in the garden to keep earthing up each emerging shoot.

[Greenleaves]

Deep planter here as well, two reasons, saves on earthing up and also on a windy site the soil drys very quickly so the ridges act as wind tunnels.

[Dorothy rouse]

This thread is a bit confusing, 'plant deeply and don't earth up, or plant almost on surface and earth up a lot? '

I planted mine 4/6 inches, ( well grandson did), and they are all showing through now, so will probably earth up a bit in time.