Poor spud harvest

[Knight of Albion]

One day they'll "invent" see-through soil so that we can see what's growing without digging it up. Wouldn't be half so enjoyable though

No, it would lose the thrill ... though it would stop you sticking your fork through the biggest one!!! Which always happens! Why??? Another of life's great mysteries.

[seasprout]

Well I've had loads of spuds from my potato sacks this year..... unfortunately the biggest so far have been the size of my big toe. And I don't have huge Hobbit feet. :-/

[Snow]

What's the consensus on removing the flowers so the plant puts energy in to the tubers - saw it in this months magazine, and had never heard anyone mention it before.

Has anyone tried and noticed a difference?

I did this until this year. This year I did not and have had lower harvests than before. But then so have others it seems so this may not be the reason.

[kris1960]

How much water are potatos supposed to be given- this might have been my problem this year.

[Potstubsdustbins]

At harvest spuds are about 80% water so the short answer is plenty whilst the tubers are growing.

As a clue for my dustbins I leave a 2 to 3 inch gap between the top of the compost and the edge of the bin. This allows me to pour a 2 gallon bucket of water straight into the top of the bin in hot weather. This ensures the compost is wet all the way through and not wet on top and dry lower down as can often be the case.

Just make sure you have good drainage so the plants aren't sitting in water.

[Marb67]

Well, checked the charlotte and Rockets after weeks of watering etc and absolutely nothing doing. Not a thing in soil or bags. Also some foliage have turned yellow, some have been eaten by slugs and some healthy. they all have no spuds :-(

[Nannysally99]

That's really sad Marb, you have my sympathies

[Snadger]

One day they'll "invent" see-through soil so that we can see what's growing without digging it up. Wouldn't be half so enjoyable though

.............and they'd all be green tubers anyway!

[Marb67]

Well I am done with spuds. They take up too much space, compost and give zero in return. I have watered and fed accordingly and still absolutely pathetic yield. Some pots with nothing inside. I got my hopes up thinking I had a large spud in one of them only for it to be the seed potato.

Bye bye spud growing

[Snow]

Well I am done with spuds. They take up too much space, compost and give zero in return. I have watered and fed accordingly and still absolutely pathetic yield. Some pots with nothing inside. I got my hopes up thinking I had a large spud in one of them only for it to be the seed potato.

Bye bye spud growing

Sorry to hear this, I don't blame you, I just wish we could have helped in some way but I have no idea why your potato crop failed so badly, it sounds like you did everything right. I wish you better luck with whatever you grow in its place.

[Marb67]

Well the foliage is going yellow too so no idea.

[Nannysally99]

When the foliage goes yellow, that's when it's time to start harvesting

[roitelet]

Well I have finally started to dig up the Charlottes. Bearing in mind that we are crying out for rain, and I have never watered, the harvest is surprisingly good. They were planted at the end of March. From 9 plants I had 2 26ltr buckets full and most of them were baking size.

[Marb67]

So why when I fed, watered did I get a rubbish harvest ?

[veggiechicken]

Not a clue, sorry.
Too many variables to even guess.
Could be the seed potatoes, the compost, the amount of water or feed (too much or too little), the light or shade, the wind or humidity, the spacing in the container, bugs, pests etc etc etc. or any combination thereof.