Potatoes

[sparrow100]

I don't grow maincrop because of blight on our site. But I find I am lifting all my spud crops in June/July-ish and then I have storage problems - ie no really cool space and masses of spuds at once.

Blight tends to hit our place in late August/early Sept so I was thinking of 3-4 staggered plantings of earlies to try and get fresher spuds for later storage and still avoid blight. Does this make sense?

Does anyone stagger their potato planting? And what are your results?

[Jungle Jane]

Have you tried second earlies? My Nicola potatoes stored well for ages outside in the compost whereas my early varieties e.g red duke of york got scab or something from being treated in the same way. Don't usually get scab with them,it was fresh compost but I left them for a couple of months at least,because it seems to be the best way to store them till needed. So if grown in the ground could they be lifted & stored in sand outside in the open air,to avoid slug damage & keep them at that outside temperature maybe,I don't know? I stagger the planting of my potatoes once a month & there are differences in height of the growth & some are ready for harvesting when others look full of green life,so worth doing.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I keep some of my LadyC in the ground for 18/19 weeks so they are used as first early 11/12 weeks and second early.

As to your question I see no reason why staggered planting of earlies won't work, with your last planting at 12 weeks before you will need to harvest. After all first early spuds were only developed to give us something to eat whilst we wait for main crop.

Maybe you could also try some for Christmas planting after the blight has finished.

[sparrow100]

Ta both. I did a Feb planting this year that meant May spuds, but the other staggered spuds (Charlottes) didn't quite work. Or maybe we just didn't eat enough spuds.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Just a thought did you keep your late planted sets chilled say in the bottom of the salad draw? This would stop them chitting to early and wasting energy.

[sparrow100]

No I didn't - thanks for that. I have a bundle of fig cuttings in there at the moment, so perhaps a drawer that OH isn't supposed to raid might be good.

[Mr Bones]

With blight probs then warmer than ideal storage I grow Sarpo Axona and Kifli. Both are blight (and fairly slug) resistant and also store well in my semi-integral garage, which is not quite cool enough for spuds.

[Jungle Jane]

I used a calendar so I could keep track of what I've done;
Planted up 2 bags of Arran pilot at the end of February.
3 bags on the 5th/6th March,red duke of york & arran pilot.
6 bags on 6th April,all the Nicola potatoes,red duke of york & vales emerald.
3 bags on the 10th April,red duke of york & vales emerald.
1 bag on the 21st April,red duke of york.
Nothing planted in May (must have been over run with them!).
The last ones planted on June 10th,arran pilot,were very shrivelled when planting as they were chitting for so long but were fine. I need to plant more in June next year,I was a bit over keen in April with the plantings,so I'll hold a few more back next year. It's quick & easy to put a few in every month,we had a cold spell during growth & I was able to cover the haulms of some of them completely with compost,previously when planted all at once,it was difficult to protect so many of them,delaying some plantings has a few different benefits.

[astraman1]

im growing sarpo mira next year as they are blight resistant allotment diary on youtube had a massive crop with them no blight in sight

[TrialAndError]

Second earlies suit me best. They can be harvested over a long time, I plant them all at the same time. Nicola is my preferred variety. I leave some in the ground and they keep fine. Harvested ones are left in the sun to dry off the skins for at least a couple of days in late August to September. I,m still eating them now and they are in perfect condition.

[Penellype]

If you leave them to dry off in the sun, don't they go green?

[Alison]

If you leave them to dry off in the sun, don't they go green?

You only leave them long enough to dry off and harden the skins then store them in he dark as normal. They keep better that way.

[sparrow100]

Thanks all - am going to stick some in in late May. As I said, I don't have ideal storage conditions. If I can swap for a few Sarpo Mira/Alouette I might give them a try.

[Penellype]

Mashed potato stores well in the freezer and cooks really quickly from frozen in the microwave.