A Quick Question - Potatoes

[nooby]

Hi All,

I am not a prolific grower, but I have been growing potatoes in pots for years, just first earlies and earlies. Last year my daughter was old enough to get involved and I grew some "Orla" as that is her name. She absolutely loved watching them grow and was so excited... I want to plant some this year with her, I got a bit behind with other things. Anyway I have a couple of questions... Silly ones really, so sorry if these sound dumb.

I have some pots filled with compost that has been sitting since last year and noticed there were lots of small mushroom/fungus growing on top of the soil. They have gone now but is this ok/safe to use? Not knowing what the fungus was?

Also as mentioned earlier, I am a bit behind due to work etc, so my seed potatoes that have been quietly chitting for quite a while on my windowsill have gone a bit nuts... Is there such a thing as 'over chitting'? There are quite a few knobbly shoots and they are very dark, almost black with lots and lots of tiny green dots on them.

Normally, for me, there is just one or two shoots which look like buds on the end...

Are these ruined?

Many thanks in advance...

[Bigmallly]

Get them planted, one thing for certain is you won't grow any tatties while they are still in their bags...............

[Guest]

And the soil is fine. Fungus is just something else that helps decay matter and return nutrients to the soil.

[nooby]

Thank you very much, I will get them in later today!

[Gillykat]

And the soil is fine. Fungus is just something else that helps decay matter and return nutrients to the soil.

That's handy to know In the past I've had the odd container, usually in the colder months, have fungi on the surface (usually ones with long term residents like daffodils) and it's had me wonder whether the compost has been 'sour' or past it's best I've tended to empty the whole pot and chuck it away.......perhaps I should have just bunged it on the compost heap instead.

Just goes to show how great these forums are for sharing tips and knowledge as I've never read anything about it in books

[Kirk]

Stir the old compost up, add some manure and plant the potato's.
Worked fine for me in years when I have done the same as you and still have a pot full of old used compost.

[Jay-ell]

Fungus in the soil is good. Whilst the bacteria break down the easy stuff like leafy greens it's the fungus that breaks down the heavy organic material (leaves, wood chips, logs) and release the nutrients back in an available format. Remember that mycorrhiza are fungi too.