Seed Potato Fertiliser

[Artisan]

When planting seed potatoes apart from adding plenty of compost to the bed what fertiliser is best added at the time of planting?

[Jungle Jane]

I add some of this vitax potato fertiliser but don’t let it touch the potato,I don’t know if that’s something I made up in my head or if it’s best it doesn’t touch the potato,I don’t know
https://www.wyevalegardencentres.co....kg-0800002363/
Available at all garden centres.

[Artisan]

Thank you Jungle Jane for the information and the link. Do you add the Vitax at the time of planting or when preparing the soil in advance of planting?

[monkeyboy]

I'm going to try to grow potatoes this year. I've gleaned some information but no idea how good/bag it is. The videos I've watched mention adding fertiliser in the bottom layer of compost/soil before adding the potatoes on top. The idea is that the roots will feed from this.

I've seen mention of nitrogen feeds every few weeks until summer, then potash feeds thereafter. Can anyone shed light on this?

[Jungle Jane]

I plant in containers & I mix some into the compost at the time of planting them. I also use seaweed fertiliser occasionally to water them with,it’s very low nitrogen. Later in the summer I feed with a high potassium tomato feed,potassium helps with yield & health.

[It never rains..it pours]

It also depends on the amount of manure added
All I can say is this is what I did last year, no doubt advice from this forum, and got a good crop of first earlies. At early march planting on the plot of 6ft x 6ft square , mixed in 5 bags of well rotted horse manure, 300g 07-07-07 westland compound fertilizer and 300g westland bonemeal, all mixed into the top 5" of soil that then made into baulks and planted. Then covered plot with black sheet to keep monsoons and frost off. The previous autumn added compost and manure to improve the soil so no doubt they added something too. Then when they started coming through baulks, toke sheet off. Then when had decent top growth added added 150g each of 07-07-07 and bonemeal. This year I have westland fish, blood and bone fertilizer which contains potash , unlike bonemeal , so will probably use only that at planting unless advised otherwise on here

[Martin H]

I chuck a small handful of granular potato fertilizer in the planting hole, put the potato on top and fill in the hole. I don't worry about whether it touches the tuber because the roots come from the base of the chit and can find their way down to the fertilizer at their own speed. I don't bother feeding them the rest of the year, I'm on fairly rich clay so I just need to make sure they get plenty of water in the summer.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I'm going to try to grow potatoes this year. I've gleaned some information but no idea how good/bag it is. The videos I've watched mention adding fertiliser in the bottom layer of compost/soil before adding the potatoes on top. The idea is that the roots will feed from this.

I've seen mention of nitrogen feeds every few weeks until summer, then potash feeds thereafter. Can anyone shed light on this?

I do believe you will be growing in containers, this is different from growing in the ground. I follow the same routine every year and seem to get a very reasonable crop.

I reuse use my compost (unless it has been diseased) so assume it is void of nutrients.

First I get rid of all the large roots etc. Then add a base fertilizer usually 7-7-7 Gromore or similar along with some granular potato fertilizer.

After 5 weeks of growth I again assume the compost is devoid of nutrients and give a feed of high nitrogen usually Miracle Grow, for early spuds I finish off with high potash tomato fertilizer at week 9/10. For second early and main crop they get a second dose of Miracle Grow at week 11/12 and then change to tomato food every 4 weeks until harvest.

The thing to remember is that nitrogen is for green growth the haulm and that potash is for the fruit i.e. the potato.

One more thing if this is your first year, watering. Potatoes are about 80% water at harvest so never let them dry out keep them moist. To judge whether you have watered properly stick your hand down into the compost to ensure you have not just splashed water on the surface it needs to get down to the roots where it can do some good.

[monkeyboy]

I do believe you will be growing in containers, this is different from growing in the ground. I follow the same routine every year and seem to get a very reasonable crop.

Yup. Square foot gardening for some of the veg, pots for the chillies and large bucket containers for potatoes. Thanks for the advice. It's much appreciated.

[It never rains..it pours]

Thank you for the spud pots advice. Unlike the bed, my pots (recycle bins) were a complete failure, think got about 10% of the yield per plant vs the bed plants and more work. Thinking of adding well rotted horse manure and some soil into the compost for this years attempt as had no spuds but decent tops maybe meant lack of potash. How much room (litres) does each pot spud need ?

[Potstubsdustbins]

For me an absolute minimum of 10ltrs so for the larger BFB I seed but when I move to larger containers I like to provide more maybe as much as 20ltrs so I do 4 seeds per 80ltr dustbin.

As well as potash consider your watering regime as this can vastly affect yield. As an example my big bins have a 4" top of compost to rim gap so in the hottest weather I can slosh a 2 gallon bucket in very quickly covering the whole of the top of the compost and soaking it through. This will usually happen daily as being above ground containers can dry out very quickly in hot weather at the height of the growing season.

[It never rains..it pours]

Thank you for guidance Pots. Measured recycle bin and it 52Litre so say 45L with watering lip you suggest. Will try again this year with 2 per bin and well rotted manure and soil added to the compost

[It never rains..it pours]

For me an absolute minimum of 10ltrs so for the larger BFB I seed but when I move to larger containers I like to provide more maybe as much as 20ltrs so I do 4 seeds per 80ltr dustbin.

As well as potash consider your watering regime as this can vastly affect yield. As an example my big bins have a 4" top of compost to rim gap so in the hottest weather I can slosh a 2 gallon bucket in very quickly covering the whole of the top of the compost and soaking it through. This will usually happen daily as being above ground containers can dry out very quickly in hot weather at the height of the growing season.

Potty, you were spot on with advice. This year totally different result. Toke a decent feed for two, off the sides of just one root last night, quite big infact maybe too big, but were lovely to eat, melt in mouth. Thanks

[Potstubsdustbins]

Thanks for getting back to me nice to know I am useful sometimes.

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