100 litres/mm of rain forecast in April - when should I plant my spuds in your view?

[Snoop Puss]

Looks like March but especially April are going to be quite wet by our standards. There's a dry spell around early April, but thereafter it's going to rain a fair bit (70 mm/litres per square metre forecast for March and 100 mm/litres per square metre forecast for April by Accuweather, whose predictions tend to underestimate a bit for where I am). No frosts forecast after 6 April. In fact the temperatures look like they're going to be surprisingly mild. We have clay soil in a valley floor that doesn't drain very well, plus not only do we get our own rainfall but also rain running down a tributary valley, making our ground prone to flooding.

Would I do well to plant the spuds early April, or wait till early May? What would you do?

[Thelma Sanders]

I'd hedge my bets and plant some early and the rest after the rain.

[ESBkevin]

I'd do like Thelma says and go half/half as a minimum.

Can you add any organic material when you plant to help soil improvement and drainage? Even a shovel of woodchip/dry leaves would help. Also what about digging a small swale/berm uphill of your potato plot to steer the runoff water where you want it and away from a local flood in your potatos, not sure if that is practical for the location.

[It never rains..it pours]

Not sure they can forecast that far ahead, atleast for the uk. Once this cold snap lifts will be planting mine. Last year went in early march, put a 6x4 black dampcourse sheet over till emergence, helps pull heat in, frosts and rain off, and they to my eyes yielded well and most importantly tasted better than shop ones. But guess sheet no use if you get flooded in your area. Raised beds help alot on wet clay here along with horse manure, sharp sand, compost and seaweed mixed in

Planted some in tubs in greenhouse at weekend, debating will it builds enough daytime sun heat in there to get through the 3 cold nights that are forecast or should I move them indoors ?

[lottie dolly]

Owch,that sounds bad,lets hope they are wrong lass,

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, guys. About to get lunch, so will give a proper reply in a bit.

[Penellype]

Raised beds or pots would help a lot if the forecast rain arrives. The half and half idea is a good one.

I'm not sure about forecasting that far ahead either, but every single type of forecast I have seen for this spring (long range models, analogues and the weather without technology guy) forecast a wet spring. The current weather pattern with high pressure to the north favours this. Whether the high will still be there by April is anyone's guess.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks everyone. I'll try and find somewhere for maybe half of the first earlies up on higher ground and then do half and half down in the valley, as suggested. As watering is already difficult in the summer months, I'd rather not use pots. In fact, if it was a question of growing them in pots, I'd probably not bother at all, to be honest.

My beds are a bit like raised beds, but have sidewalls made of soil raked to the edge rather than wood. I do have drainage channels excavated about the place to divert water away.

I guess it's just a question of wait and see.

We're forecast 60 mm/litres per square metre this week, starting later this evening, plus a few cm of snow, though that won't amount to much in the way of water. I'm not complaining, in fact. We've had such dry weather that at the start of the year, the vein of water that feeds our well was at the lowest it's been since we arrived here. So rainfall is welcome. Just not too much all at once!

[mothhawk]

You can't plant your spuds in my view.

I can't see Spain from here.........

[Snoop Puss]

^Very good.

[Aberdeenplotter]

My Dad always planted his spuds on the 20th April and I do so also. Not much of April left after that

[Snoop Puss]

^Quite right. But I'm not sure whether to plant when the ground is dryish but due to get wetter or when the ground is sodden and due to get drier.

[Penellype]

Can you plant them when it is dryish and cover them with clear plastic, which will keep them warmer and divert some of the rain? This is what I have done with my onions at home.

[Snoop Puss]

^Thanks, Penellype. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have a look at what I've got in the way of plastic. Lots of black plastic, that I do know.