|
|
|
Growing Guide - Potatoes |
|
Potatoes will grow in most types of soil. It is an excellent crop to grow in order to break up the ground. They do like plenty of well rotted manure or dig in some wormcast.
Order your organic or heritage seed potatoes.
Early varieties: Plant February – End of March to provide new potatoes in early summer.Use fresh as they will not store.
Second early varieties: Plant Late February onwards to lift in June – August. Use fresh as they will not store.
Maincrop varieties: Plant April to lift in September / October. Can be used fresh or stored.
When you receive your early potatoes if they are not aleady chitted (shoots emerged from the potato) this can be done by laying the potatoes on shelves somewhere cool (40º-50ºF) (5º-10ºC) indoors in the light (avoid frost).
Maincrop varieties need not be chitted.
Begin chitting from late January in warmer parts of the country or in February in cooler regions, about four to six weeks before you intend to plant out the potatoes.
Each seed potato has a more rounded, blunt end that has a
number of 'eyes'.
Place tubers with the blunt end uppermost in trays or old egg boxes, with plenty of natural light.
The potatoes are ready to be planted out when the shoots are 1.5-2.5cm (0.5-1in) long.
How to plant
Plant your chitted potatoes when the soil has started to warm up.
You can help to warm up the ground by placing a sheet of black plastic or old carpet over an area of soil that you wish to plant up with potatoes.
Handle your chitted tubers with care, gently setting them into the trench with the shoots pointing upwards, being careful not to break the shoots. Cover the potatoes lightly with soil.
Plant earlies / second earlies about 4 inches(10cm) deep at 1 foot (30cm) spacings in rows 20inches(50cm) apart.
Plant maincrop varieties 5inches (13cm) deep at 16 inch (40cm) spacings in rows 24 inches (60cm) apart.
When leaves begin to protrude a few inches above the ground draw earth carefully up and over the crop. Carry out the same process again in a few weeks time. Your potato patch will take on a ridge and furrow effect. Weed between the rows as required. Water in dry weather. Don’t allow any growing potato tubers to be exposed to the light or they will turn green and cannot be eaten.
Lift earlies carefully using a fork when they are at a size that you like to eat! When they start to get too big cut off their leaves and this will stop them growing. Don’t lift too many at a time as they don’t store for very long and are far better if eaten immediately after being lifted from the soil.
With maincrop potatoes start lifting for storage once the green foliage (haulms) have completely withered away
Growing in containers
Potatoes can be successfully grown in potato planters, barrels, tubs or other containers.
Use a multipurpose potting compost mixed with well rotted manure or wormcast fertiliser.
Put a 10cm layer in your container.
Depending upon diameter of container place 2 -4 tubers on top of the compost mix. Cover with a further 10cm of compost mix and water.
When stems reach a height of about 15cm, add another 10cm of compost mix. Repeat this until the plants are about 5 cm below the rim of the container and add a final layer of compost mix.
Keep the container well watered.
Harvest potatoes when plants have flowered. Carefully dig about beneath the foliage to check on the size of the potatoes before harvesting.
Growing a late crop of new potatoes in time for Christmas
It's always worth planting a few second early seed potatoes in mid summer in order to to dig 'new potatoes' much later in the year.
For Christmas new potatoes, it is best to leave them in the ground until they are required (rather than digging up and trying to store.)
When left in the ground they can be protected with a fleece or light layer of straw.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
