Potatoes

How long had the plants been there, Nansy? I know that some people plant 'earlies' in about September to have fresh potatoes for Christmas, so maybe yours decided to grow at about the same time. Enjoy!

What a discovery! I always think digging up potatoes is like digging for gold.

Wow, lucky you. I planted potatoes for Christmas and they all got blight! Not quite sure what to do with the compost now.

Since last summer. I must have missed a couple of teeny potatoes. I’ve eaten some of them but others are inedible .... very hard and a sort of translucent colour.

That translucence is because they’ve been frozen in the ground.

midgey put the compost in your green bin, or burn it, you definitely do not want it in your garden or the fungus-like pathogen will infect your garden.

Is the translucence 'blight'. I grew some lovely potatoes last year in a bag for life outside my flat. its very satisfying!

The translucence is due to being frozen in the ground MissA you get the same look if you put potatoes in a very cold fridge.

This is a blighted potato

When is the best time to plant them and what variety please.

Traditionally you plant your potatoes on St Patrick’s Day. But I prefer to leave it for a couple of weeks later.

There are three types of potatoes

First Earlies (new potatoes ready about June)
Second Earlies (newish potatoes ready mid season)
Maincrop (ready about October onwards)

Within these sections there are lots of different varieties.

PS you have to buy ‘seed’ potatoes (local garden centres or online)

Then sit these in egg boxes, in a cool light place, and let them chit (grow little buds/stalks) before you plant them.

I like Epicure but only because I like the flavour. I think it's a first early.

Our seed potatoes arrived yesterday. We only grow a very tiny amount since giving up the allotment. We grow them in potato sacks. They will be chitted in the greenhouse ready to plant in about 6 weeks or so.

Do not put blighted or otherwise sick looking potatoes in a compost bin. I am tempted to try a potato sack.

I’m only growing first earlies this year Whitewave because we hardly eat potatoes, but do love those first new potatoes straight from the ground, buttered ???

All three varieties - 5 potatoes per sack are earlies.

So Charlotte is one, can’t for the life of me remember the others!

I like Charlotte too, but think I prefer Orla. That’s a 1/2 early like Charlotte.

I am going to grow some in a compost bag as Monty recommends, thank you all for your help.

Charlottes are also good grown on to maturity, and store well too.

Forgot, Wilja is always a good bet (2nd Early) and has anyone tried the knobbly Pink Fir Apple. Very easy to grow and tasty too.

I always grow Charlotte, as they seem to resist blight. The tops are always affected eventually and often die away completely but the potatoes are fine, never blighted. I also note that mine never seem to chit, they just sit in the shed for two months doing absolutely nothing, and then I plant them anyway, and they grow. They hardly ever flower either, so they obviously haven't read the books!

Arran Pilot are very tasty earlies.

We had some lovely potatoes from self-setters last autumn.

Since having blight, we try to go for blight resistant varieties such as sarpo miro. For taste, I love pink fir apple and yukon gold.

Please could an experienced potato grower help with info for a novice? We had a bumper potato crop last year and I have stored them carefully in hessian sacks, in a dark cupboard but they are sprouting faster than we can eat them (we also gave lots away). So what do I do - do I I just break off the "eyes" as they sprout? Don't want our delicious crop of potatoes to just go to waste.