Potatoes continued
Second early potatoes generally produce a better yield than first earlies largely due to their longer season of growth although they might succumb to blight in July. This can partly be overcome by planting in very early April so the crop has enough time to bulk adequately before blight arrives. Good second early potatoes are Nadine, Kestral and Charlotte. For many gardeners Charlotte is the best waxy (salad) potato and the benchmark against which others are compared, it also stores quite well. If it escapes blight and enjoys good growing conditions Charlotte can produce a large crop of quite big potatoes.
Many of the main crop varieties we have used in the past now regularly succumb to the far more aggressive strains of potato blight that are now around and affect our plants long before they have produced a worthwhile crop. Cara and Valor still seem to have some resistance and often crop well but both can be prone to slug damage. Some gardeners are still successful with Desiree but many find it succumbs to blight long before a decent crop has formed.
You may have been fortunate and escaped blight and if so obviously continue growing the varieties you do well with. However many gardeners now find the solution is to grow blight resistant varieties such as the Sarpo range. These come out of the Sarvari Research Trust breeding programme aimed at producing resistant varieties.
There are several well worth trying:-
Of them all Sarpo Mira is by far the heaviest cropper and the most readily available. During the spring some local garden centres and major seed companies do stock seed tubers of Mira however the most economic way to purchase them is from a local trading hut such as the one at Dagnall.
The other Savari varieties are not so widely available but are normally offered by some of the major vegetable seed suppliers and can sometimes be obtained via one of the local horticultural society purchasing schemes or the Savari on line shop although do order early as it seems common for supplies to run out.
Early and second early potatoes are generally best left in the ground and dug up as required, main crop potatoes are generally lifted in one go when ground conditions are good, dried for an hour or two then stored in paper or hessian sacks in a cool frost proof shed. Isolate any damaged ones and use them first, the rest should keep until about March or April the following year.
If your own available time prevents part of your plot being cultivated or you are breaking in a weedy plot it can be kept under reasonable control for the summer by planting potatoes. So long as the ground is not too panned it can be planted with little cultivation, light forking along the rows should be fine. Select a late main crop variety with blight resistance and heavy weed suppressing foliage that keeps growing until the crop is lifted such as Sarpo Mira. Potatoes are heavy feeders so in case your soil is low in nutrient give a dressing of fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone and plant mid April, 45cm (18") apart in rows 90cm (3') apart to allow room for good earthing up. Earth up as they come through using a hoe or border spade, probably twice so as to disturb weed growth as much as possible. Lift at the end of September along with any remaining perennial weeds. This will give you a rewarding crop, keep the ground reasonably clean and leave it clearer for the following year.
Potatoes can also be grown very successfully in containers and bags, the best being the black 14 litre polythene bags sold in local trading huts and used by exhibitors. The holes in these bags are often too small so cut five or six more about ¾ ” or 18mm diameter around the bottom edge. Best results will be achieved by using proper potato compost which has the correct nutrients, alternatively multipurpose compost and mix in more fertiliser. Put one potato in each bag on about 1” of compost, then fill the bag to its top with compost. Dig a shallow trench about 9” deep into which the bags are placed, a few pellets in the trench should stop slug damage. If necessary temporary frost protection is easy using upturned pots and a couple of layers of fleece. There is no need to earth up potatoes grown this way. By cutting larger holes in the bags and sitting them in a trench means the roots can escape out of the bag to find more moisture and nutrient in your soil yet the crop remains inside the bag and keeps very clean, as the bag is sunk into the ground the roots keep cooler in the summer sun. As the potatoes start bulking keep the bags well watered, a couple of feeds of liquid Maxicrop or similar will help. When ready, stop watering, cut back the haulm, leave for a few days for the compost to dry, lift the bags and either tip out and use straight away or store somewhere dry and cool until required. The potatoes keep better if left in the bags in a cool shed until required for use. Early potatoes perform very well grown this way resulting in a far heavier yield than those put directly in the ground, especially if watered regularly during bulking when they most need it. Grown in the ground watering tends to get ignored. Casablanca performs particularly well this way.
The disadvantages of growing potatoes in bags are:-
a) There is the additional cost of bags and compost although if retained, revitalised with fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone the compost is reusable the following year for other crops.
b) A shallow trench needs digging to set the bags in.
c) Fleece frost protection might be necessary for early plantings.
d) Regular watering is necessary as the crop starts to bulk.
The advantages of growing potatoes in bags are:-
a) No earthing up is necessary.
b) It is not necessary to dig the crop up; the whole bag with crop is easily lifted out of the ground.
c) The entire crop is lifted; no self setters are left behind to cause a nuisance in following years.
d) Provided potato compost is used and the bags are watered when the potatoes are bulking far heavier yields particularly of early and second early varieties are produced.
e) The crop is generally very clean.
f) When the bags are lifted the potatoes store very well if left in the bags of compost until required.
Many of the main crop varieties we have used in the past now regularly succumb to the far more aggressive strains of potato blight that are now around and affect our plants long before they have produced a worthwhile crop. Cara and Valor still seem to have some resistance and often crop well but both can be prone to slug damage. Some gardeners are still successful with Desiree but many find it succumbs to blight long before a decent crop has formed.
You may have been fortunate and escaped blight and if so obviously continue growing the varieties you do well with. However many gardeners now find the solution is to grow blight resistant varieties such as the Sarpo range. These come out of the Sarvari Research Trust breeding programme aimed at producing resistant varieties.
There are several well worth trying:-
- Sarpo Mira: A red late main crop potato that currently has excellent blight resistance and if given a long season of growth produces a huge crop of very large potatoes. Due to its blight resistance Sarpo Mira is currently the premier allotment potato. It produces huge foliage but can suffer from hollow heart and is best lifted quickly towards the end of September if heavy rain is forecast.
- Sarpo Axona: A red main crop potato similar to Mira but not so heavy cropping.
- Sarpo Una: A red waxy second early potato.
- Sarpo Kifli: A white waxy early main crop potato.
- Sarpo Shona: A white early main crop potato
- Blue Danube: A blue skinned white fleshed early main crop potato.
Of them all Sarpo Mira is by far the heaviest cropper and the most readily available. During the spring some local garden centres and major seed companies do stock seed tubers of Mira however the most economic way to purchase them is from a local trading hut such as the one at Dagnall.
The other Savari varieties are not so widely available but are normally offered by some of the major vegetable seed suppliers and can sometimes be obtained via one of the local horticultural society purchasing schemes or the Savari on line shop although do order early as it seems common for supplies to run out.
Early and second early potatoes are generally best left in the ground and dug up as required, main crop potatoes are generally lifted in one go when ground conditions are good, dried for an hour or two then stored in paper or hessian sacks in a cool frost proof shed. Isolate any damaged ones and use them first, the rest should keep until about March or April the following year.
If your own available time prevents part of your plot being cultivated or you are breaking in a weedy plot it can be kept under reasonable control for the summer by planting potatoes. So long as the ground is not too panned it can be planted with little cultivation, light forking along the rows should be fine. Select a late main crop variety with blight resistance and heavy weed suppressing foliage that keeps growing until the crop is lifted such as Sarpo Mira. Potatoes are heavy feeders so in case your soil is low in nutrient give a dressing of fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone and plant mid April, 45cm (18") apart in rows 90cm (3') apart to allow room for good earthing up. Earth up as they come through using a hoe or border spade, probably twice so as to disturb weed growth as much as possible. Lift at the end of September along with any remaining perennial weeds. This will give you a rewarding crop, keep the ground reasonably clean and leave it clearer for the following year.
Potatoes can also be grown very successfully in containers and bags, the best being the black 14 litre polythene bags sold in local trading huts and used by exhibitors. The holes in these bags are often too small so cut five or six more about ¾ ” or 18mm diameter around the bottom edge. Best results will be achieved by using proper potato compost which has the correct nutrients, alternatively multipurpose compost and mix in more fertiliser. Put one potato in each bag on about 1” of compost, then fill the bag to its top with compost. Dig a shallow trench about 9” deep into which the bags are placed, a few pellets in the trench should stop slug damage. If necessary temporary frost protection is easy using upturned pots and a couple of layers of fleece. There is no need to earth up potatoes grown this way. By cutting larger holes in the bags and sitting them in a trench means the roots can escape out of the bag to find more moisture and nutrient in your soil yet the crop remains inside the bag and keeps very clean, as the bag is sunk into the ground the roots keep cooler in the summer sun. As the potatoes start bulking keep the bags well watered, a couple of feeds of liquid Maxicrop or similar will help. When ready, stop watering, cut back the haulm, leave for a few days for the compost to dry, lift the bags and either tip out and use straight away or store somewhere dry and cool until required. The potatoes keep better if left in the bags in a cool shed until required for use. Early potatoes perform very well grown this way resulting in a far heavier yield than those put directly in the ground, especially if watered regularly during bulking when they most need it. Grown in the ground watering tends to get ignored. Casablanca performs particularly well this way.
The disadvantages of growing potatoes in bags are:-
a) There is the additional cost of bags and compost although if retained, revitalised with fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone the compost is reusable the following year for other crops.
b) A shallow trench needs digging to set the bags in.
c) Fleece frost protection might be necessary for early plantings.
d) Regular watering is necessary as the crop starts to bulk.
The advantages of growing potatoes in bags are:-
a) No earthing up is necessary.
b) It is not necessary to dig the crop up; the whole bag with crop is easily lifted out of the ground.
c) The entire crop is lifted; no self setters are left behind to cause a nuisance in following years.
d) Provided potato compost is used and the bags are watered when the potatoes are bulking far heavier yields particularly of early and second early varieties are produced.
e) The crop is generally very clean.
f) When the bags are lifted the potatoes store very well if left in the bags of compost until required.