urgent help needed

[smeagal]

My potato's (in bags) haven't flowered but the tops are yellowing and dying off should I harvest the crop now?

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Smeagal, not all potato varieties flower and potato plants do die down when they are ready. However, what variety are you growing and when did you plant the seed potatoes? Can you post a photo please?

[smeagal]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi Smeagal, not all potato varieties flower and potato plants do die down when they are ready. However, what variety are you growing and when did you plant the seed potatoes? Can you post a photo please?

Suttons seed potato's

charlotte , but I can't remember the other two and they are no longer listed
It was 3 early new potatoes and sacks
Photo to follow

[smeagal]

Please see attached photo's

[smeagal]

Approximate date of planting mid april 2010
charlotte vivaldi and one other that I don't remmber and the label has faded away

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Smeagal, the plants do look as if they are starting to die down - I normally wait until the complete plant has died down before harvesting. Early and second early varieties need approximately 13 weeks growing time and it is roughly that length of time from mid April. You can have a careful rummage in the container with your hand to feel what size the potatoes are.

[smeagal]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi Smeagal, the plants do look as if they are starting to die down - I normally wait until the complete plant has died down before harvesting. Early and second early varieties need approximately 13 weeks growing time and it is roughly that length of time from mid April. You can have a careful rummage in the container with your hand to feel what size the potatoes are.

Many Thanks I will wait a little while and then harvest

[Ace]

Originally Posted by smeagal

Suttons seed potato's

charlotte , but I can't remember the other two and they are no longer listed
It was 3 early new potatoes and sacks
Photo to follow

Hi Smeagol

I believe I have the same "package" as you from Suttons. 3 potato bags, black with small eyelets at the bottom around the edge for drainage.

The 3 potato varieties are Charlotte, Vivaldi and Rocket.

All 3 of mine have grown vigourously. We kept earthing up till the soil reached the top of the bags and then let them grow out. They grew out the top of the bags as high as the bags themselves.

ALL 3 are now flowering.

We planted ours out around mid to end of May after having left the seed potatoes to continue chitting on the kitchen windowsill for the previous couple of weeks.

Here's what they look like. In the picture you can see 2 of the bags at the front, the 3rd is buried behind them somewhere There are 2 other pots, the more traditional terracotta coloured ones and they are performing similarly to the suttons bags.



All the vegetation is lush and green and if I get in amongst it you can really smell potatoes.

So I'm slightly worried about your potatoes. April and early May were still very cold periods especially during the nights so I'm wondering if you caught a bit of frostiness.

Have you been watering your spuds regularly? And when you do how much have you given them?

When I saw the depth of these spud bags and planters I found it hard in my mind to see how a sprinkling of water would ever get right down to the bottom of the bag unless you put loads and loads of water on them. For that reason I put plastic piping in the bags from the outset which had loads of holes drilled in them (see pic below)



I water down the pipes and sprinkle the soil surface. This ensures that water gets right down to the roots and seed potatoes.

I had a "furtle" last night and could see that at the moment the spuds are no more than peanut sized. I think that's how they should be as the flowers have only developed in the last 2 weeks.

So, I'm trying to think of things for you to check such as:

1. Do you think you've watered them enough so that the water gets right to the bottom?

2. Has the growth flopped over and perhaps snapped some of the stems?

3. Are they in a really windy spot or are they sheltered?

4. Did you fill your bags with compost or soil? Should be compost.

5. Have you been using any kind of fertiliser and if so when did you start doing this? Should really only be done once they are flowering.

That's all I can think of at this stage. All might not be lost but you need to work out what the plants are missing or what they have too much of. They clearly should be flowering, all 3 varieties assuming we bought the same package.

Cheers

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by Ace

We planted ours out around mid to end of May

Have you been watering your spuds regularly? And when you do how much have you given them?

I had a "furtle" last night and could see that at the moment the spuds are no more than peanut sized.

Hi Ace, you are quite right about potatoes needing plenty of water. After growing rows of spuds on our allotment and letting my OH water them, there was a vast difference between the harvest from the potato plants at the ends of the rows that he watered properly and the harvest from the potato plants in the middle of the potato 'patch' where he didn't water properly.

You planted your seed potatoes mid to the end of May, which is only 7 or 8 weeks so your potatoes should be peanut sized. Smeagal's potatoes have been growing for 4 - 5 weeks longer so they should be 'new' potato size now depending on how well the plants have been watered.

I do know from having rows of potato plants that not every plant in the same variety will flower and some people recommend removing the flowers so that the plant doesn't waste energy on the flowers and seed pods - maybe you could try this on some of your plants to see if it really does make a difference to the harvest - it would be interesting.

Your plants look brilliant!!