Frost on me Potatoes

[Im not hungry]

Hello All

Well at 5.30am this morning 04/05/11 I went to get in me car for work only to see the dreaded frost on the windscreen! Off i went to me vegtable plot to see everything frozen. Paticulary hard hit was the potataoes which had formed the flower buds the week before!

I quickly watered then to try and wash the ice off, then had to go to work. On reviewing the damage tonight the top half each plant is black and very wilted....... so what do I do now?

Remove all dead and blackend parts and leave them to carry on?

Remove everything and start again?

Advice most welcome!!

regards

Paul

[airconednightmare]

i'd just cut them back and wait too see what happens, you would need a pretty harsh frost to kill established tattie plants.

mine got a wee bit of damage and they were under fleece...but they are every night and they arn't anywhere near flowering. st andrews might be picturesque but we get our last frost a good month or so later than most of england

[Im not hungry]

Hey thank you. Hopefully they will pull through, although I exepct it will set them back!

cheers for the advice

[claire2965]

i am growing my potatoes in potato bags. they have reached the top and i have been earthing up as they grow but am not sure when i should harvest them. the first bag has been in for about 12 weeks but there are no flowers on them. help plz

[Hammer]

Claire & Paul,
Claire, harvest your Potatoes when they finish flowering (before the flowers turn to fruit - go green, i assume these are earlies, for Maincrop spuds it it best to wait until leaves turn yellow - to die
Paul, just cut away the dead leaves and give them a feed, they,ll most likely be fine.

Regards, Hammer.

[Im not hungry]

HI Hammer

Yes I've cut the dead leaves and stems off, and they seem to be recovering. How would you propose to feed them?

Regards

Paul

[Hammer]

I just feed with Fish Blood and Bonemeal or anything high in Potash, you can get in garden center.
Regards Hammer

[Im not hungry]

Is that in liquid or pellet form?

:-)

[Hammer]

It comes as granules and should be sprinkled around base of plants, lightly forked into the soil and watered.
Regards Hammer

[airconednightmare]

blood fish and bone comes as a powder, sprinkle a hand full or 2 per sq meter. wood ash is high in potash but you have to watch because it's alkaline. liquid tomarto feed also works well and i like to add a bit of seaweed to make sure they get enough trace elements.

[claire2965]

thanx hammer will wait for my firsts to complete flowering which they have started to do now. the others r maincrop but again will wait till they start to go over.