Potato Query for David K!

[lottielady]

I dug up some Desiree today that I 'missed' last year. Now I was under the impression that the frost damaged spuds if they were still in the ground. Some of them were a bit rotten but most of them were ok although some had started sprouting, so the question is can they be left in the ground over winter or not?

LLx

[davidk]

Hi Lottie!......Sorry, only just spotted this.

I think it's fair to say that spuds will be unaffected by frost unless it penetrates the ground to the depth where they are.

Given the winters we get nowadays probably they could be left in the ground along with dahlias and other things that have always been traditionally lifted & stored.

During recent digging, I've also unearthed quite a few myself, along with a few beetroot - the beetroot was quite sound but the spuds were slug-eaten.

[lottielady]

Thanks David - I won't worry so much about digging them up quickly when the main crop are ready now.

LLx