potatoes

[Tig]

It was Nicola I grew in the container last year Spru and they performed brilliantly (my photo which won BIS veggie shows some of the crop ) They tasted delicious and the ones I stored in the garage after harvesting kept very well for several weeks before we scoffed them all.

I have bought another bag of 5 today, plus 5 Rooster to try this year.

x Tig

[Ladygardener]

Seems like everyone is on a spree with their potatoes. I'm waiting on my order from Marshalls and was almost tempted yesterday in B&Q but they'd run out of Maris Piper which are all I'm needing to complete my lot.
Tig I see you've come on leaps and bounds with your skating.

[Spruance]

Jan 15, 2010 19:14:41 GMT Tig said:

It was Nicola I grew in the container last year Spru and they performed brilliantly (my photo which won BIS veggie shows some of the crop ) They tasted delicious and the ones I stored in the garage after harvesting kept very well for several weeks before we scoffed them all.

I have bought another bag of 5 today, plus 5 Rooster to try this year.

x Tig

Thanks Tig,

I'll hope for similarly good results then. i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/wink.gif

[Rosefriend]

You are all miles ahead of me - I don't get the seed potatoes until March/April....I can order some but 2.5kg is far too much for me...

RF

[farmersboy]

Phoned the GC yesterday,and they said they had just come in,so im off there this morning

Well i got my seed pots,130 Picaso,25 Kestral,15 Swift i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/cheesy.gif

[Jasmine]

Have you tried those all before FB? You grew Homeguard last year didn't you? I never saw Homeguard for sale in any or our GC's last year.

[farmersboy]

Never grown Swift before Jas,thought id have a change from Home Guard,grew Kestral for first time last year,and was pleased with them,so having again,and i always grow Picaso,they are very heavy croppers,and make lovely chips,they are the ones in my "perfic" chip photo ;D

[Jasmine]

Might give those a go next year then. I can't remember what I ordered - it's too long ago. Liked Swift though - we had those this year.

[Cheerypeabrain]

I'm trying Wilja this year...and will grow Lady Crystl again as the family love them. I want to grow most in the ground and a few in tubs. I don't think that I'll use the potato growing 'bags' this year tho...wasn't that impressed with them last year.

[carolann]

I'm not sure what to grow this year I may try the Nicola which Tig has got but this year I will look after them a lot better than I did last year. I will also look out for the International Kidney ones for some new pots.

[Jasmine]

Are you going to use your bits of pipe again Carolann?
I'm wondering about whether to try RF's idea and just put the spuds at the bottom and pile soil on them so no need to earth up like last year.

[Missredhead]

Thats what I am going to do Jas....but I will be using largish pots for them.

[carolann]

I have some hesian type bags which look like those potato planter bag thingies and I am going to try those this year but I will be using 1 of the pipes and doing it like RF.

[pdblake]

I'm not buying any seed spuds this year. I've saved a few of my own instead. I don't grow enough of them to justify buying them.

I've saved a handful of Roosters and something else I can't remember the name of ;D

[carolann]

Well it looks like I will have to get my International Kidney from T&M. I have just had a row at the GC the girl there said that IK's and Jersey Royals where 2 differant potatoes I explained to her that you can only call them JR's in Jersey and they were called IK's outside of there she ended up saying to me that a Potato was a Potato so I said to her that if old Gordon who owned the chain was alive she would have been down the road for saying that and walked out. I dont know where they get their staff from these day but they should not say that to a gardener/customer.

[Tig]

Oooh GC rage Carolann ;D Find an article - print it off and go shove it in front of her nose!

Poundland had some seed tatties today, they had Pentland Javelin and Rocket - 10 spuds for £1 (obviously ) I got a bag of Rocket - see if they live up to their name!

x Tig

[carolann]

I didnt rate them last year Tig but I did mistreat them but then it could have been the weather as well, good luck with them.

[Rosefriend]

In 2008 I did a little experiment...

5 tubs filled roughly to halfway with fertilizer

5 tubs filled to the top of the tub with fertilizer

5 tubs filled roughly to halfway without fertilizer.

The spuds in the tubs filled to the top came through only 6 days after the half filled tubs. I also wanted to see how much difference no fertilizer mattered.

As far as the mini-trial was concerned :

The tubs with fertilizer gave more spuds than the 5 without fertilizer.

It didn't make any difference whether I filled the tubs with earth totally or bit by bit.

The only difference that I saw were the tubs without fertilizer that I had filled to the top with earth - 3 of them, they struggled for a while - the 2 I filled half way were happier, but both had less spuds as the tubs with fertilizer.

++++

Last year 2009 I filled all the tubs to the top - i.e 10cms of earth, seed spud and then filled the tub to the top... and was rewarded with less work, wonderful potatoes and as I have said I waited 100 days and stretched the 20 tubs that I had in 2009 from the 100 day mark, which was July to the end of October.

Now then...was it a one off or.....

RF

[Barbara]

Last night I watched escape to the country, they interviewed a potato grower, he used his big spuds for making crisps, his mediums for brewing Vodka, they said it was gorgeous in the taste test,(I didn't know they brewed it in Hererfordshire.) and he kept any small ones for seed potatoes. waste not want not.

I'm going to try your all the way up RF.

[Rosefriend]

Since a few of you want to try my method I have opened a thread on the Grow board so that we can compare results.

gardenworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2008trials&action=display&thread=8304&page=1#285999

RF

[4pygmies]

I grew the T&M allotment mixture last year - 10 tubers of 6 different spuds from 1st early to maincrop and was really impressed with them. They cropped really heavily, huge tubers and I was still digging them out of the ground for Christmas Day. They kept my family of 3 and my eldest daughter's family of 4, and my Mum going all summer and autumn. You can't really ask for much more

[purplejulia]

Jan 22, 2010 16:32:15 GMT Tig said:

Oooh GC rage Carolann ;D Find an article - print it off and go shove it in front of her nose!

Poundland had some seed tatties today, they had Pentland Javelin and Rocket - 10 spuds for £1 (obviously ) I got a bag of Rocket - see if they live up to their name!

x Tig

Tig, I also bought the Pentland Javelin and Rocket from Poundland today. Also got 5 Kestral and 5 Pink Fir Apple from Wilkinsons.

They all look fine to me and I will be chitting them tomorrow.

[Tig]

I didn't buy the Pentland Javelin PJ - running out of 'theoretical' spud space It will be interesting to see how we all do with them - one end of the country to the other I did fancy the pink fir - but they are a bit knobbly when trying to scrape - unless that was just me?

I must shift my jacksy and dig the intended plot

x Tig

[carolann]

I got some Cabaret which are main crop, £2.45 for 51 spuds I will split them with my brother, I will be chitting them this time after watching country file on Sunday they where on Jersey planting the JR's and on there the guy said that if you rub the first lot of chits off the Potato starts to panic and send lots more up. I will be saving some shop bought JR's when they come into the shops and trying them also if its not too late, maybe I could get them on the table for Christmas this year.

[Missredhead]

I saw that too Carolann....sounds good to me....will be going to the GC in the next couple of weeks to see what they have..

[carolann]

Well I ordered my International Kidney from T&M yesterday as they had an offer of no P&P on for the weekend so it made it a lot cheaper to get them, other wise it was £4-something P&P which made it very expensive.

[Ladygardener]

I ordered my main crop from T&M this weekend as well. I would'nt have if I'd have had to pay nearly £5 for p&p. I ordered Maris Piper.

[Ladygardener]

I'm pleased to say my taster bag of seed potatoes arrived today from Marshalls. 1kg each of Charlotte Swift and Maris Peer. The delivery man put them into the mini greenhouse for me which was great as I was at work. They're all set out to chit now. Fingers crossed. ;D

[farmersboy]

Great LG,make sure they dont get frosted,i think you have snow coming your way tomorrow

[Ladygardener]

Oh no, I've not seen the forecast, don't want to see any snow. I have to travel from 1 hospital to another tomorrow and use public transport, won't be pleasant if it's snowing. The potatoes should be ok as the back is covered with clear perspex and the boiler is out there but I'll keep an eye out for them.