[fatbelly]

I want to be eating my 1st earlies even earlier this season.

I have 5 very large plastic pots and was thinking of planting my 1st Earlies in these pots in the G/House in late Feb then move them onto the plot in the open around late April when the temps in the G/H start to get too hot but outdoor temps are climbing,

Has anyone ever tried this before?

Thanks FB

[mumofstig]

Yes, but they still sometimes need to go back into the greenhouse on cold nights in April/early May unless you can fleece/cover them with polysheeting.

[sunshineband]

Yes, but they still sometimes need to go back into the greenhouse on cold nights in April/early May unless you can fleece/cover them with polysheeting.

Which is why I keep mine here at home, as it gets a bit much having to go to the plot night and morning to lug them in and out 

[Ivor Backache]

I will share this with you and you can adapt it to suit yourself.
I have just received my seed potatoes including early crop. I have noticed that if I keep back some potatoes that I have grown from the previous year they sprout much sooner and I have them chitting at Christmas time.
These are the notes I kept last year:
10/1 Planted 16 Lady Christl in 2l pots (5" square pots) in fresh compost. They rooted and sprouted.
15/2 Transplanted them to big pots (I use the cut flower supermarket pots) One in each pot. In cold greenhouse.
11/3 All in full leaf. As the foliage gets bigger some are moved to south facing wall. Use curtain netting at night.
 2/5 First pot emptied. Small potatoes. Successive pots have larger potatoes
21/5 All pots used.
Meanwhile: 12/5 Earlies in trench were showing and forked between rows.
                 21/6 started to eat early trench potatoes.
There was a month gap between potted and trench so this year I will add two weeks for development and increase to 20 pots, equivalent to 1 row on the allotment. That should give me continuity.
To be fair, I am on the North Wales Coast and very rarely ever get any snow This last week I recorded two nights of -1, so we are very sheltered. If the frost ever got these plants then I would back to square 1 and time wasted.

[Yorkie]

I will share this with you and you can adapt it to suit yourself.
I have just received my seed potatoes including early crop. I have noticed that if I keep back some potatoes that I have grown from the previous year they sprout much sooner and I have them chitting at Christmas time.

I wouldn't ever advise re-using potatoes grown the previous season as seed tubers the following year.

You have no way of telling whether they will introduce disease to your crop and the wider area.

There is a post on here from a professional potato supplier, who had to bin a complete variety which had been given to him by a neighbour.  The variety had been fine in previous years, and there were no signs of disease on the tubers, but they were completely virus-ridden.  Luckily for him he was growing only a small amount and in a quarantine area.. 

[Robster]

Fatbelly, great idea growing in bags and shuffling in and out of the greenhouse to avoid frosts.  I've done it for a number of years and it's lovely having the first new spuds.  I use the potato bags that are readily available and widely advertised.  A couple of spuds in each and grown in homemade compost.  A good handful of growmore and BFB along the way.

[Ivor Backache]

Hello Yorkie: I acknowledge what you say. I only ever grow seed potato on my allotment.
But these are grown in pots at home, and they are first generation from certified seed, (not grown for years) and I certainly would not do this with shop spuds.