[al78]

I am thinking of the third weekend in March to put the 1st earlies in but as always, it depends on the weather conditions from now until then. The 2nd earlies and maincrop will probably go in the weekend after Easter.

[Yorkie]

Easter varies between 22 March to 25 April .... lot of difference in temperatures between those dates as they are a month apart. Good Friday / Easter seems to perpetuate as a planting date for spuds though ...

It was the date that my granddad, who was an iron miner and who I don't really remember much, always planted his spuds.  I guess it was the only non-Sabbath day he had to do it.  I try to plant mine on the same day in order to feel some kinship with his memory, despite the variability of the date.  I don't grow maincrops so the length of season isn't as important as it might otherwise be 

[Hampshire Hog]

A bit early I think even for those us down in the South
Cheers HH

[beesrus]

The Easter festival potato planting thing just goes to show how bad growing practice/logic can know no bounds. A myth almost certainly on the wane and exclusive to us small gardeners/allotment folk, many of whom are, I guess, still subject to little time off from the drone  industrial culture. Mind you, I haven't particularly noticed hordes of my neighbours planting their potatoes at Easter ... things move on, and many are retired with much more time. I certainly know no farmers at all that plant under such illogical timings ... it's all about the weather forecast, and the soil conditions. As already pointed out, Easter is all over the place and was an attempt at following the moon cycles and seasons, and failing miserably.
 
I do like this time of year though, with the plethora of festivals of different persuasions, and can quite understand why people like to keep to their own tradition for planting one of their staples. Growing on allotments isn't solely about maximum yield.

[Kristen]

I don't grow maincrops so the length of season isn't as important as it might otherwise be

Indeed   But my thinking is that when Easter is early there are then likely to be numerous frosty nights to have to protect the spuds against, compared to the latest date that Easter can be.

Easter is all over the place and was an attempt at following the moon cycles and seasons, and failing miserably.

My understanding was that Easter was the only time-off that folk working the land had to get the allotment/plot in order and planted up, so Good Friday was IT   Easter does coincide with lunar cycles though, so for those planting by the phase of the moon maybe it IS the right time? 

[surbie100]

I've got one bag of spuds going at home, but that's an experiment to see what I get for planting this early. They will go in a greenhouse when they are up though.

I'm aiming to have my spuds in the ground at the end of March at the earliest. Still too cold and wet here.

[beesrus]

Right celestial body Kristen, just the wrong theory  The timing will only be right on rare occasions, excuse my pun,  once in  a blue moon.
While it makes me happy if my planting coincide with moon timings, I don't plant by the moon much, but a family member has done very seriously in the past. Her regard to that waxing and waning calendar was sometimes trumped by other considerations of season and weather, and she would have to swap moons. The sun in particular has the biggest effect. The Easter thing is intractable and set in stone and lets the timing slip for too many years. We used to have the odd discussion about such matters, but it was a long time ago. I expect the debate has always raged, as it does today. The Romans have a lot to answer for with their calendar.

[Kristen]

Ah ... I thought that Easter was the first Sunday after the Full Moon. I don't plant by the moon, so don't know if that would be a good time for planting Spuds, or not, but that apart from what I have, now!!, read it seems that Easter is the first Sunday after some ecclesiastical interpretation of when the Full Moon might be, and thus may not coincide with the Astronomical concept of when the moon is actually full ...

[mumofstig]

I plant in the ground around about St Patrick's day, or as near as the weather allows.

It works for me 

Mind you, I'm always surprised at how well any volunteers are growing when I find them while prepping the beds for planting 

[Tom Hill]

I usually take St David's Day as my guide.

[JayG]

Only have room for earlies, and the earliest I've planted them out was 16th March in 2010, and the latest 14th May in 2013 (late snow.)

As you've probably gathered I go by the soil conditions, which this year need to do a lot of improving if they're to go in anywhere near the middle of March!

[TheWhiteRabbit]

It was trying to snow here this morning, so my seed pots will be staying snuggled in bed with me for the time being. Cossetted? Spoilt? Mollycoddled? Never!

[heygrow]

I've only planted earlies before and always go for Mid March and earth up if there is a frost. Always been ok so far,
This year I have some extra room having got a half plot just this week. So I'm planning on some main crop. Should I plant these around the same time as the earlies or can they go in latter?

The soil on the plot seems to be in reasonable shape, but don't know how much nutrients are in there, so think I might chuck in a load of chicken poo pellets as it's a bit too late for manure now.

I did plants some aran pilot &  international kidney (aka Jesrsey!) In some grow sacks two weeks ago and am keeping them under cover to see if I can get an early crop.

[Kristen]

I'm planning on some main crop. Should I plant these around the same time as the earlies or can they go in latter?

Same time is fine. Mains take longer to mature than Earlies, so if you plant at the same time there is a better chance that they might be ready should you be unlucky enough to get blight later in the season.

Mains are slower, so will take longer to get above ground, so less chance of needing to protect them from late frost, thus another reason to consider planting them at the same time.  But " somewhat later" is also fine.

I did plants some aran pilot &  international kidney (aka Jesrsey!)

Sorry, but not come across anyone who thought that International Kidney had a flavour good enough to warrant growing them.  There is a long-ish article in the RHS rag "The Garden" this month about Jersey Royals.  Huge amount of effort they go to in growing them, and I've heard it said that the years and years of seaweed put on the land is a large part of the reason they taste so good.  Its all South facing sloping land too, according to RHS article, not accessible by machinery, catches the sun and brings the crop on early.  They start them chitting in November or something like that, and the chits looked massive to me!!

[Scottish Mike]

This is my first full year on my plot, so absolutely desperate to get planting!

Luckily, my eagerness is being foiled as my planned potato bed is infested with mint, couch grass and ash saplings. So I'm being saved from myself in that I need to get all that dug up first, and so far it's been really slow going.

Aiming to get FEs in last weekend in March but will plant a few in tubs around St Patrick's day, and SEs and MC mid April realistically.