[shay]

Was very late this year with my spuds so missed my firsts, but got my seconds and mains in. Had a bumper crop of seconds to the point I still have a sack of them to go and with only 7 days in a week, there is only so much potato salad you can have.

My problem is my mains are ready, plants are dying and falling over. How long can I leave them in the ground? Do I need to cut the plant down and then cover over at all or can they just be left to cover themselves?

[Nikkithefoot]

Due to copious quantities of manure, I still have three sackfulls of second earlies to get through (dug from 2 rows)! I have had boiled, potatoe salad, and even resorted to chips!!!!!

My mains are still very lush and green, but will be dying back soon I expect. Remove the top growth as it dies back and burn unless you are completely sure it is disease free when you can compost it.

Spuds can stay in the ground, but could well be subject to slug attack. Have you thought about digging them then making a clamp to store them? Still slightly vulnerable to slug attack but not so much.

[shay]

What is a clamp store? literally a hessian sack which has been tied tight?

Not got that much room to store in out of the sun as other lots of spuds are in understairs cupboard. Will remove the plants as they are pretty much almost fallen over.

[Kleftiwallah]

On a slightly raised flat bit of ground place a thick wad of straw.  pile the spuds after checking they are all 'sound' onto this straw.  Pile more straw around and over the spuds and work a bit of drainpipe as a vent down through the top of the straw to the spuds.  Cover the spuds with soil, and there ya go.       Cheers,    Tony.

[arugula]

Here is how John describes clamping.