Very early potatoes

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Spudman

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Very early potatoes
« on: September 23, 2010, 11:07 »
How early is it possible to plant early potatoes, and can they be ''forced'' i.e. will it make a difference growing them under a polythene cloche, for example? And what are some very early varieties of potatoes to do this?

Tks

S

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chimaera

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2010, 13:17 »
Don't know if it counts, but this year I put a few seeds in large pots half filled with the previous year's growbag compost and a bit of growmore at the same time as I put the rest out in trays to chit. I had these in an unheated greenhouse and they emerged by the end of March. I kept earthing up with compost-bin compost and put them outside mid may when I needed the space. They started dying back at the end of May when i tipped them out. I did one pot of Anya and 1 of Charlotte and both about 1-1.5 pounds of very nice new spuds per seed (3per pot).

Definitely doing that again, and if I can find some more suitable pots I'll do more.

Charlie

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solway cropper

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2010, 22:12 »
I did similar to chimaera. Put chitted seed in large containers of compost in unheated greenhouse and covered with fleece. End result: fresh new spuds on 28th May and that was after a very hard winter. I reckon with a normal winter you should be able to get them a couple of weeks earlier than that.

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sunshineband

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2010, 22:15 »
I agree.

It is straightforward to get really early spuds - rocket was the one we grew this year and it lived up to it's name.

Not as big a crop as the ones planted later and grown slower, but worth having mid May  :D :D
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Fisherman

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2010, 05:24 »
Plant them up in large pots or bags in February under polythene or glass to protect them from severe frost. Put about 6" of compost and manure at the bottom of the pots, plant 3 or 4 seed potates then cover with another 6" of compost and manure. When the tips of the potatoes start coming through cover them up with 3" or 4" compost until the pot is full. Feed and water well and the potatoes should be ready about mid May. New potatoes generally take 90 - 100 days before their ready. Rocket as recommended by Sunshineband can be ready in as early as 85 days. When forcing new potatoes the crop tends to be relatively small but worth it as they are expensive to buy in the shops in May.

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Spudman

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2010, 07:08 »
Brilliant replies, thanks everyone!

I'm looking for a real succession of spuds next year..very earlies, earlies, 2nd earlies and so on culminating in growing some for Christmas. I live in a flat with a small garden so my big problem, as Im finding out now (my first year allotmenteering), is storing stuff. So if I can grow successions of spuds, I can near enough dig them up and chuck them in the pot. Hopefully we can be eating spuds most of the year!

So Rocket are the ones to start off with?

Many thanks

Spudman.

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Kristen

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2010, 12:01 »
Not grown Rocket, but I find Arran Pilot very early and have grown that in my earliest containers, then Charlotte for some slightly later containers as we like the taste of them.

Then the outdoor First Earlies take over.

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realfood

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2010, 20:08 »
Swift is early and has very short stems so is more easily grown under polythene.

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digalotty

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2010, 21:32 »
ive been told PFA give excellent results in pots
when im with my 9yr old she's the sensible one

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sunshineband

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2010, 21:41 »
Swift is early and has very short stems so is more easily grown under polythene.

Swift is certainly good in containers as it is much shorter than Rocket  :) 

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veggieman

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Re: Very early potatoes
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2010, 08:22 »
Based upon my experiences down south, I would also vote for Rocket as being the fastest to be ready. Particularly so if you are happy to have some smaller ones a couple of weeks before the others are of a decent size.

Up here, I don't plant even my earlies until a couple of weeks or so into April.
If I can grow things in Shetland, then you can certainly grow things where you are!



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