Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: LILLILEAF on June 11, 2017, 08:47

Title: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: LILLILEAF on June 11, 2017, 08:47
My charlotte potatoes are now flowering,how long now before i can dig some for tea?.
Do i have to leave them a bit longer so they grow bigger?.
I am amazed i have so to dig this year as my so called blight resistant ones got blight so no spuds to speak of,so i am really looking forward to trying these :)
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: Salmo on June 11, 2017, 08:57
Have a little dig around with your fingers. If you find potatoes then dig a plant. The potatoes may be small and you may need to dig more than one plant to get enough for lunch but they are the delight of the season.

Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: Hampshire Hog on June 11, 2017, 09:42
Good question Lillileaf. I have lifted 6 plants so far and this has provided enough egg size potatoes for 4 meals for two of us.(Mrs Hog said they were very tasty)
I have been fearful in the past of slugs getting my spuds before I do!! These plants were in the ground and flowering I have some others in bags that are untouched at present. Salmo gives good advice regarding having a "furtle" to check size before you harvest.

Enjoy HH
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: solway cropper on June 11, 2017, 21:27
If you lift them as soon as they flower you will get a small crop but if you leave them for a week or two after the flowers have finished the crop should be substantially bigger.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: Thrutchington on June 13, 2017, 21:39
Worth pulling a root up if you think there will be something there providing you have plenty to leave growing if they are only small.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: juvenal on June 14, 2017, 17:07
Lifted first Charlotte yesterday. Reasonable size.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: victoria park on June 14, 2017, 18:54
I've done it again and forgotten which potatoes were planted where. And now they mostly all look the same :wacko:
I dug up what I thought was a Jersey and it was a desiree. At least that's one bed I can leave for now, and I now have a process of elimination plan for tomorrow that might cost be no more than 2 more maincrops............. unless it was just an odd one that got mixed up.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: LILLILEAF on June 15, 2017, 05:49
We are going to dig around at the weekend,i only have 5 charlotte potato plants,they were a free gift with some thing else i bought,so i thought i would give them ago.
 I will let you know what i get as this is new ground,has only grown weeds for the last 15yrs,till we moved here.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: azubah on June 15, 2017, 18:31
Dug up a couple of plants today and got a nice little bag of spuds.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: candygold1 on June 16, 2017, 14:51
dug up one plant and enough for the wife and me for dinner.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: Hampshire Hog on June 16, 2017, 22:05
Emptied one of my potato bags today. Enough potatoes for three meals for two of us. Had some tonight for dinner.
Very nice and clean, pleasant crop free from slug damage. Will plan to grow in bags as standard in future based on this result.

Cheers HH
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: victoria park on June 17, 2017, 12:14
Found where I had planted my Jersey Royals. I remember my logic now ...due to lack of space in early March I put my maincrop Desirees in behind the greenhouse shade because I thought they would have more growing time to cope with the extra shade than my earlies would. Must remember to accurately record my plantings in my spreadsheet. No point having it if it is wrong. I'm sort of organised, but in some ways I'm not. :nowink:
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: goose on June 23, 2017, 16:26
had a furtle today around my charlottes, got enough for tea but some very small so will leave for a while yet.
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: mumofstig on June 23, 2017, 17:04
I dug up the first plant of the Pentland Javelins and got 3 hoooge potatoes  ::) dug up the 2nd plant and got a shovelful of nice smaller ones  :D
Harvest seems potluck this year  ;)
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: victoria park on June 23, 2017, 18:25
It's always a dilemma. Some lovely new potatoes, but accompanied by 6 or 7 marbles that would have grown to maturity if left to their own devices. It's one of the reasons I grow a few earlies REALLY early in the greenhouse and dig them up from the end of April so as to take away that  desperation. Some growing is in the head  ::)
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: simonwatson on June 26, 2017, 16:05
I pulled my first Maris Peer from the plot at the weekend, planted on the 28th of March. One plant produced about two meals worth for my family of 4. Given that I've got 30 plants in that bed, we better get eating!
Title: Re: potatoes when to dig?
Post by: LILLILEAF on July 02, 2017, 07:54
Had a dig in the charlotte potatoes yesterday,dug 2 plants we got 4.5lbs of good size spuds, is this a good amont of whats to come?,they were nice clean spuds to my suprise no slug damage.