[gingerbrad]

Hi All

I am a bit of newbie to this so please bear with me.

I have finally got my hands on an allotment, it's been a long wait. i have been growing in the back garden but i can now branch out. It's a half plot but gives me much more scope than before. Im still getting to grips with whats there, fruit bushes (black current and some other current bushes etc) but i have dug over a good portion of it and want to crack on.

So anyway, I have been given some potatoes from my neighbour at home but he was not sure what variety they were (he said he got them from work). He thinks they were something called Rocket but are these main crop or earlies? If earlies do you think i am too late in planting them (they are in the greenhouse chitting now), i am in the north in Leeds.

In addition i was in Wilkinsons and noted they have onion sets called turbo, sturon and stuttgarter. Now i have had sturon in the back garden before but never heard of 'turbo' does anybody have any experience of them and/ or stock from wilkinsons, are they any good?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks
Brad

[Dom2599]

Hi,

I planted all my tatties at the weekend, 1st, 2nd's and maincrop all in at the same time, i'll just see how they go...i tend to follow what the old fella next to me does, he's been doing it for years, so hopefully i wont go too far wrong

With regards to the onions, i've just put in some sets, i had these potted up a couple of weeks ago, they are red onions, never used the ones you have metioned tho

Good luck with the plot

[BabbyAnn]

Rocket is a first early potato, and no, you're not too late to plant, in fact, quite a few people haven't planted their potatoes just yet but any time soon will do.  You can spread the planting out (First earlies this week, Second earlies next and so on and so forth) or you can plant them all on the same day - it just means the different potatoes are ready at different stages.  Rocket potatoes don't tend to store very well compared to a maincrop.

Wilkos stuff is as good as any seed supplier.  I'm sure I've grown Turbo before but I can't remember - certainly not enough to think "oh dear, don't get them again" or "wow, these are the best".  I do keep going back to Sturon for some reason.

Good luck with the new allotment gingerbrad - I think you'll do fine 

[Carrotcake]

Today is a "plant spuds and onions day" if you are planting by the moon, so get them in now  

Rocket are First Earlies if that's what you have.

I've had good results from things bought from Wilkos ... and bad, but not bad enough to stop buying stuff from there. If they haven't been sitting around in the shop for too long they should be OK.

[Carrotcake]

... glad to see we agree Babbyann 

[billathome65]

http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/potato/potato-growing-guide.php

Cheers Bill

[gingerbrad]

Thats great thank you all for your help.

At least i know im not too late with the planting of earlies. i have bought some maris piper as mains so may try to get the rocket spuds in this week if they have chitted enough and then get the main in a couple of weeks later to try spread things out a little.

My father says that his dad and many others used to say plant spuds on good friday, or similar to you carrotcake, plant them on a full moon...who comes up with these?!?! It's confusing for a newbie i feel like im getting my leg pulled most of the time when i hear things like this.

In regards to the onions I will get a small pack of sturon but may try the turbo and let you know how they go. if the names anything to go by they should be belters.......(kiss of death i bet you)!

Thanks again
Brad

[billathome65]

My father says that his dad and many others used to say  plant them on a full moon...who comes up with these?!?!

They go back to before we had slave control time when people knew the seasons and the land, modern life has eroded these skills.

I am new to all this myself but never disregard old sayings and ideas as the ancient ancestors knew a lot more than modern man will ever know. 

[BabbyAnn]

My father says that his dad and many others used to say plant spuds on good friday, or similar to you carrotcake, plant them on a full moon...who comes up with these?!?! It's confusing for a newbie i feel like im getting my leg pulled most of the time when i hear things like this.

The "full moon" is actually part of a lunar way of gardening (sow seeds at such a such moon phase, plant root veg at some other phase) - some people swear by it, personally I'm open-minded but will stick to traditional methods for now and watch the weather instead  

Good Friday and St Patrick's day have been clues for when people should plant their spuds but there's nothing hard or fast about that rule other than take a note of the weather (is it snowing, maybe leave it a bit longer) and also remembering that those who live further south are about 2 weeks ahead in the growing season than those further up north.  

Good Friday this year is a lot later than usual but still time to plant potatoes.  When I got my plot, it was a bit of a panic to get it ready in time and my maincrop potatoes didn't get planted until after the first week in May, and they turned out fine  

[Yorkie]

My spuds will go into the ground in a week or two.

We sell turbo and sturon in the lotty shop.  I think turbo is a rounded onion, and sturon much flatter on the bottom.  Or the other way round  That's the only real difference as told to me.

I think I have sturon.  But I could be wrong!

[gingerbrad]

Brilliant my father will love that. The only problem with that is that it leaves me gullible to his 'my father did this....' stories in the future, which i know some of them will be nonsense!!

However, I guess it makes perfect sense really as we seemed to manage before Titchmarsh, Monty and the like so taking the lead from nature seems only logical.