[A Reyt Tayty]

Following advice from all forums and reading materials, I've just cut down the foliage on some of my spuds before intending to harvest them in a week/fortnight. Even though they have been well earthed up, quite a few spuds are very near the top, so would it be a good idea to recover the spuds with the cut down haulms to keeep them out of the daylight, or would it be inviting trouble?

[Beetroot Queen]

Any that we find that are not green we just take home with us.

[Kleftiwallah]

And any WE find with green areas, we just peel deeper/thicker.

Cheers,   Tony.

[Kristen]

I don't think the green will recover, or not quickly, but it might be best to cover them to stop it getting any worse - as they will get more light with the haulms removed.

Just cut the green out when you prepare them for cooking, as Kleftiwallah said.

I don't recommend planting-your-own next year, but the green ones would also be suitable for that purpose.

[gobs]

I would not recommend cutting them down for next year and also would not recommend eating green potatoes.

So, I throw out all green ones, hence it does not matter in my view, if you cover or not, they are green already. And that won't change even if you cover and want to eat them.

Some potatoes grow the tubers over the seed one, these need earthing up more.

[Kristen]

would not recommend eating green potatoes.

We've been doing that  for years and am still here - although that may not be any sort of recommendation!

Having said that we don't cut off more than 1/4, maybe 1/3rd, of the spud otherwise ... what's the point? Spud is then too small or doesn't look like a spud, so ones that grow right on the surface and are predominantly green get chucked, others with only a small amount of green get cut.

I did mulch mine heavily with lawn mower clippings one year as we had a late severe frost.  Was the best year ever for non-green spuds ... but nowadays I use a selective herbicide (like Verdone Plus) on the lawns and the persistence of one of its chemicals would knobble my spuds

Straw maybe (next year) ?

[gobs]

Of course, you are still here, as they are breeding them to keep toxicity levels low.

Well, I'm obviously not talking about mulching as such, but mulching when already green. There is a difference: it won't make any difference to the already green.

[Salmo]

One reason for cutting off the tops is to stop blight getting into the stems and going down to the tubers. If your tops have even the slightest blight then placing them over the potatoes is asking for trouble. It will not cure the green ones anyway.

What you need to think about is why are they sticking out of the ground. I am not a fan of ridging up at planting time. I plant with the ground flat and earthup 2 or 3 times. Still get green ones but I like to think less of them.

[gobs]

Yes, there is that, what Salmo says about blight, but it's only an advice for when they are already diseased and obviously, as he says, you would just create more problems mulching with them. Were this the case.

Generally, you do not need to cut them off, quite the contrary:

- they provide shade for the tubers(less green)
- act as a weed suppressant
- provide feed for the tubers(last better if left to die off).

I do go with Salmo's technique: do earth and do not plant deep. I do earth up a bit every hoeing actually.

[Annen]

I read in John's veg book that if the tubers are only a bit green, then keeping them in the dark will make the green go away.  So you could try keeping them in a biscuit tin for a while.

[gobs]

I read in John's veg book that if the tubers are only a bit green, then keeping them in the dark will make the green go away.  So you could try keeping them in a biscuit tin for a while.

It would need to be very dark. I have no such experience, quite the contrary, they start to go green in not so good storage.

[Nikkithefoot]

The greening of potatoes is caused by Solanine which is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), including spuds and tomatoes.

Any green should be peeled or cut away. Illness from eating small amounts of green spuds certainly aren't common, however for example in 1979, a group of 78 schoolboys in London ate a meal containing potatoes stored for a number of weeks before use. They suffered from diarrhoea, vomiting, circulatory, neurological and dermatological problems, with 17 of the boys being hospitalised. A second incident occurred in Sweden in 1986, when 11 people became ill.

Symptoms can include:

Delirium, Diarrhoea, Dilated pupils, Fever, Hallucinations, Headache, Loss of sensation, Lower than normal body temperature (hypothermia), Paralysis, Shock, Slow pulse, Slowed breathing, Stomach or abdominal pain, Vision changes, Vomiting.

The key thing for me is being a member of the nightshade family I would be cautious, especially if pregnant, very young or elderly with other medical problems.

[A Reyt Tayty]

I haven't covered the spuds because they are green. I said that the spuds are very near to the surface, not on it. Anyway, just ot let you know, I decided to get them up today. Absolutely massive spuds and plenty of them. Too big really. I'd have prefered twice as many spuds, but only half the size. They have suffered a bit from scab, but nothing much really. All off with just one slide of the tayty peeler. Good crispy spuds which made a top meytantatypi for dinner.

[gobs]

I haven't covered the spuds because they are green. I said that the spuds are very near to the surface, not on it. Anyway, just ot let you know, I decided to get them up today. Absolutely massive spuds and plenty of them. Too big really. I'd have prefered twice as many spuds, but only half the size. They have suffered a bit from scab, but nothing much really. All off with just one slide of the tayty peeler. Good crispy spuds which made a top meytantatypi for dinner.

So you did: "quite a few spuds are very near the top". It sounds like green, sorry.