[banf77]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help with the following. I had a couple of bags of early seed potatoes from my wife for Valentines Day! They are from B&Q, Arran Pilot potatoes.
My questions are:-
With crop rotation, could I plant my maincrop in the same plot as the earlies, once the earlies have been harvested?
Also, as my wife has bought me too many, could I store a bag of these seed potatoes until it's time to plant them as a main crop?

Cheers
Steve

[Ice]

No, sorry.  You plant them all at similar times and your lates just grow more slowly than your earlies.

Put them in a cool place with light and let them chit for a few weeks before planting.

[banf77]

Thanks Ice.

Although the potatoes I have are labeled as earlies, are they actually any different to what you'd plant as main crop. In other words, can I plant them all at the same time, but treat half as earlies, the other half main crop, or is there a physically different component that makes some potatoes the main crop?
Cheers
Steve

[Yorkie]

Earlies generally don't store as well as maincrop, but there's nothing to stop you leaving them in the ground until you're ready.  Depending on variety, they may get attacked by sluds and lose their 'salad' type of qualities, but if they all mature at once then you're going to have to prioritise somehow 

[Stripey_cat]

The main difference between earlies and mains is how long it takes the plant to mature to the point the tubers are big enough to be worth digging up.  If you put both in in April, your earlies will be ready to dig in the summer holidays, but the maincrops at the same time will probably only have marble-sized tubers (but lots of them!).  Basically earlies make relatively few tubers on a smaller plant, but quicker, and maincrops make lots of tubers on a bigger plant, but taking longer to get going.  Second earlies are somewhere in the middle.  There are some early-ish varieties that keep growing well if you leave them in the ground, so you can take your pick of harvesting smaller new potatoes or a heavier crop later on.

[woodburner]

I'm not sure of the advisability of following potatoes with more potatoes, but would it be possible to grow two lots of earlies in succession? (Perhaps with a second lot of well rotted manure for the second lot.)
I remember a lot of people talking about getting new potatoes to crop for Christmas last year.

[galen]

Don't wish to hijack the thread but a related question. I've seen supermarkets sell minature (marble) and baby (golf ball) size Maris Piper new potatoes - which I thought was a mian crop.    Now I know it is a "waste" of main crop but as I have got some to grow does anyone know how long after planting they reach this size ? We are growing Charlottes but we do enjoy our new potaotes. 

[shaun]

Don't wish to hijack the thread but a related question. I've seen supermarkets sell minature (marble) and baby (golf ball) size Maris Piper new potatoes - which I thought was a mian crop.    Now I know it is a "waste" of main crop but as I have got some to grow does anyone know how long after planting they reach this size ? We are growing Charlottes but we do enjoy our new potaotes. 

as soon as the flowers open start picking

[Stripey_cat]

I'm not sure of the advisability of following potatoes with more potatoes, but would it be possible to grow two lots of earlies in succession? (Perhaps with a second lot of well rotted manure for the second lot.)
I remember a lot of people talking about getting new potatoes to crop for Christmas last year.

Potatoes are not hardy, so unless you're in Cornwall, I think the second crop would get frosted before they were ready to harvest.  I've heard of people doing Christmas new potatoes in tubs in the greenhouse, or in a polytunnel, though.  I think you'd still want to use a fresh bed (maybe following early peas or spring greens that you can clear early summer).

[home made pie]

Just while you're on the subject of Christmas potatoes, I had mine growing in tubs in the greenhouse doing really well until sometime in November a bad frost ruined the lot, just wondered did anyone manage to grow some for Christmas?