Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: m1ckz on February 19, 2017, 05:55

Title: potato
Post by: m1ckz on February 19, 2017, 05:55
who will be the first to put a row of potatoes in i wonder    an post lol 
Title: Re: potato
Post by: DIGGER on February 19, 2017, 08:37
Not me,I stick to tradition,St Patrick's day.

I have a silly Irish hat and sing the wild rover and the fields of athenry as they go in.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: m1ckz on February 19, 2017, 08:46
17th march then     jeezzzz  can i wait that long   lol  its getting warmer
Title: Re: potato
Post by: mumofstig on February 19, 2017, 09:03
17th march then     jeezzzz  can i wait that long   lol  its getting warmer

But, the long range is for cold to return before 'proper' Spring arrives - so be careful!
Title: Re: potato
Post by: New shoot on February 19, 2017, 09:05
Resist m1ckz, resist  :lol:

The soil is still pretty cold and wet, plus there is plenty of scope for cold snaps yet.   I've caved in slightly and planted a few first earlies in buckets in the greenhouse.  The rest are safe in the shed and stay there a while  ;)

Snap MoS  :lol:
Title: Re: potato
Post by: m1ckz on February 19, 2017, 09:12
me too new shoot   now ill wait lol  tc
Title: Re: potato
Post by: ARPoet on February 19, 2017, 10:14
I have earlies doing nicely in pots in the greenhouse.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: Mum2mj on February 19, 2017, 11:20
17th march then     jeezzzz  can i wait that long   lol  its getting warmer

But, the long range is for cold to return before 'proper' Spring arrives - so be careful!

Nooooo  :( I am so over the cold weather now
Title: Re: potato
Post by: DIGGER on February 19, 2017, 11:58
It's like a game of poker you on one side of the table and Jack Frost on the other.
Each waiting for the other to blink.

Ha ha good that
Title: Re: potato
Post by: snow white on February 20, 2017, 07:55
Not me,I stick to tradition,St Patrick's day.

I have a silly Irish hat and sing the wild rover and the fields of athenry as they go in.

Sounds like fun.  Might sing to my potatoes too.  Does it make them grow better?
Title: Re: potato
Post by: Tenhens on February 20, 2017, 22:30
March 4th last year had snow , left work early to get home .   Recorded in diary.  We also got some new hens the following day!!

Mumofstig is right about the forecast , mentioned colder for the weekend.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: Robster on February 20, 2017, 23:12
It won't be me.  Potatoes in bags (lady Christl) will keep me happy.  I was really chuffed last year as the potatoes planted in the Lotty only really came through when all the hard frost had stopped.  Nice when on the rare occasion things go your own way.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: harry on February 23, 2017, 16:16
Good Friday is the traditional day for planting seed potatoes
Title: Re: potato
Post by: mumofstig on February 23, 2017, 16:30
Good Friday isn't a fixed date, so I don't think it's very helpful.

As they used to work all hours, the Easter day off was probably the first chance the old timers had to get them in.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: harry on February 23, 2017, 17:05
That's right labourers only got one day off and that was Easter so that was when they were planted. Some old timers on our allotments still stick to this tradition. :tongue2: :lol:
Title: Re: potato
Post by: Yorkie on February 23, 2017, 20:31
My granddad from N Wales always planted his spuds on Good Friday - as Harry says, I think it was because as a miner it wasn't the Sabbath and it wasn't a working day.

I know it's not a fixed date, but I like the association with a grandparent who I don't really remember, and so try to honour him that way!
Title: Re: potato
Post by: solway cropper on February 24, 2017, 22:43
I've always thought it strange that people plant according to a calendar and not the weather. I usually have a few tubs going in the greenhouse by late february. Then I cover small areas of the plot to warm up the soil and plant half a dozen spuds at a time until the weather warms up. If we get a hard frost I don't lose much.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: Hampshire Hog on February 25, 2017, 10:57
Mine are merrily chatting in my conservatory but had to open window yesterday as a strange object called the sun warmed them up too much. As spring approaches I find it is a balance between planting too early or ending up with baked potatoes before they have been in the ground. Normally copy my neighbour and see when he is starting his off. Probably aim for mid March depending on long range forecasts etc.
Cheers HH
Title: Re: potato
Post by: al78 on February 26, 2017, 19:52
I've always thought it strange that people plant according to a calendar and not the weather. I usually have a few tubs going in the greenhouse by late february. Then I cover small areas of the plot to warm up the soil and plant half a dozen spuds at a time until the weather warms up. If we get a hard frost I don't lose much.

I wonder what such people did in 2013, when even in the balmy south east, winter carried on until the second week in April.
Title: Re: potato
Post by: mumofstig on February 26, 2017, 20:29
I wonder what such people did in 2013, when even in the balmy south east, winter carried on until the second week in April.

I planted mine about the 12th of April that year
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=101015.msg1166261#msg1166261