[mumbley joe]

morning all
i'm sure this has been covered countless times so i'll apologize now.
when is the best time to harvest potatoes and onions?
if there is a thread dedicated to all of this please point me in the right direction
thanks

[Goosegirl]

A basic answer is when they are ready, but that doesn't often help a newbie. Pots - are they first, second early or maincrop? Some earlies don't flower, so flowering time or just after is, again, no help. I don't grow maincrop, but guess they will be waiting in the wings. I'd have a furtle around a root and see what size they are; leaving earlies in will give you bigger pots but you may want little new ones, so the choice is yours. Onions - you could harvest some now for use if the bulb size is what you want, but usually they tell you when to harvest as their leaves flop over naturally and start to go yellow at the tips.   

[mumbley joe]

thanks goosegirl that's more or less what i thought, just wondered if any one had any other opinions

[Yorkie]

Which spud varieties are you growing, and when did you put the tubers into the ground?

[richie3846]

Try this link:
http://varieties.potato.org.uk/menu.php?

Search for your variety and this will help you decide based on wether the spuds are 1st or 2nd earlies or maincrop. Maybe you could add 2 weeks because of the cold start this year.

[mumbley joe]

Which spud varieties are you growing, and when did you put the tubers into the ground?

i can't remember what sort or when they went in the ground, note to self,  'be more organised' thanks for the replies any way

[Goosegirl]

Don't worry MJ - we all do this! I have a little notebook and write in it when I have planted, sown, etc and what I have bought re- seeds, pots etc, but it sort of wanes as the season goes on.

[Headgardener22]

I think the answer with potatoes is "when you want them and they're big enough".

This year I've only grown Early Maincrop and Maincrop because our site seems to get blight regardless of what is happening elsewhere in the world and the only blight resistant varieties are EM or M. However, I've been picking at the EMs for about 3 weeks picking more roots at first and then reducing as the harvest gets bigger.

I've done this for a number of years and still end up with enough spuds to see us through until February. (I plant about 70 seed potatoes).