[drmoonshine]

Planting potatoes in a full moon not a good idea as they are an underground harvest plant not top growth. Best time for spuds is when the moon is waning.

are you for real?

id'e plant my veg even if there was no moon at all........ whats the moon got to do with things

[DD.]

Planting potatoes in a full moon not a good idea as they are an underground harvest plant not top growth. Best time for spuds is when the moon is waning.

are you for real?

id'e plant my veg even if there was no moon at all........ whats the moon got to do with things

Can we please not get in to yet another arguement over lunar planting on the forum. I will repeat previous comments from moderators about this, that it can end in tears. Please respect others opinions, by all means challenge with your own experiences and have a reasoned discussion. There is no need to hurl insults.

My comment, based on what I've researched with the aid of http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/Moon_Planting.asp is that there is contradictory advice out there as this site says that it is a good time to plant first early potatoes.

Whilst trying to keep an open mind, such contradictory advice surely cannot help the cause of lunar planting.

[Ma and Pa Snip]

I'm not poo pooing other peoples notions or theories, but I really can't be doing with all this planting 'By the light of the silvery moon' stuff.

It's hard enough this time of year to work out when to plant without taking the state of the moon into account as well.
Yes it's all inter-related, but I'll leave it out of my calculations.

Some container spuds have gone in, we might even try planting some maincrop ones in containers soon.
The ones in the ground will probably go in within the next two weeks and we will cover with small tunnels as and when required at night. That isn't practical for all, but for us it is and has always worked up to now.

[Aunt Sally]

The most importaint factor when planting potatoes is soil temperature and moisture at planting depth.

45^oF - ~8^oC  and not too wet !

[drmoonshine]

The most importaint factor when planting potatoes is soil temperature and moisture at planting depth.

45^oF - ~8^oC  and not too wet !

thank god its not the moon then.......  :happy:

at the very first sight of shoots ill let ya'll know.... how long should this take do you think?

[CZ Silhouette]

I planted mine last week.
I earth them up so they have even more protection from the later frosts.

[mrsparkle]

I'm currently putting my first and seconds in.  I'm only planting half of each though.  I'll keep some back and plant the rest in about 3 weeks.

Were forecast good temps all next week so I'm hoping it stays that way.

[pigeonpie]

Hubbie works on an arable farm that grows hundreds of acres of potatoes so we only grow salad potatoes at home.  I wait until he finishes planting the main crop at work then put our seed potatoes in the pots.  Never had any problems with frost yet and neither have they in the fields.  I think the main thing is to make sure that the ground is reasonably warm before putting them in and making sure that they're deep enough to protect the seeds should we get some heavy frosts.
I'm hoping they don't start planting for another couple of weeks yet (although that's partly because I have a list of jobs for him to finish at home before he starts working 12 hour days, 7 days a week!!!)

[Kristen]

I wouldn't have risked it but they chitted so fast that they were 3-4" and looking very ready to be planted by practically sprouting.  Also getting difficult not to damage them when they get that long.  I have learned my lesson about ensuring they stay in a dark place until its chitting time and not leaving the box slightly open.

That doesn't sound quite right, unless I have mis-understood you

Storing them in the dark won't work if their dormancy has been broken. They will sprout, and if it is dark the shoots will be long, and white, and brittle. A "chink" of light is not what is making them sprout, its the fact that they have started growing because of temperature.

I think you will be hard pressed to get seed potato tuber that are truly dormant. They will need to come direct from suppliers cold store to you, and go back into cold store when you get them (e.g. fridge)

If they have come from garden centre (say) then they will almost certainly have been warm enough to have broken their dormancy and they will carry on growing when you get them - even in the fridge (albeit slower). That may well be true of an online supplier too - they may have been in a warm area for days being packed etc.

If you put them in the light when you get them they will grow very slowly - particularly if they are kept at low (but not freezing / frosty) temperatures. Mine have been in the unheated conservatory since the last week of January. Their chits are only a few millimetres long