[purplebean]

I commented today on how tall and lush the potato foliage is, best I have ever seen and my husband wondered if that was a good thing as it may mean all leaves and little spuds. Those who are more experienced have you got any idea what the relationship is between foliage and spuds or even if there is one?

[Trillium]

The more lush foliage you have, the fewer the spuds.  You can have only one or the other, never both.

Sounds like either too much water or too much nitrogen fertilizer, or both. Stop watering the spuds and stop feeding them. They'll do fine on their own by increasing spud size and quantity.

[Paul Plots]

The more lush foliage you have, the fewer the spuds.  You can have only one or the other, never both.

Sounds like either too much water or too much nitrogen fertilizer, or both. Stop watering the spuds and stop feeding them. They'll do fine on their own by increasing spud size and quantity.

Yep....that's what I was always told but I'm not quite so sure.    :blink:

For the last 2 years the foliage on my spuds has easily topped my neighbours. His harvest was fine but mine was larger. Maybe something to do with the varieties though. 

[Alastair-I]

It's very much dependent on the variety, and very difficult to make any assumptions about the possible effects of foliage growth on your tuber yield unless we're told which varieties you are growing - unless we can assume you're growing the same varieties this year that you've grown in previous years?  I've got Golden Wonder in for mains.. and it's not unusual with this varity to have 3' plus of foliage above ground.  The variety database gives a rough idea of expected foliage height.

[potatogrower]

Think variety has a part to play. grown maris piper and cara and a link that Digger Dave posted

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=78111.0

stated that foliage on these is tall to very tall (cara). i have fed mine groworganic fertilizer twice over 3 months and i have to say they have grown tall. my uncle and aunt have grown these too and they too have said they've grown very tall but they only added fertilizer when the ground was worked and not afterwards so i can only say its down to variety and how you look after them.