Being a new allotment holder I decided to purchase a copy of kithchen garden as there was a super feature on growing poatoes... Sadly despite covering varities and earlies/mids /lates , one important fact was missed out..When do we start to plant earlies/mids and lates.... May be new but us novices need to know the basic stuff !!! Anyone out there help out with this important infornation..
I would say plant your early chitted potatoes when the soil has started to warm up, usually from mid-March or early April. ... it will depend how far south you are, which is probably why they didn't give dates. Good luck with the new allotment. Thermometers that give soil temperature are not that expensive or you can simply observe when other things start into growth. You should concentrate on the earlier types if you're short of space, and it's also worth remembering that earlies are less likely to encounter pest problems as they're lifted so much earlier in the year. Second earlies take 16 to 17 weeks to mature after planting, so you should be able to harvest them from very late June through to the start of August. Maincrops are ready 18 to 20 weeks after planting, so they can be lifted usually from July through to October. Maincrops take up more space in the garden, but they tend to be the best varieties to grow if you want some for storage.
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. By Thomas Huxley http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
I have ordered earlies/mids amd lates..so when should I plant the mids and lates then..I am 15 miles from Lands End as the crow flies !! Thanks for the reply again natures babe !!!! My allotment is coming on well, unoccupied when I took it over ..56 bags of rubbish plus bikes , plastic etc as well to dump. I have joined the allotment life group on facebook and photos are on there.
I guess it depends when you want to harvest them they could all be planted together but mids and lates take longer to mature, you could plant later if you want a later harvest and work back from 17 weeks and twenty weeks for planting times, but remember later crops are more prone to late blight.
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. By Thomas Huxley http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
Nature Babe has given you good sound advise. I'm a little surprised that you have to ask if you're a Cornishman. Living where you do, you could plant your earlies very early it all depends on the condition of the land. I live in Somerset and have grown potatoes on a small commercial scale for too many years and have often planted earlies in February on light sandy soil in dry conditions. We are still trying to lift our main crop due to the wet weather! Your early potatoes should be earlier than anyones in mainland Britain. Rocket and Swift are very quick maturing but grow Maris Bard for best flavour and quality in my opinion
Here in bedford, where I was advised years ago to pretend we lived in the north for earliest planting dates, I try to warm up the soil with clear polythene cloches and then plant the earliest varieties at the beginning of March and cover them with fleece. In a good year I get spuds mid-May. In Cornwell I reckon you could plant in mid to late Feb using the same methods.
Thanks for the replies..will go for mid Feb..gets confusing with earlies/mids and lates..until I got my allotment a spud was just a spud..now I know different though !!!...
Another point you could consider is this: the terms "early" or "Late" can be used to refer not necessarily to when you so but to how long it takes for the plant to mature. Really fast earlies take 75 days; normal earlies 90, so there is absolutely no reason why you should not sow early potatoes in Feb or March to dig up in May/June and another lot in May/June to harvest in the autumn. There are plenty of canny growers who put their late maincrops in first, then their earlies.
This is the principle behind Christmas New Potatoes: Keep some of your early harvest aside and replant them in the summer. [In practice, you will have missed a few and will notice them sprouting in July.] They'll be well ready by Xmas time, if not before.
Maincrop, especially late maincrop, should be put into the ground as early as possible, as they have a longer growing season [150-180 days]. If you sow a late maincrop in May, you may have to wait till November to dig them up, an unpleasant task when the soil is all wet and boggy, and you may even find them got at by early frosts [not in Cornwall] and slugs.
