Pink Fir Apples
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
-
fen not fen
- KG Regular
- Posts: 126
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:54 am
- Location: north lincolnshire
I've heard a lot of advice recently to cut the tops off maincrop spuds that are still growing, to get the harvest before the slugs do. I have a bed of Pink Fir Apple with fantastic foliage that it seems a shame to cut down as it took such a check in the heatwave. I've not suffered much from slug damage, so do folks think I should leave them for a bit longer, or cut them down?
-
peter
- KG Regular
- Posts: 5844
- Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:54 pm
- Location: Near Stansted airport
- Has thanked: 18 times
- Been thanked: 35 times
- Contact:
Given the yield from Nicola on which the foliage died during August, I would advise leaving the Pink Fir Apple to get on with it.
If interested, I won a 3rd at our show, but they were hens egg size.
If interested, I won a 3rd at our show, but they were hens egg size.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
-
taralastair
- KG Regular
- Posts: 86
- Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:25 pm
- Location: Manchester
I harvested all of our PFAs last weekend. They were free seed potatoes that I got from a mistaken order, so I wasn't all that fussed about how they ended up as hadn't actually intended to grow them. Most were pretty small or large with lots of knobbly smaller potatoes starting to form. A real pain to clean/peel and I don't expect they'll store well as a few have already gone moldy. I still have some Sarpo and Desiree in the ground and they (especially Sarpo) look extreemly happpy and healthy, so I think I'll leave them for a bit and hopefully have a heartier crop.
Tara
Tara
Hi Fen,
Have you considered that by cutting the foliage off it doesn't stop the potatoes growing. It may work out that by topping out you give all the plants energy to increase the yield.
Commercial growers here have topped out their crop but are not scheduled to lift the crop for at least another month and surely with the commercial grower he is very unlikely to take any action that will decrease his yield.
Have you considered that by cutting the foliage off it doesn't stop the potatoes growing. It may work out that by topping out you give all the plants energy to increase the yield.
Commercial growers here have topped out their crop but are not scheduled to lift the crop for at least another month and surely with the commercial grower he is very unlikely to take any action that will decrease his yield.
JB.
-
oldherbaceous
- KG Regular
- Posts: 13850
- Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:52 pm
- Location: Beautiful Bedfordshire
- Has thanked: 276 times
- Been thanked: 307 times
Dear Johnboy, thats interesting about topping the haulm, i always thought they did it so the potato skins thickened, so as to keep better.
I must admit i have never really thought about them carrying on growing, i think i will have to try a couple of roots and see.
I wonder what Allan thinks on this matter.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fools like them old fools.
I must admit i have never really thought about them carrying on growing, i think i will have to try a couple of roots and see.
I wonder what Allan thinks on this matter.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fools like them old fools.
-
sally wright
- KG Regular
- Posts: 722
- Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:32 pm
- Location: Cambridge
Dear Fen,
pfa are the longest growing potato available in the uk which need around 18-20 weeks from planting to maturity. If yours have not had so long then the tops need to remain for now. I tend to take off tops if they have blight, that they have become so long they are a hazard to passing cyclists or if they have become the local slug hotel.
Commercial growers remove the tops mainly because they would get clogged in the machinary they use for harvest. Also cutting off the foliage on blighted potatoes prevents the fungus from going down the stems into the tubers.
A cooking tip for taralistair, don't peel the pfa spuds just wash them and peel off the skins after boiling. You get a lot more potato for a lot less grief.
Regards Sally Wright.
pfa are the longest growing potato available in the uk which need around 18-20 weeks from planting to maturity. If yours have not had so long then the tops need to remain for now. I tend to take off tops if they have blight, that they have become so long they are a hazard to passing cyclists or if they have become the local slug hotel.
Commercial growers remove the tops mainly because they would get clogged in the machinary they use for harvest. Also cutting off the foliage on blighted potatoes prevents the fungus from going down the stems into the tubers.
A cooking tip for taralistair, don't peel the pfa spuds just wash them and peel off the skins after boiling. You get a lot more potato for a lot less grief.
Regards Sally Wright.
Hi Sally,
I agree that commercial growers remove the foliage because the foliage jams-up their machinery but why do this six weeks prior to the lifting date when there is no sign whatsoever of blight. There is an awful lot of growing done in six weeks. It only takes but a few minutes per acre to top them out.
In the case of Jane when they went in late I can see the sense in not touching them but we don't know when Fen planted hers.
I will ask the local Agronomist when I next see him.
He advises on thousands of acres of spuds locally.
It is best to top them out prior to lifting and removing the haulm completely as it makes the lifting process even easier for Gardeners. It's a case of letting the dog see the Rabbit.
I agree that commercial growers remove the foliage because the foliage jams-up their machinery but why do this six weeks prior to the lifting date when there is no sign whatsoever of blight. There is an awful lot of growing done in six weeks. It only takes but a few minutes per acre to top them out.
In the case of Jane when they went in late I can see the sense in not touching them but we don't know when Fen planted hers.
I will ask the local Agronomist when I next see him.
He advises on thousands of acres of spuds locally.
It is best to top them out prior to lifting and removing the haulm completely as it makes the lifting process even easier for Gardeners. It's a case of letting the dog see the Rabbit.
JB.
Advice given on one USA list is to cut the haulms back to 8" as they don't need any more than that to grow, then use the cut offs as cuttings for new plants.
Pete
Pete
skype me on pmrout
"To be a successful farmer, one must first know the NATURE of the SOIL" Xenophon , Oeconomicus 400 B.C.
"To be a successful farmer, one must first know the NATURE of the SOIL" Xenophon , Oeconomicus 400 B.C.
-
sally wright
- KG Regular
- Posts: 722
- Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:32 pm
- Location: Cambridge
Dear Johnboy,
I think the delay between cutting and harvest is to allow the little stalk that attaches the potato to the stems to shrivel and die. If it didn't then the potatoes would be discarded with the remains of the haulms and a portion of the crop would be wasted. At least that's my theory anyway.
Regards Sally Wright.
I think the delay between cutting and harvest is to allow the little stalk that attaches the potato to the stems to shrivel and die. If it didn't then the potatoes would be discarded with the remains of the haulms and a portion of the crop would be wasted. At least that's my theory anyway.
Regards Sally Wright.
Dear Sally,
You could well be right. But having said that hereabouts they used to spray them off with a very diluted solution of Sulphuric acid but that practice has been stopped. This year they have a new piece of equipment like a Forage Harvester and they cut and remove all the haulm down to about 4 inches them offload it in the missed corners of the fields.
This machine tops an acre in literally seconds.
This means that the haulm is no longer killed off and although they were topped a fortnight ago there is no sign of them actually dying back.
The date that I have been given for lifting is still first week in October. I have yet to see the Agronomist. He normally comes in for a cup of Coffee when he is in the district.
You could well be right. But having said that hereabouts they used to spray them off with a very diluted solution of Sulphuric acid but that practice has been stopped. This year they have a new piece of equipment like a Forage Harvester and they cut and remove all the haulm down to about 4 inches them offload it in the missed corners of the fields.
This machine tops an acre in literally seconds.
This means that the haulm is no longer killed off and although they were topped a fortnight ago there is no sign of them actually dying back.
The date that I have been given for lifting is still first week in October. I have yet to see the Agronomist. He normally comes in for a cup of Coffee when he is in the district.
JB.
Hi Richard,
I can remember the late 1930's with the new piece of equipment for lifting spuds. It was this spinning device pulled by a single Percheron Horse!!
Things certainly have moved on since those days.
I remember our first tractor a Fordson Major (1946/7) and would you believe that that tractor has now been overhauled and part rebuilt and is now exhibited at Shows by a member of my family. The Spinner has had a lick of paint and is part of a display at a Farm Museum locally.
JB.
I can remember the late 1930's with the new piece of equipment for lifting spuds. It was this spinning device pulled by a single Percheron Horse!!
Things certainly have moved on since those days.
I remember our first tractor a Fordson Major (1946/7) and would you believe that that tractor has now been overhauled and part rebuilt and is now exhibited at Shows by a member of my family. The Spinner has had a lick of paint and is part of a display at a Farm Museum locally.
JB.
Don't go to Canada - we were asked to leave the Calgary Museum because we had a fit of the giggles about what they had on display. At the time, our dining room furniture, bedroom furniture, many gardening and cooking implements, and my sewing machine were considerably older than anything they had there. Most of us have something older in every day use than they have as a special piece.