FIRST EARLIES OR MAIN CROP

[CJS]

Really? Oh that sounds good - I assumed May would be too late. I could whack them into the ground that I will be uncleared which will help with the clearing

Do you suppose I could still find seed potatoes for sale?

I was in Wilkinsons last week, they had 'sacks' of various seed potatoes for sale, (did not take much notice of variety) I suppose Wilkinsons is not 'the place' to buy such things but they are there for sale. I bought me a 'small bag' of 'Pink Fury Apples' to have a play with.

CJS

[Suzie]

I have one of those close by in Didcot CJS - thanks for the heads-up, it's worth a check out

[Parsons Jack]

Hi Suzie,

Don't know if you have a Wyevale near you, but our local one had loads of potatoes last week when I was in there.

[Johnboy]

Hi Suzie,
You can always sow an early variety later on in the season but you would struggle to produce a crop by planting a main crop variety early.
Here abouts commercially we grow 2nd Earlies as Main Crop to beat the late frost of Spring and the early frosts of Autumn.
JB.

[desertbear]

I can confirm that there are still seed potatoes available. We are a north London allotment society and we have an unexpected - and unwelcome - surplus supply this year. They are good quality and still in good condition -and we have lots of different varieties. If anyone is interested - even if its only for a few kilos - we are selling them off at 60p per kilo. If you are interested, get in touch by email to saundergil@hotmail.co.uk.

[WestHamRon]

I can confirm that there are still seed potatoes available. We are a north London allotment society and we have an unexpected - and unwelcome - surplus supply this year. They are good quality and still in good condition -and we have lots of different varieties. If anyone is interested - even if its only for a few kilos - we are selling them off at 60p per kilo. If you are interested, get in touch by email to saundergil@hotmail.co.uk.

Another cross-forummer from The Vine.

[JohnN]

Forgive what must seem a strange question, but are Jersey Royals a specific type of potato, or just another 'early' (eg Arun Pilot) that happens to be grown in Jersey? Can they be bought as seed potatoes to grow in the greenhouse, I've never seen them in the nurseries?
John N

[alan refail]

Hi John

Do a forum search on International Kidney. Under this name they were introduced in 1879, or earlier. They are grown in Jersey as Jersey Royals and harvested immature for the early market. Left to grow on they will become large and, to my mind at least, not very palatable.

[JohnN]

Thank you, Alan - lesson learnt!

[Mike Vogel]

OH is right, Suzie. Earlies are earlies becauise they take less time to produce tubers than the maincrops. First Earlies take as little as 70 days, and the warmer the weather when you put them in, the quicker they will come up and flower. This is why you can end up with new potatoes at Christmas time: just dig up your earliest spuds in May or June and leave a few [usually by accident in my case] to resprout, and you will have a crop in December. I would mark the growth, though, because early frosts cause the foliage to disappear, though the tubers underneath may still be usable.