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Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:39 pm
by Trixie74
Managed to significantly over order on the tatties - mainly due to indecision about which to get and ordering the lot.

Has anyone got any spacesaving or unusual ways I can plant these.

Have a large area of allotment for most, a little plot at home and a small raised bed at work - and some heavy duty bags to fill with compost.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:46 pm
by peter
Whilst dressed as Darth Vader? :twisted:

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:47 pm
by adam-alexander
I think that you have answered your own question really. - If you have a few seed pots left over, why not offer them to fellow plotholders, neighbours or Freecycle- better tha waste I would say.

a-a

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:43 pm
by Trixie74
Maybe I need to stress less about my spuds.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:19 pm
by solway cropper
I usually end up with more seed potatoes than I can accommodate so I just bung em in any old containers I can find and stick them wherever there's space. As a last resort I give em away. I like potatoes :D

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:53 am
by peter
Plant some closer together in the row than the book says.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:26 am
by oldherbaceous
I often work out how many i'm going to be putting in a row, then if there are 3 or 4 too many, i just put a couple of the smaller ones in the same hole together.

Seems to work alright. :)

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:33 pm
by Monika
That's why I like ordering my seed potatoes from Thompson and Morgan, because they sell them by number of potatoes (10, 20, 40), rather than weight. I know that on all our beds, a row will take 20 potatoes, so I order accordingly. There are usually one or two more in the pack in any case, so one gets some spares.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:03 pm
by solway cropper
I wish I could afford to pay Thompson & Morgan prices :wink:

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:26 am
by Johnboy
Hi Solway Cropper,
Would you care to tell us where you get your genuine seed potatoes from?
JB.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:26 pm
by Trixie74
I got mine from JBA Seed Potatoes - seemed a reasonable price compared to garden centers and they have a fantastic range (salad blue yum)

http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:41 am
by glallotments
Monika wrote:That's why I like ordering my seed potatoes from Thompson and Morgan, because they sell them by number of potatoes (10, 20, 40), rather than weight. I know that on all our beds, a row will take 20 potatoes, so I order accordingly. There are usually one or two more in the pack in any case, so one gets some spares.


Alan Romans sell in 10, 20 ,60 tubers in a bag. Trouble is postage charges when growing on line as potatoes are heavy!

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:55 pm
by Trixie74
JBA were in 10 tuber, 2.5kg, 5kg or 25kg.

I got 2.5kg and shared with someone (11 types!! a bit overkill) and the postage was only £5.

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:09 pm
by JohnN
I have two local "Horticultural Society" stores which supply just about everything, including seed spuds by the number, for basic prices. Don't they have such co-operatives in other parts of the country? This year I'm trying some "Lady C" - don't know if that means Lady Chatterley, but she was no small potatoes! :roll:

Re: Spud Growing Innovation

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:08 pm
by FelixLeiter
JohnN wrote:This year I'm trying some "Lady C"

Lady Christl I should think.

@Trixie74: Early potatoes can be spaced much closer than maincrop varieties. If you want extra-early potatoes you'll likely harvest them before they are fully mature, which means that they can be spaced closer still.