Kitchen Garden Forum

I've been thinking about next year and the way you can get second cropping new potatoes by keeping the seed in cold storage until August and getting new potatoes for christmas. What I'm planning is to buy 72 1st early seed potatoes and keep them all on the bottom shelf in the fridge. Then on the first of every month bring out six of them, chit them for a month, and then plant them out. Obviously it will work for some months, but it will be interesting to try it for the whole year.
Don't you think?

I wish I could find the figures - temperature, humidity etc - but this is information not readily available. But you would do well to do some research before buying seed potatoes and cluttering up the fridge.

The temperature in a fridge is certain to be too low for storage of potatoes. As I understand it seed potatoes are stored in "a temperature controlled environment". Try putting a good, clean, unpeeled potato in your fridge at its normal temperature and see what happens.

Alan

Hi FatB,
The favourite hereabouts is to bury a biscuit tin full three feet deep of the first harvested earlies and have them for Christmas Lunch.
I have never ever tried it but there are several gardeners in the district that do and swear by it.
This may be a lot easier than trying to grow them with all the weather pitfalls running up to Christmas. God forbid we might even get a frost!
Remember I am only the messenger!
JB.

My Dad used to always grow just a few new pots for Xmas I seem to think in a bucket in the shed but I have no details and sadly he has been dead more than 25 years, he also grew peanuts for me which I would like to now do for my Grandchildren and that knowledge has sadly gone too

So nobody seems to think it might work then! What I meant was to plant them in the new wooden framed 30' polytunnel I'm just about to start building. When the next three months are likely to be decent weather they can go outside, and when the worst is coming they can go inside. I probably won't get six nice plants of new spuds every month of the year but at least I'll know which months I can plant some. I live in Kent only a mile from the sea so if it'll work for anybody .....

Oh sorry Alan, by the way I'll try your idea about the fridge. Does anybody know what temperature the commercial growers store them at?

Dear FatB, it's got to be worth a try, if it doesn't work you don't have to tell anyone, if it does work you can tell us it does, but not how to do it.

I think what OH is really saying but is too much of a gentleman to actually put it in writing is...if it works you can gloat!

I've been thinking some more about this and JB's comment about burying the tin of spuds is interesting. Do you mean that new spuds in June are still OK at Christmas? In my garden 3' would put them underwater, but could a ground level clamp work?

Alan.
I was already trying the seed potatoes in the fridge as you suggested and we had to throw them all out yesterday!
Point taken.
JB hasn't replied to my enquiry about a clamp. I take his silence to mean it wouldn't work then.

Hi FatB,
I am afraid that I didn't realise that you were awaiting a reply and I apologise for being a little slow on the uptake.
The biscuit tins are sealed so I suppose they may be alright in a clamp just so long as the temperature is kept down, which I presume is the reason for burying them so deep.
Just at present I am unable to contact any of the people who could give me the answer as I shall be away from home from today for a few days. On my return I shall make the necessary enquiries and come back with a more substantial answer.
JB.