Kitchen Garden Forum

I seem to have purchased more potatos than i have ready beds for.
Is it still ok to plant in the next few weeks?
Someone told me that i could plant them as "no dig pots" and mow the grass , sow potatoes on top amd cover with straw?? Is that right? I would have thought the grass would still grow?
All you experience appreciated!
Thanks
Lou

It's not too late. You could put them in tubs.

Hi Tigger,
The contractors only finished sowing the spuds on my patch this year on Sunday so I feel it's not to late to grow them in the ground direct if you have the space. Just down the road the contractors were working all night last night and they haven't finished planting in this area yet.
JB.

We've only just planted our main crop and late potatoes - this is our "normal" time and they always do ok. This year I am just worried about the dry soil on top but I am hoping that there is still enough damp soil lower down.

hi loulou,i have never tried the no dig method but i am sure the grass would get through and cause problems.

Sorry if I was misleading you - I offered tubs as I thought you didn't have any spare ground.

Note to self - read the posting then read it again!

Thats a relief I thought i was going to have to waste all these sprouted potatoes.
The only place i have to put 2 bags of them is on undug ground on the allotment, so its going to have to be either the no dig method or waste them.
Have seen some paper mulches you can buy, I thought i might have a go with fixing that to the ground digging a trowl hole though paper into ground for each potato and cover with straw.
Worth a go you think?
Thanks Louise

You can buy paper mulch!!!!Geeze!


Do not part with your money, go get some cardboard from the nearest bike of white goods shop. That, with straw on top should be dandy.

But thank you for the post, reassuring as I am also well behind on things. I'm planning to plant the remaining spuds with a bulb planter through the couch grass and then mulch, mow and hoe to try to help them win the battle for plot domination.

I was in the same situation last year, so I tried the no dig method.I googled" no dig potatoes" and got several bits of advice. I spread horse manure over my un-prepared area of allotment, as thickly as I could manage(not v. thick because I am too weak to dig the manure and lift the full bags!) then stuck my potatoes into the surface of manure, and covered with black plastic until they were beginning to grow leaves, then uncovered them and put straw mulch on top, from the stable where I got the manure from, and topped this up with grass clippings from my garden a few times. Despite the rain, slugs and blight, I got a reasonable crop, and they were very easy to harvest and quite clean too.
The idea that this method helps clear the ground for next year was a bit misleading- It still needed a good rotovating and grew just as much weed over the winter/spring as all the rest of the plot. Do have a go- but try to control the slugs better than I did!

I wondered if anyone has grown potatoes that were planted in the late summer (July)? I ordered some Maris Peer potatoes from JBA that are meant to be for late planting but am not sure now!!!

From what I've read the best way to avoid things like frost in September is to grow in a green house (which I don't have!) so if I grow in polypots would I get a decent crop?

The Maris Peer seems to be good for blight resistance but if there's anything different I should watch for with a late crop?