BBC Gardeners' World

Comments

• softyglo

  31 January 2008, 05.18PM

  we have grown potatoes on our allotment for 3 yrs now. we have rotated the crops, and used horse manure during winter digging. but the potatoes are always small. One year was very wet, the next was very dry. we like to grow them organically. what else can we do to make them a better crop. we use desiree late crop, and pentland javalin for early crop. can they be planted closer than the books recommend.

• jeanie

  03 February 2008, 06.18AM

  we have just got our allotment so we are very new so any advice will be welcome,

• kam1ss

  04 February 2008, 08.17PM

  To get around the rotation in my two raised beds and to ease my back, I have been very successful with using old car tyres. Take the first tyre and fill with compost and plant the potatoes. As the stems grow put another car tyre on the first one and fill with compost. Keep this going until you have about 4 car tyres and keep the compost well watered.

  When it comes to harvesting you just remove the tyres one by one and all your lovely potatoes are there to be gathered. No backbreaking hoeing up or digging. The spent compost can either be recycled on the compost or sometimes I just lay over flower beds to improve the soil. I do not believe in using the same compost two seasons running.

• jean

  21 February 2008, 07.50PM

  we have an allotment, and are constantly fighting bindweed, in large amounts, can anyone help please!!!!!!!!!!! thank you

• Cheers

  26 February 2008, 08.20PM

  In reply to Jean, the only way to get rid of weeds such as bindweed is to carefully spray Glysophate on its leaves. Best time to do this is when the sap is starting to rise (say mainly springtime) & also just before the plant goes into dormancy (before winter). The poison gets absorbed through the leaves and taken down to the roots and then withers and dies. The chemical is harmless to the soil and only affects the plant its sprayed onto. It wont work if you then pull the leaves off in a frantic moment to get rid of them after spraying, its best to leave the stuff to do its thing. I garden and grow veg organically, and its the only thing I use when I have to resort to chemicals. Happy spraying and check which way the winds blowing.

• Geoff, County Durham

  03 March 2008, 07.43PM

  Hi a few years ago I had problems with bindweed, I used roundup mixed as per instuctions but did not spray it on the bindweed. I put some of the weedkillier in a glass jar and put some of the plant into the jar and let the bindweed absorb the weed killer, this seemed to have better results than spraying. (stablise the jar with bricks to stop it tipping over). Good luck.

• Allan

  28 March 2008, 05.10PM

  I'm just about to try growing potatoes for the first time in a plastic container. I will only need about a third of my seed potatoes. Can I store the remainder for next year safely or is it inevitable that they will go off?

• Grannyanne

  28 March 2008, 07.21PM

  It can also be useful to stick a few twiggy branches or canes in the ground where the bindweed is growing, and wait for it to climb up them before spraying.That way, the weed is less spread out over the plot. Good luck. Whatever you do, don't rotovate the ground. that will just spread it around.

• mel

  05 April 2008, 12.16PM

  Hi, is it ok to seed shop bought potatoes - I'm seeding some now but not sure if it is safe to do, thanks mel.

• julie

  07 April 2008, 11.37AM

  Hi, I've just planted my very first lot of potatoes - how do i know when they are ready to harvest as I've never done this before. julie

• Christine

  09 April 2008, 09.51AM

  Hi Mel, they say you should not plant shop bought potatoes that have sprouted as they can lead to a diseased crop. Yet I planted some last year and I got some tasty potatoes, yet not very many on each plant. I would opt for the potatoes from the garden centre that are specifically for the job.

• rita fudio

  11 March 2008, 09.27PM

  I am worried about my potatoes as after planting them out they had to endure a severe frost; could anyone advise as to whether I should dig them up and start again, or will they pick up? I would be very grateful for some help. Thank you in advance!

• nikky

  11 April 2008, 04.08PM

  Hi I'm new to this veg growing lark, tried some toms last year which came out well , I bought some new potatoes to try - charlotte which I think seem to be popular, any advice would be appreciated, was hoping to grow in big pots/buckets - how many seed pots per bucket? and how do i know when their ready... is it a case of rummage around in the pot and hope for the best? Help !!!

• Sally

  17 April 2008, 11.13PM

  I visited a neighbours greenhouse on the allotment. He showed me plants(sweetcorn) which had been eaten by mice. He therefore covered up the rest of the plants and put plastic trays on top of plastic trays. When he went to show me his potatoes by lifting a tray a mouse shot out. These trays were sitting on shelving a metre high. All the potatoes had been chewed away. All new to me. I am just glad I do not have a greenhouse and am having to grow plants in my kitchen. sally (first month of allotment ownership.)

• Kate

  22 April 2008, 08.57PM

  Hi, I stupidly left my potatoes outside and they have gotten wet. Can I still plant these or will they be rotten now? I'd appreciate any help.

• allotmentlady

  27 April 2008, 09.06PM

  We were told by an elderly man to dose our soil with Jeyes fluid to get rid of keel slugs etc which got into our potatos last year, do you think this is safe to use?

• michael c.

  09 May 2008, 05.40PM

  To all those potato growers, I have planted many seeded supermarket potatoes with great success, especially charlotte potatoes.

  Most recently I have begun laying down a few layers of newspapers in the potato beds before lying the seed potatoes on top and another layer of paper on top. this works very well in both feeding them and keeping them cleaner and they tend to be bigger.

• Claire - reply to Geoff

  01 June 2008, 08.01PM

  Please don't fool yourselves that Roundup is safe or biodegradable. Where these claims have been challenged in court (eg in the state of New York) the manufacturer has had to stop describing it as "biodegradable" or "environmentally friendly". Research has found it to persist in soil for a considerable time. It has been found to be toxic to many life forms and has been implicated in appalling health effects in communities that live near sprayed fields. Please do research before using chemicals and don't rely on advertising (the label on the bottle) for the truth.

• Jess

  10 June 2008, 01.35PM

  My potatoes were planted early March and are now over a meter tall with small flowers appearing. I thought they should be ready by now but I had a rummage (they are planted in large plastic pots) yesterday to find two the size of peas! Have I done something wrong/do they take longer? I piled up the soil to protect the crop from sunlight a few times over the weeks until it got to the top of the containers.

• sassiesophie

  11 June 2008, 07.19PM

  I tried potatoes in tyres and for someone with limited space it was good for some nice summer new pots but not many. I think the problem was - to water or not - too much and they rot - too little and you don't get a good crop. any ideas as to when to water and how much?

• Garden fairy

  13 June 2008, 12.42PM

  My now very tall potato plants have keeled over, although I have been earthing them up regularly. They haven't flowered yet and are proving difficult to stake, any suggestions very welcome!

• angie

  20 June 2008, 02.50PM

  Never grown potatoes before when do i dig then up they have big stems no flowers yet is it after they have flowered

• Anon

  22 June 2008, 09.24PM

  I have grown potatoes in buckets with my children at school. They have grown very tall in fact so tall that we have had to tie them to canes. There are no signs of any flowers and we planted them in April. Will they be ready by the end of term? July 23rd or will I have to take them home with me? How will I know when they are ready to be harvested?

• don

  24 June 2008, 11.14AM

  Please. whats the best way to store potatoes. have had a good crop, and can not eat them fast enough. thank you.

• Anon

  13 July 2008, 04.24PM

  my potato plants look like they have little tomatoes growing from the top near the flowers what is this and is it harmful