Potatoes

I have grown Potatoes for 2 years now and i get a great deal of foliage and growth above ground as high as 3 feet 6" this seems far too much as looking at other plants they are a lot smaller also the yields on my potatoes are small please can someone tell what im doing wrong.

 

Some varieties get taller than others.
Main crop are usually taller than earlies.

I think it depends a lot on what you are growing and when you are digging.

 

That could be what's commonly referred to as 'all top', and could be a sympton of too much nitrogen (assuming you water them at the crucial swelling up stage).

 

Ive been growing 2nd early and main crop and both have been the same height Pete. When you say Nitrogen what causes this could it be the fertiliser pellets and Blood/Fish and Bone or is it the soil ? I water them pretty much every day is that too much (unless it rains ?) is there anything i can do to sort this problem out Scrungee ?

 

I was assuming above that you have been planting 1st early/2nd early/maincrop/etc. spuds and also harvesting at their correct times.

What varieties have you been planting and when have you been harvesting?

 

I would never water spuds daily. Too much risk of blight, pest infestation (especially slugs) and soggy tubers.

If you need to water daily, the soil is wrong for them.

 

Right i wont be watering everyday this year,the soil was very claggy a lot of clay ive got most of it out and the soil is a mix of old growbags and soil ive been using chicken pellets and B F and Bone Clueless 1 Hi Scrungee last year i had 2nd early Wilja and Desiree main crop,yes harvested at the right times, its just that there is so much foliage above ground as i say about 3ft 6".

 

Desiree is a variety I've grown regularly over 25+ years, and they've never grown to anything approaching that height, maybe something only around half that height.

Are your potatoes being grown in bags or open ground?

And at what rates are youn adding chicken poo pellets and BF&B?

 

I think spuds actually grow taller than you think, due to the fact they fall over.

I never bother with earlies but these days only grow Pink Fir Apple, main crop, and if I didnt support them they would be about 18ins /2ft. but if you actually give them support you find they are 4ft plus most years.

A light crop is often down to them not having enough growing time, I never dig until the tops have definitely stopped growing, and looking pretty tatty.
I've never taken notice of those so called planting to harvest times.
Dig one up and if there are lots of small ones leave them a bit longer.

I rarely water spuds, but should do.
But not every day

 

In open ground, and the pellets are thrown on the surface and just left then raked in once it has rained, can i overdo with the pellets (too many) ?

 

I will not be watering them everyday this year,i harvest mine after they have flowered,thats what i do i rummage with my hands if too small leave them.Ijust feel that the plant is putting most of its effort into its foliage.

 

When I plant my seed tatties I sprinkle a handful of Blood fish and bone along 6ft of trench, that is really the only feed they get until the tubers are growing where (if I remember) I will give them a comfrey tea feed.

The BF&B is a good balanced fertiliser and feeds for a long time, alternatively I will put rotted cow manure in the bottom of the trench if I have it. I would not bother with the chicken pellets mainly because I have already fed the seed tatties with the BF&B, so to my mind and way of growing it would be excessive.

I water to keep the ground moist in the early stages of growth if we have dry weather in April only. After that I use my finger as a guage, dip it finger deep into the soil if I feel moisture I do not need to water. I will water quite lightly towards and around flowering time, too much and tubers will split. I too am on clay soil.

If you think you have "all top and no bottom", I would feed once with the BF&B in the trench and leave out the chicken poo pellets.

Steve...

 

With potatoes, in my experience, it's all about the soil.

It needs to be nutrient rich and moisture retentive but free draining. Basically, that means loads and loads of manure.

I generally never water spuds. If the soil is right, it will hold onto enough rainwater but without becoming waterlogged.

Best crop I ever saw wasn't mine but I helped plant it and harvest it. It was my dad's. We had a six foot high horse manure heap to get rid of. So we dug it in and grew spuds in it.

 

I can get hold of horse dung, it is mixed with years of grass clippings too, some very deep. Would this be good to dig in?