Should there be spuds?

Hello. I planted out first earlies in mid March in potato bags. The greenery looks healthy and is about 3' above the top of the bag although no flowers yet. I pulled back the velcro'd tabs at the bottom of the bag yesterday to see if there was anything happening but there was nothing except roots. I then had a rummage in the top but couldn't find anything there either. Am I expecting too much too early?

Thank you

K

 

Patience! If the plants are healthy, there will be spuds.

I planted my first earlies about the same time, and have been lifting one at a time. About half a dozen proper sized spuds plus half a dozen tiny spudlets per plant - if I left them longer I'd get double the yield, so if you just have one sackful I'd say forget about harvesting for another couple of weeks yet.

 

If there has only been 3 inches of topside growth, then they are nowhere near mature yet, so no panic. If you leave them to their own devices, the top side will reach about 2 ft before they are really ready, although it is normal to keep banking them up as they grow.

Potatoes tend to focus on growing up before the spuds fill out. The spuds themselves are actually the plants energy store to keep them alive into the next year, so while they are still happy to produce aerial growth, they have no really need to store energy away, so no need to form bug spuds. You tend to find that potatoes don't seem to be doing anything underground at all until the last few weeks of the plant's main growing period, then tiny spuds will form but slowly, then the flowers will fade and the plant will lose it's youthful appearance, and at that point the spuds just grow like mad as the plant diverts all its attention away from the top growth and into the development of its energy reserves (ie the spuds underneath).

 

"If there has only been 3 inches of topside growth"

I read it as 3 feet?

I think they should be ready if planted mid Mach. First Earlies normally need about 12 weeks. However, it also depends on the variety, and probably growing conditions and so on.

I started harvesting my Arran Pilot after 9 weeks. The foliage was huge, relative to the other varieties I have here, and was a nightmare to protect from the last frosts. My other First Early varieties are a long way behind.

But that's in "open ground" - I don't know much about container grown.

 

My mistake, sorry. What springs to mind now is the scene in Spinal Tap where they end up with a 9 inch tall replica of part of stonehenge because of a misreading of the design specification.

 

Bottle that Snake Oil for all our weeds and you'll be in Clover!

 

I thought I read that when the potato plant flowers is when they start to put all their energy into making the actual potatoes. Does that sound right?

 

The complete opposite actually. When they flower they are putting all their effort into producing seed headS. for them to put all their energy into making tubers you need to TAKE THE FLOWERHEADS OFF.:flag:

 

Thanks all. Definitely 3 FOOT and not 3 inches - although it might explain why I can't park the car! i'll leave it a few more weeks and see if any flowers apear.

K