When to harvest Potatos

Hi my Scotch Homeguard potatos are flowering away , when can I harvest them ?
baz

 

You might get some some newies now, but if you wait til the flowers finish and the top growth starts to wilt slightly you'll get a better crop.

 

Thanks
B

 

Its a toss up between having potatoes early. many say with superior taste, and having a larger crop.

If you have enough plants start harvesting. New potatoes don't keep (although they will be fine left in the ground for a months or so), its the main crop spuds which can be stored and kept - and to do that they have to fully mature, so their skins thicken up.

New potatoes are generally ready in about 11 - 12 weeks from planting. We started harvesting ours at 9 weeks - not very many per plant, obviously!, but great taste.

We get through about 2 - 3 plants-worth per week, say Jun-Sep, thats 43 plants ... not a huge amount of space