Potting Shed News - Potato Planting

I'm further behind this year than I would usually be, but today I have finally gotten around to checking the potato situation. For reasons of space, I grow all my spuds in containers. In some ways this isn't ideal as containers tend to suffer from heat  during Summer months. When the soil is fluctuating between being hot and dry in the day time, then cool and wet after an evening watering, is bound to upset your average potato plant. That said containers are convenient, easy to use and a great dig-free way of growing. 

In the past I have been known to grown many varieties, often Heritage ones, just to see what they turned out like and because I love nothing more than harvesting a bucket of differently coloured tubers of all shapes and sizes. This year I won't have space or time too get carried away, so I'm sticking to the tried and tested varieties of First and Second Earlies, 'Foremost' and 'Charlotte'. 

I buy my seed potatoes from JBA Seed Potatoes, online if I'm organized enough, or from my local garden centre as they are a stockist. 

The ones I have chitted are really ready to be planted out, so at some point over the next week I shall get out there and clean out my patio potato tubs. Some of these tubers I'll be using at the cottage garden I volunteer at, where they will be dug into a prepared bed the usual way. I will watch with interest which fare better and produce more crops. I'll update the blog later in the year and post my observations. 

Potatoes are worth reading up on a little if you are planning on growing a healthy crop, more so if you want to keep yourself supplied with them for the whole season. Whilst they are one of the easiest crops to have a go with, understanding their cycle and optimum growing conditions will make the process far easier in the long run. Most people will have been told at some point not to eat potatoes if they're green. This green colouring they develop when left in the light is evidence that the potato is producing solanine. This substance, found in members of the Nightshade family of plants, is part if it's natural defense system. This toxicity deters animals and pests which may otherwise feed on it. It also delays the rotting process of the seed tuber. Although some folk say you do not need to chit potatoes, I find this process of starting of the tubers growth and allowing for some greening up worthwhile. 

Sometimes potatoes shoot from multiple places. While this is perfectly normal, it's likely that any shoots coming up from underneath will be broken off during the planting process or just fall away during handling. Often these shoots will already have evidence of small roots coming from them and it's possible to grow these on, independently from the seed potato tuber, into productive plants.

They don't always 'take' but I always give them a go by bring them on in pots until I can see if they are going to grow into decent plants. I've planted a couple of these shoots today, so I will keep the blog updated with their progress....