In article , Natalie
writes

" A surprise to suddenly see my name splattered across the Newsgroup !!
I wasn't aware of the HDRA page when I wrote the FAQ and I must admit
to
not having looked at it since learning of it. However why it should say
"Not suitable for earlies" I do not know. The yield from earlies is less
than from maincrop varieties but they are, IMHO, worth growing simply
because they are likely to mature anything from 2 to 5 weeks before my
plot potatoes mature. Depending of course on when you start them. I
agree with the quantities comment. It is an expensive way of producing
them rather than planting them in an allotment /garden. A fair bit of
watering is needed but too much water is a much bigger problem. Last
year I lost 3, of 5, pots due to being away and finding on return that
so much rain had fallen that the potatoes had rotted.
Go on, plant a few and see what you get. I can assure you it is a very
satisfying feeling to harvest and eat clean new potatoes and then seeing
that Jersey Royals are £1:50 per lb., or more, in the local
greengrocers.
Apologies for the late answer but I only caught up with this thread a
few hours ago.
Ron Lowe


Ron - what would you recommend covering the potatoes with as they grow?
These are being grown at the school I work and I was hoping to use something
cheaper than compost. Would shredded paper or shredded plant material be
OK
or even a mixture of the two?

Natalie


Hello Natalie,
I admit to never having tried shredded paper or plant material so I have
no experience on which to give a definitive answer. I don't know how
many containers you have but if you have more than one why not
experiment with a different covering in each. Results of any experiment
could well be valuable for a future FAQ amendment.
As of yesterday, (Sat), I am the owner of a second hand shredder and one
reason for buying it was to use shredded wood in my pots.
Ron Lowe
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