TheScullster wrote:
Hi all

I have a short row of early potatoes still in the ground (sorry, can't
remember variety).
The tops have died or are dying back - should I lift these and try to store
them (if so how) or just leave them in the ground till needed?
Will they get eaten by insects, slugs etc if left?
Probably take another month for the family to eat them!


No expert here, but I'd leave them in the ground --- especially earlies;
that's what I'm doing with my British Queen's --- after having cut the
tops off to prevent blight. Unless you have some special storage method,
I'd think that earlies are not fit for eating after a week out of the
ground.

I suppose if you find that slugs are eating them you have no alternative
but to lift them.

Apart from slugs and (very severe) frost, potatoes keep well in the
ground. Around here (N.W. Ireland), because of frost and wet weather
from October onwards, a good many of last season's potatoes didn't get
harvested until March; now some were frosted, some had sprouted (note
March), but more were in a saleable condition.

Best regards,

Jon C.
--
Jonathan Campbell www.jgcampbell.com BT48, UK.