Spud newbie seeks advice on planting timetable.

I was planning on buying some seed potatoes now and starting them off
"chitting", with the idea being to plant out in early March.
Some questions:
* How long does chitting take?
* Is early March too soon to plant, because of the danger of frost
damage? Location is Yorkshire.

Thanks,
Bruce

wrote in message
ups.com...
Spud newbie seeks advice on planting timetable.

I was planning on buying some seed potatoes now and starting them off
"chitting", with the idea being to plant out in early March.
Some questions:
* How long does chitting take?
* Is early March too soon to plant, because of the danger of frost
damage? Location is Yorkshire.

In Ireland, Paddy's Day (March 17th) was the supposed latest to plant out by
but you might get a lot more frost in Yorkshire than we do. If no one else
replies, wait until later March to plant. Otheriwse, I have only planted
spuds once so I will happily bow to better advice.

Des



Thanks,
Bruce

"Des Higgins" wrote in message
. ie...

wrote in message
ups.com...
Spud newbie seeks advice on planting timetable.

I was planning on buying some seed potatoes now and starting them off
"chitting", with the idea being to plant out in early March.
Some questions:
* How long does chitting take?
* Is early March too soon to plant, because of the danger of frost
damage? Location is Yorkshire.

In Ireland, Paddy's Day (March 17th) was the supposed latest to plant out
by but you might get a lot more frost in Yorkshire than we do. If no one
else replies, wait until later March to plant. Otheriwse, I have only
planted spuds once so I will happily bow to better advice.


There's no hard and fast rule, it all depends on your weather. Many people
regard Easter as the time to plant them out, but of course Easter is a
movable feast, and I suspect that this has more to do with having four days
off than anything else, it means you have time to plant the spuds and grout
the kitchen tiles. And paint the spare bedroom etc.

As for chitting, yes, start them now, mine have been chitting for a
fortnight now, and the ones in the kitchen veg rack have also started, even
though they're bound for the oven, not the allotment. As for how long, well,
until you want to plant them. Ideally when the weather is not only fine for
planting, but also forecast to be so for a few days after, so the soil is
warming up nicely. How would you like to be shoved in freezing cold soil
after several weeks indoors?

But the main thing to watch out for is frost after they've put shoots above
the soil. Frost will blacken them off, and although they will probably
restart, they will be set back. If frost is forecast, bury the tips with a
couple of inches of soil, they'll be up quicker that way.

HTH

Steve

Thanks, I'll get the chitting underway this week.

Bruce

Des Higgins wrote:
In Ireland, Paddy's Day (March 17th) was the supposed latest to plant out by
but you might get a lot more frost in Yorkshire than we do. If no one else
replies, wait until later March to plant. Otheriwse, I have only planted
spuds once so I will happily bow to better advice.

Never heard Irish people planting potatoes on the 17th March. It's only
associated with planting bog plant as the weather is usually terrible
)

Planting potatoes, for as long as man can remember, as always been done
just after the first full moon, when the moon wanes, energy is drawn
down, the gravitation pull is high, creating moisture in the soil and
it is the best time to plant root crop, potatoes. I have always planted
them at Easter, between the 13th and 27th April this year is the time
to do it )

Planting time also depends on the type of potato. Earlies mid to late
March, maincrop April is my usual timetable. Chitting takes a little
while and the usual recommendation is sprouts about an inch long. Not
all gardeners recommend chitting so it's perhaps not too critical? Frost
is an issue. Last year we had frost 1st week April (Derbyshire)and it
burnt my potato tops in spite of piling up the soil - which didn't quite
cover them at this stage of growth. They recovered but I suspect it
affected the crop. A few fellow allotment holders also lost their runner
beans, so obviously too early for these. This year I'm covering with
fleece until the end of April. Last recorded frost in Derbyshire I
believe is 20th May - or so I've been told.

wrote:
Spud newbie seeks advice on planting timetable.

I was planning on buying some seed potatoes now and starting them off
"chitting", with the idea being to plant out in early March.
Some questions:
* How long does chitting take?
* Is early March too soon to plant, because of the danger of frost
damage? Location is Yorkshire.

Thanks,
Bruce

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Des Higgins wrote:
In Ireland, Paddy's Day (March 17th) was the supposed latest to plant out
by
but you might get a lot more frost in Yorkshire than we do. If no one
else
replies, wait until later March to plant. Otheriwse, I have only planted
spuds once so I will happily bow to better advice.

Never heard Irish people planting potatoes on the 17th March. It's only
associated with planting bog plant as the weather is usually terrible
)

Planting potatoes, for as long as man can remember, as always been done
just after the first full moon, when the moon wanes, energy is drawn
down, the gravitation pull is high, creating moisture in the soil and
it is the best time to plant root crop, potatoes. I have always planted
them at Easter, between the 13th and 27th April this year is the time
to do it )


Gasp; that is ehhhh very mystical. Do you do this in special costume?

I read recently that Good Friday is a traditional day for planting your
spuds.


I also read that Gardeners World had done a trial on whether chitted or
un-chitted potatoes grow the best and apparently un-chitted won.
Although they did state that it could purely be down to the specific
conditions in which the underwent the trial.

Des Higgins wrote:
Gasp; that is ehhhh very mystical. Do you do this in special costume?

Birth suit )

But seriously, haven't you ever heard of planting by the moon? We more
or less do it still but without knowing we do it.

Gardening_Convert wrote:
I read recently that Good Friday is a traditional day for planting your
spuds.

Absolutely.

I also read that Gardeners World had done a trial on whether chitted or
un-chitted potatoes grow the best and apparently un-chitted won.
Although they did state that it could purely be down to the specific
conditions in which the underwent the trial.

It would be interesting to also know how many 'eyes' they kept on the
spud. I usually keep 3 strong upper eyes and remove all the others. I
think they got lucky. Also, my mate last year did the non dig system.
We larfed at her, a lot, because she just plonked the spud on a pile of
manure and covered the lot with grass clippings. She did this over and
over again. She had an amazing crop and lots left at xmas. grumbles

Janet Baraclough wrote:
Northern areas usually can expect frost until June. The trick is just
to plant potatoes anyway, when the soil is reasonably dry not saturated
and warm not frosty. In cold conditions they will take longer to get
started than in warmer areas.When the leaves start to show, if there's a
frost forecast just cover them over. People who make proper ridges do it
with soil. I mulch my potato bed deeply straight after planting with
something like dead bracken or seaweed, and just flip a light veil of
mulch over the emerging leaves if I think they're about to get frosted.
If a very late frost threatens in June when they are too tall to be
easily buried, you can always put some newspaper over them, or old net
curtains or sheets, and take them off in the morning.
In any case, even if they get frosted, it won't kill the plants
underground. It just slows them down a bit while they grow new leaves.

I'm not trying to be funny here at all. I'm next door to Yorkshire and
I have never ever seen frosts in June in 25 years. The advice is
brilliant but in all honesty the frost here is not the problem and for
15 years our potatoes have been planted in mid april with no problems
)

"La Puce" wrote in message
ups.com...

Janet Baraclough wrote:
Northern areas usually can expect frost until June. .
Snip

I'm not trying to be funny here at all. I'm next door to Yorkshire and
I have never ever seen frosts in June in 25 years.
snip

I am in Yorkshire. Frosts in early June are not unheard of and they
certainly have occurred more recently than the last 25 years, particularly
in the higher regions. Manchester is nearer the equator than Bradford:-)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
snip
Northern areas usually can expect frost until June. ,
Janet.

Ne'er cast a clout til May is out

Is it OK to start some spuds chitting in the garage now? Or does
chitting need to be done indoors?

Thanks,
Bruce

1st week of June for last frosts here in Bawtry, Doncaster.
I plant my earlies around Good Friday, I know it is a date that does a
lot of moving - March or April but as a point it doesn't seem to make
much difference.
With regards to chitting. As a kid I would spend time on the farm
cutting up sets and laying out on wooded chitting trays. Now seed
spuds come in 1 tonne builders bags and dropped straight into planting
machine. So it would appear commercially the times have moved on.
Turning over the ground the other day I found a few stray spuds which
has almost 5cm of growth on them, so they are already making a start.
Clifford