The potatoes on my allotment are all growing well
and flowering but I have noticed little bunches of
what looks like small tomatoes.
Can anyone tell me what these are and should I
leave them alone or remove them ??

Your help would be appreciated.

Wally

In article ,
"Wally" writes:
| The potatoes on my allotment are all growing well
| and flowering but I have noticed little bunches of
| what looks like small tomatoes.
| Can anyone tell me what these are and should I
| leave them alone or remove them ??

Potato fruit - potatoes and tomatoes are closely related.
Do NOT eat them, as they are very poisonous, but there is
no need to remove them.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Wally" writes:
| The potatoes on my allotment are all growing well
| and flowering but I have noticed little bunches of
| what looks like small tomatoes.
| Can anyone tell me what these are and should I
| leave them alone or remove them ??

Potato fruit - potatoes and tomatoes are closely related.
Do NOT eat them, as they are very poisonous, but there is
no need to remove them.


Thank you Nick

Wally



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 10 Jul 2008 10:17:18 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
"Wally" writes:
| The potatoes on my allotment are all growing well
| and flowering but I have noticed little bunches of
| what looks like small tomatoes.
| Can anyone tell me what these are and should I
| leave them alone or remove them ??

Potato fruit - potatoes and tomatoes are closely related.
Do NOT eat them, as they are very poisonous, but there is
no need to remove them.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I understood that if potatoes are left to flower and then fruit, the
potatoes will not be so big. Once the flowers start the plant puts
its energy into making fruits and seeds.
I've never tried it, but it makes sense, I think. It's a GQT hint,
probably Bob Flowerdew.


Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:

I understood that if potatoes are left to flower and then fruit, the
potatoes will not be so big. Once the flowers start the plant puts
its energy into making fruits and seeds.
I've never tried it, but it makes sense, I think. It's a GQT hint,
probably Bob Flowerdew.

So what does the hint say you should do? Cut the flowers off? Surely
not harvest the potatoes before the flowers appear - for anything other
than the earliest first earlies, the tubers would still be very small at
that stage.

I've left mine to their own devices to flower if they want. They're
small, but surprisingly pretty!

Peter

In article ,
(Peter Robinson) writes:
|
| So what does the hint say you should do? Cut the flowers off? ...

Almost certainly.

| I've left mine to their own devices to flower if they want. They're
| small, but surprisingly pretty!

They were originally grown in Europe for their flowers.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:

| I've left mine to their own devices to flower if they want. They're
| small, but surprisingly pretty!

They were originally grown in Europe for their flowers.

Interesting! I Did Not Know That.

Peter

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:06:43 +0100, (Peter
Robinson) wrote:

Pam Moore wrote:

I understood that if potatoes are left to flower and then fruit, the
potatoes will not be so big. Once the flowers start the plant puts
its energy into making fruits and seeds.
I've never tried it, but it makes sense, I think. It's a GQT hint,
probably Bob Flowerdew.

So what does the hint say you should do? Cut the flowers off? Surely
not harvest the potatoes before the flowers appear - for anything other
than the earliest first earlies, the tubers would still be very small at
that stage.

I've left mine to their own devices to flower if they want. They're
small, but surprisingly pretty!

Peter

I always take off the flowers as they form, but I admit that the
flowers are pretty!
It makes sense that once they start flowering the plant's energy goes
into making fruits, not tubers. I've not put it to the test. Perhaps
next year.

Pam in Bristol