I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and 2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?
Ta
--
Pete C
London UK

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and 2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and 2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.

Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
--
June Hughes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and 2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.


I think "hulm" may be a typo. "Haulm" is the term for the green stems of
potatoes, peas, etc.
Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
--
June Hughes

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and
2". Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are ,
say 4" normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.

I really must learn to keep a diary. No idea when they went in! I'll give
'em a few more weeks then. Thanks
--
Pete C
London UK

In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and 2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.


I think "hulm" may be a typo. "Haulm" is the term for the green stems of
potatoes, peas, etc.
Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
Oh right. Thank-you. Some of my leaves have been eaten by tiny slugs
which seem to be impervious to crushed egg shells or slug pellets. There
are only stems left. I hope this will not effect the potato growth.
--
June Hughes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and
2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.


I think "hulm" may be a typo. "Haulm" is the term for the green stems of
potatoes, peas, etc.
Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
Oh right. Thank-you. Some of my leaves have been eaten by tiny slugs
which seem to be impervious to crushed egg shells or slug pellets. There
are only stems left. I hope this will not effect the potato growth.

If your plants have been denuded of leaves, they probably won't make much
headway below ground in future. Plus, slugs like the tubers, too. Perhaps
lifting sooner rather than later might be advisable?

In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and
2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.


I think "hulm" may be a typo. "Haulm" is the term for the green stems of
potatoes, peas, etc.
Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
Oh right. Thank-you. Some of my leaves have been eaten by tiny slugs
which seem to be impervious to crushed egg shells or slug pellets. There
are only stems left. I hope this will not effect the potato growth.

If your plants have been denuded of leaves, they probably won't make much
headway below ground in future. Plus, slugs like the tubers, too. Perhaps
lifting sooner rather than later might be advisable?


Um. You may be right, especially as they are in a container as opposed
to in the ground. The peculiar thing is, it has only happened to a
couple of stems. The rest are fine. I shall let you know what happens
next.
--
June Hughes

June Hughes writes
The peculiar thing is, it has only happened to a couple of stems. The
rest are fine.

M experience is that slugs return to the same leaf night after night, so
that they will completely denude one plant before moving on to the next.
The exception is something like a runner bean, where they find the stem
more amenable to attack than the bristly leaves - once they've chewed
through the stem and felled the plant, they move on to the next plant
rather than continuing to eat the fallen stem.

--
Kay

In message , K
writes
June Hughes writes
The peculiar thing is, it has only happened to a couple of stems. The
rest are fine.

M experience is that slugs return to the same leaf night after night,
so that they will completely denude one plant before moving on to the
next. The exception is something like a runner bean, where they find
the stem more amenable to attack than the bristly leaves - once they've
chewed through the stem and felled the plant, they move on to the next
plant rather than continuing to eat the fallen stem.


Ah. That explains it. It is very strange that a few stray potato
plants have appeared in the earth next to my pots of potatoes and they
are totally unscathed.
--
June Hughes

June Hughes writes

It is very strange that a few stray potato plants have appeared in the
earth next to my pots of potatoes and they are totally unscathed.

Slugs haven't got that strong mouth parts and softness of food is
important to them that's why so many species of slug only eat rotting
vegetation. The potatoes in the ground will be harder grown than the
ones in the tubs - less fertile soil, possibly less fertilizer - so the
leaves and stems will be that bit tougher and less attractive to slugs.
--
Kay

On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:08:29 +0100, June Hughes
wrote:

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.

Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.

I've heard them called haulms. Probably a simple typo you read there

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

In message , ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹
writes
On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:08:29 +0100, June Hughes
wrote:

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.

Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.

I've heard them called haulms. Probably a simple typo you read there

I've never heard of haulms either so thanks for that.
--
June Hughes

In message , June Hughes
writes
In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , BAC
writes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"Pete C" wrote ...
I just had to dig my first spuds today. About a dozen between 1" and
2".
Tasted fantastic!! How much longer will it be before they are , say 4"
normal spuds?

How longs a piece of string? Depends on rainfall/watering, variety,
soil...but,
I was always told 10 to 12 weeks for earlies.
14+ weeks for larger spuds.
When the hulms die back for keepers.
Seems to be about right.


I think "hulm" may be a typo. "Haulm" is the term for the green stems of
potatoes, peas, etc.
Sorry to show my ignorance, Bob. Are hulms the green tops? I've never
heard them called that before.
Oh right. Thank-you. Some of my leaves have been eaten by tiny slugs
which seem to be impervious to crushed egg shells or slug pellets. There
are only stems left. I hope this will not effect the potato growth.

If your plants have been denuded of leaves, they probably won't make much
headway below ground in future. Plus, slugs like the tubers, too. Perhaps
lifting sooner rather than later might be advisable?


Um. You may be right, especially as they are in a container as opposed
to in the ground. The peculiar thing is, it has only happened to a
couple of stems. The rest are fine. I shall let you know what happens
next.

Poked around at the bottom of the container (it has a little sliding
door to allow access - (only a thin, round plastic disc but it does the
trick) - just a huge amount of thin white roots atm. Didn't poke around
too much. I shall wait for a week or two and try again.
--
June Hughes

Ah, the Lumberjack slug - Very rare
Bigal