First time growing spuds, I always thought potato flowers were white
and fairly insignificant. Mine are a lovely pale purple with an
orange centre, variety is "Tesco New Potato"! Saw them sprouting in
the store, bought 'em and continued chitting them. Don't know why,
but feel quite chuffed with them.

Got them in a stack of tyres (4 deep) and they're about 3 feet above
the top of those!
--
Regards, Charles
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"I really cannot tolerate intolerance"

In uk.rec.gardening, Charles Thorpe wrote:

Got them in a stack of tyres

Very River Cottage ;-)

I'd often wondered about using the two halves of a plastic rain water
butt, would this work? I don't think I'd get away with tyres.


--
Nige

Please replace YYYY with the current year

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:209612


"Charles Thorpe" wrote in message
...
First time growing spuds, I always thought potato flowers were white
and fairly insignificant. Mine are a lovely pale purple with an
orange centre, variety is "Tesco New Potato"! Saw them sprouting in
the store, bought 'em and continued chitting them. Don't know why,
but feel quite chuffed with them.

Got them in a stack of tyres (4 deep) and they're about 3 feet above
the top of those!
--
Regards, Charles
Unobfuscate to reply by mail
vnews a in a ring cthorpe roundblob ukfsn anotherblob org
"I really cannot tolerate intolerance"
------------------------------
The flowers are quite normal and do vary with each variety. Commercial
potato 'seed' growers identify rogues by their differing foliage and
flowers.
Be aware that fruits may follow looking very similar to tomatoes but are
poisonous.
Deadly nightshade etc. is of the same family.
Regards Brian.

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:33:12 +0100, "Brian"
wrote:

The flowers are quite normal and do vary with each variety. Commercial
potato 'seed' growers identify rogues by their differing foliage and
flowers.
Be aware that fruits may follow looking very similar to tomatoes but are
poisonous.
Deadly nightshade etc. is of the same family.

but it doesn't produce potatoes does it?

In uk.rec.gardening, martin wrote:

Deadly nightshade etc. is of the same family.

but it doesn't produce potatoes does it?

If it does, don't eat them ;-)


--
Nige

Please replace YYYY with the current year

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:43:25 +0100, Nige wrote:

In uk.rec.gardening, martin wrote:

Deadly nightshade etc. is of the same family.

but it doesn't produce potatoes does it?

If it does, don't eat them ;-)

If it does it isn't deadly or even woody nightshade - it's a spud :-)
It's the berries that small kids eat by mistake.

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:43:25 +0100, Nige wrote:

In uk.rec.gardening, martin wrote:

Deadly nightshade etc. is of the same family.

but it doesn't produce potatoes does it?

If it does, don't eat them ;-)

If it does it isn't deadly or even woody nightshade - it's a spud :-)
It's the berries that small kids eat by mistake.
--------------------
Fortunately the fruits [berries] taste terrible and even an unwanted
teenager couldn't be bribed enough to eat them!!
All poisonous fruits seem to have this warning taste~~ Yew being the sole
exception that I've come across. The red flesh is very pleasant and harmless
but the seed within is highly toxic.
Brian

On 6/12/04 7:03 AM, in article , "Charles
Thorpe" wrote:

First time growing spuds, I always thought potato flowers were white
and fairly insignificant. Mine are a lovely pale purple with an
orange centre, variety is "Tesco New Potato"! Saw them sprouting in
the store, bought 'em and continued chitting them. Don't know why,
but feel quite chuffed with them.

Got them in a stack of tyres (4 deep) and they're about 3 feet above
the top of those!


Let me get this straight so that I can be sure I understand what I think you
said:

You have four tyres high and the spuds are three feet above the tyres. Are
these bicycle tyres? Or car tyres? If they are car tyres just what have you
used for fertilizer? What are they growing in sawdust? Soil? Clay? Sand? I
have tried the same thing but never had them grow anywhere close to what you
have done.

Now to the colour of the flower: Pale purple...yummy potatoes underneath all
this. I am tying to remember just what kind of potato grows with a purple
flower....I think it is a red skinned spud and maybe with a yellow interior.
It is an excellent spud. White or yellow interior they will be delicious! I
tried a yellow interior potato awhile ago and was impressed by the flavour.

What I really want to know is how did you get them to grow so well? Tell me
and I will follow your lead...thanks!

Gary
Fort Langley BC
Canada

To reply please remove...yoursocks..

Has anyone tried taking the flowers off the potato plants?
I heard or read that when the flowers develop the potatoes stop
swelling, and also that they need more water at that stage.
Any confirmation of that - or otherwise?
I have been watering mine and removing flowers this morning.
Plants are very dry and leaves drooping.

Pam in Bristol

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:08:42 +0100, Pam Moore
wrote:

Has anyone tried taking the flowers off the potato plants?
I heard or read that when the flowers develop the potatoes stop
swelling, and also that they need more water at that stage.
Any confirmation of that - or otherwise?

There are acres of potatoes growing in these parts, I have never seen
anybody removing the flowers. Tulips yes,ptatoes no.

I have been watering mine and removing flowers this morning.
Plants are very dry and leaves drooping.

Pam in Bristol

The message
from Pam Moore contains these words:

Has anyone tried taking the flowers off the potato plants?
I heard or read that when the flowers develop the potatoes stop
swelling, and also that they need more water at that stage.
Any confirmation of that - or otherwise?

You've been misinformed.The potatoes still have a whole lot more
growing to do, long after the flowers finish. There's no need to pick
the flowers off.

When potatoes start flowering, that's the signal that you can start
fossicking around their roots for "baby" new potatoes. We harvested our
first picking on May 31st, tiny and delicious (early start from some
tubers inadvertently left in the ground last year). This year's crop,
planted on Easter Sunday 2004, are just starting to flower atm.

More water will undoubtedly make the tubers grow bigger, but if you
want big watery tasteless potatoes, they are very cheap in supermarkets
:-) I don't water spuds because I'd rather have taste than size.

Janet

gary davis wrote:


Let me get this staightt so that I can be sure I understand what I
think you said:

You have four tyres high and the spuds are three feet above the
tyres. Are these bicycle tyres? Or car tyres? If they are car tyres
just what have you used for fertilizer? What are they growing in
sawdust? Soil? Clay? Sand? I have tried the same thing but never had
them grow anywhere close to what you have done.

Car tyres, but maybe I exaggerated a wee bit as to height, definitely
between 2.0 and 2.5 feet and still growing, though they are tending
to flop about a bit now.

Growing a brew of clayey soil from the planting hole for an apple
tree, garden compost made from hacked out undergrowth in the kids
playground behind me (mainly nettles and elder) and a goodly portion
of manure in the bottom. Each time I've added more soil, a handful of
blood, fish and bone and one of chicken manure pellets has gone in.
I tend to give them at least a gallon of water a day now, and if its
hot an extra watering can full.

The tyres seem to absorb heat from the afternoon sun very well, this
may be why they've shot up. I've put som tubs in front of them to
shade them now, a couple of days recently there was a danger of
growing pre-cooked spuds!

Now to the colour of the flower: Pale purple...yummy potatoes
underneath all this. I am tying to remember just what kind of potato
grows with a purple flower....I think it is a red skinned spud and
maybe with a yellow interior. It is an excellent spud. White or
yellow interior they will be delicious! I tried a yellow interior
potato awhile ago and was impressed by the flavour.

Variety unknown, came from the supermarket, but they are white inside
and white skin, quite tasty as far as I remember.

What I really want to know is how did you get them to grow so well?
Tell me and I will follow your lead...thanks!

Ah, I'll post the results of digging em up (if there're any to dig!)
and eating em.

--
Regards, Charles
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"I really cannot tolerate intolerance"

Yesterday I commented that I had heard or read that it helps to remove
potato flowers. On GQT yesterday Bob Flowedew recommended just that.
He said it can increase the crop by 10%.

Pam in Bristol

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:209772


In article ,
Pam Moore writes:
| Yesterday I commented that I had heard or read that it helps to remove
| potato flowers. On GQT yesterday Bob Flowedew recommended just that.
| He said it can increase the crop by 10%.

Hmm. I should like to see the raw data on which he based that
statement. Somehow I doubt that 10% is typical.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Pam Moore writes:
| Yesterday I commented that I had heard or read that it helps to remove
| potato flowers. On GQT yesterday Bob Flowedew recommended just that.
| He said it can increase the crop by 10%.

Hmm. I should like to see the raw data on which he based that
statement. Somehow I doubt that 10% is typical.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
------------
I agree with Nick. Removal of flowers would more likely tend
to cause an effort to make more flowers~~ which 'might' prolong the life of
the top growth and 'might' make more subterranean growth but I would like to
see some evidence. Am very dubious.
Best Wishes Brian.