2nd sowing spuds

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2nd sowing spuds

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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 2:11 pm Post subject: 2nd sowing spuds
As I understand it they're usually last seasons spuds stored in a controlled atmosphere and temperature, how does one go about getting this years spuds to sprout in time to produce a decent crop?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 4:31 pm Post subject:
Cold stratification maybe? What if I stick some spuds in the fridge for a couple of weeks?

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 4:55 pm Post subject:
The spuds on sale in T*sco are often beginning to sprout in the bag. I guess that they have been cold-stored, so your theory could be right. Or just buy some supermarket spuds and chit as normal...

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 5:00 pm Post subject:
Might do a driveby to Tescos later but they'll be this years spuds now won't they?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 5:16 pm Post subject:
Wonder if it's worth buying extra seed spuds next winter and sticking them in the freezer? Got to be a cheaper way to do this....

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 5:26 pm Post subject:

You could buy some specially marketed for Christmas cropping - https://fothergills.co.uk/search.aspx?txtsearch=late+cropping+potato&tb=a

I'd be tempted to bung in some supermarket ones too to see how they go. You are recommended to buy seed potatoes to avoid diseases, but seed merchants would say that wouldn't they? I've grown sprouted organic supermarket spuds successfully, as have friends. Might be a bit more risky that "proper" seed potatoes, but what did people do in the olden days before seed merchants? And non-organic crops will have been sprayed against disease anyway...

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 5:29 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Wonder if it's worth buying extra seed spuds next winter and sticking them in the freezer? Got to be a cheaper way to do this....

I have severe doubts about the wisdom of freezing spuds and expecting them to grow, but you could try it!!

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:00 pm Post subject:
Sorry I meant fridge Frozen spuds = mushy dead spuds

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:01 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Might do a driveby to Tescos later but they'll be this years spuds now won't they?

Their main crop spuds will be last year's if they're from the UK.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:02 pm Post subject:
Yeah, will take a look.

Vanessa

Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 8324

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:03 pm Post subject:
Why not try it (refrigerated, that is) with just a few? Not much to lose then. I've done this with garlic, if I've been too late planting it - it's supposed to like a period of cold, the colder the better ... so I do put that in the freezer for a week or so.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:05 pm Post subject:
The reason garlic needs cold is to divide into cloves, otherwise it ends up as one big bulb, which can of course be tip top. Never managed to get single bulb garlic although I bought it in a shop once, it was from China.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:08 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

tahir wrote:

Might do a driveby to Tescos later but they'll be this years spuds now won't they?

Their main crop spuds will be last year's if they're from the UK.

The one issue with this is that the idea is to plant first earlies so they get enough growth in quick enough to produce a decent crop.

Hmmm....

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 6:26 pm Post subject:
And another thing, we're blight free so far, got 1st & 2nd earlies still in the ground * Golden Wonder which is a late maincrop. Should I chance putting these in where I'm lifting my 1st earlies from? They're all in rows next to each other.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 07 7:06 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Might do a driveby to Tescos later but they'll be this years spuds now won't they?

I know people don't like Tescos but a drive shooting is a bit extreme.

Last year when I planted up the garden I found a few spuds left in the ground from the previous year. I dug them up, left them unplanted in the light and they survived until late in the year producing a few shoots. I planted them and they grew ok producing a small winter crop.

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