Re: Failure!!

How long did you leave them, Carol? Its not a bad lot, but if that's the size of the plant, it might have done another couple of weeks. I think you are supposed to wait until they flower, and then if you see potatoes close to the surface of the dirt, they are pretty much ready to be picked. I picked mine tonight and didn't get many either, to be honest. Its not a great year for producing veggies.

Re: Failure!!

I can't quite remember how long they were in for but they had flowered & the tops were dying off.

They were about 3 feet high & I'd cut them off before turning the tub upside down.

Re: Failure!!

Ahhh ok...well I have no idea then....maybe it was the type of potato's you planted...What expectations did you have? With mine, I had large bushy plants and even potato berries (which cannot be eaten) so I thought I would have millions, but no such luck. About 12 were decent, the rest were tiny wee things like marbles.

Re: Failure!!

I don't know. Is it the best season for them? When we were at school we had the tattie holidays. We had a week off for that. I think it was around September or even October. I do remember there was usually a frost.

Re: Failure!!

The thing is about not using seed potatoes Carol is, how do you know if they were supposed to be Early's, mid season, or Main crop?
Old spuds are not so disease resistant as those specially made for the job either I believe.

Also, did you add food to the compost before planting, and did you keep them well watered, they don't like drying out.

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Oh my gosh....the tattie holidays! I remember them....did you go tattie picking? I did it for a bit..back breaking work! I was a teenager looking for pocket money, but gosh it was hard earned!

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Yes, I did go tattie picking. Long time ago. The digger then was a mechanical thing that picked up the potatoes on a chain and the soil fell on the ground leaving potatoes clean for the tatties pickers in baskets. Now, it is all mechanical.

Re: Failure!!

I thought I looked after them well. I fed them with potato feed I got from Amazon & kept them watered. I grew them in 75 LT tubtrugs with holes drilled in the bottom.

I planted a trial one in an ordinary plant pot & when I harvested that a couple of weeks ago there were as many spuds in the plantpot as there are in the big tubtrug!!

Re: Failure!!

Have you tasted them yet?

Re: Failure!!

No we're having them today.