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This information is taken directly from Marshalls Seeds leaflet and modified to suit our plots!
Seed potatoes should be sound and of top quality, having been inspected and certified by Ministry of Agriculture inspectors. Here are a few hints and tips to help you produce a great crop.
When you get your potatoes from the club hut or when they have arrived from the suppliers
Unpack your potatoes immediately and check them for damage or signs of rot. Put them into a cool, light, well-ventilated and frost-free place, out of direct sunlight. A shed, garage, windowed cellar or cool spare bedroom is ideal.
If you have ordered more than one variety of potato from a supplier, they may sometimes be sent to you in separate parcels. Seed comes from specialist growers in various regions and may not all be available at the same time.
Getting the tubers to sprout or `chit'
Do this as soon as possible after unpacking and checking. Chitting is vital for early varieties as it can bring the harvest forward by as much as 2 to 3 weeks. In maincrop varieties it promotes early and heavy yields, helps to minimize any possible planting check and encourages stocky shoots, ¾" to 1" long, prior to planting. Your tubers should be set out side by side, eye-end uppermost, in single layers in egg boxes or trays, seed trays or wooden boxes. A light, cool (40-50°F), well-ventilated position is essential! Inadequate light and too much warmth makes the sprouts grow too fast and become weak and spindly.
Planting site and soil preparation
Potatoes can tolerate a wide range of growing conditions. However, they thrive best in deep, fertile and well-drained soils which have had plenty of well-rotted organic matter dug in beforehand. The preferred pH is 5.0-6.0. A site which has not grown potatoes in the previous year should be chosen - a good crop rotation on your plot is recommended.
Our light soils can be prepared in the spring of planting, as soon as weather and soil conditions permit. A light dressing of compound fertiliser, such as "dags", Rooster or Marshalls Potato Fertiliser, can be raked in before planting.
Liming before planting is not recommended as it may encourage potato scab.(Also our allotment doesn't need lime!)
Planting time
See the Marshalls summary guide below for recommendations. Note that soil conditions at planting time are far more crucial than precise planting dates especially here up t'North. Planting too early into cold, wet soils may well cause rotting of the seed tubers. Subsequent plant growth will be hindered, resulting in a significant delay and reduction of potential yield. It is always best to delay planting, if soil conditions are unsuitable, until the soil is both warm and moist to touch - even if this means waiting several weeks.
Planting and earthing up
The chitted seed tubers should be planted into drills 4-6ins. deep at the spacings recommended, in the summary guide. Cover the sprouts with a half to one inch of soil.
Once the shoots appear above the soil surface, they will need to be `earthed up' by the forming of ridges. Every two or three weeks, as the plants develop, the soil is drawn in from either side of the drills, to form ridges, ultimately 6-8 ins. high. These ridges promote faster growth by ensuring good drainage and making for higher soil temperatures than would otherwise be the case.
Aftercare
Once well planted and ridged, your potato crop should normally require minimal attention until harvest. Very little weeding will be needed, as the developing plants should soon produce a thick canopy that will effectively smother any germinating weed seedlings. Some precautionary measures may need to be taken against possible slug damage and, in some cases, spraying against blight or aphid attack may be justified. On our quick drying soils extra watering, particularly when the plant is in heavy leaf, should improve potential yields considerably.
Ratte and Pink Fir Apple - a special note
Both of these old varieties produce large haulms and many tubers and take up more room than other varieties in our list. Marshalls recommend wider spacings than usual at planting time to account for this and also to encourage an increase in average tuber size, particularly in the case of Ratte. In addition, experience shows that both Ratte and Pink Fir Apple respond well to extra feeding, both in terms of average tuber size and also ultimate yield. (Note that Ratte grows well in tubs/pots in the greenhouse from early chitted seed - giving nice new spuds for Easter
SUMMARY GUIDE
Variety |
Usual planting period |
Recommended spacing |
Usual harvest period |
between tubers |
between rows |
First early varieties |
Mid - late March |
10-12 ins |
24 ins |
June - July |
Second early varieties |
Early - late April |
12-14 ins |
28-30 ins |
July - early Sept. |
Ratte |
Early - late April |
20 ins |
36 ins |
July - early Sept |
Maincrop varieties |
Mid April - early May |
12-14 ins |
28-30 ins |
Late Sept - Oct |
Pink Fir Apple |
Mid April - early May |
20 ins |
36 ins |
October |
The above summary and table has been modified to suit our allotments
from the Marshalls guide that comes with their seed.
WARNING
EXPOSURE TO FROST DURING STORAGE WILL DESTROY SEED POTATOES. AS SEVERE FROST CAN PENETRATE EVEN THE SOUNDEST OF BUILDINGS, PLEASE TAKE EVERY CARE TO ENSURE THAT YOUR VALUABLE SEED IS NOT LOST.
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