What is wrong with tatties?

[PurpleDragon]

Hiya

Novice gardener here. I've never had veggies before, and I have planted out 3 different crops of potatoes.

When the first lot started showing foliage, I planted the 2nd lot, and again when the 2nd lot started showing, in went the 3rd lot.

The 2nd lot have started to flower, although the first lot haven't flowered yet, and when I went to have a closer look at them, the leaves are covered in little black spots. Some of the leaves have wee holes in them, as if something had a nibble, but they aren't as enthusiastically eaten as - say - the peas had been.

Does anyone know why the 1st lot haven't flowered? Does anyone know what the black spots are? Will this affect my tatties when I lift them?

And - final Stupid Question of The Day - how do I know when to lift them!

Thanks in advance

[hedgewizard]

You haven't mentioned what sort of potatoes they are - earlies or maincrop? Not sure about your black spots, but not all potato varieties flower. As to when to leave them, earlies are normally done by the time from planting, but maincrop get left in until the tops have withered and yellowed, to give them time to get skins tough enough to store.

[PurpleDragon]

Hmm, I didn't realise you get different types.
I bought some seed potatoes from a local shop and I don't remember it saying earlies or maincrop - just seed potatoes.
I do actually have three different types in as well - at least I bought the first lot, then a while later bought seed potatoes for the 2nd lot, and so on. I haven't got a clue as to what they are - I didn't keep the packaging
That would explain why the 2nd lot have flowered before the 1st lot then. I would guess the 1st lot may not flower at all.

[hedgewizard]

I'd say not. I think if I were in your position I'd scratch gently into the soil at the base of one of the non-flowerers to see what the tubers look like, and lift them if they're a decent size on the assumption that they're earlies. The rest I'd leave be to die back on the assumption that they'e maincrops. And I'd be prepared for some patchy results.

Ah well, you don't learn these things until you do 'em wrong!

[PurpleDragon]

Thanks for the advice Hedgewaizard :) I'll pull one up and see what it looks like.

It certainly is a learning process. I reckon I've done just about everything wrong so far

Oh well - you live and learn.

[Han&Matt]

I too am growing tatties for the 1st time - I have both maincrop and earlies in though planted them all at the same time as they were late in (last w/end in June). Most have flowered or are about to - all very big and tall. Tried pulling an early on Monday and only found 3 teeny tubers, very disappointing. Guessing I was over-enthusiastic and just a bit too early. Will now wait until Sept and see whether more have appeared... Very dry here this season - will that have made a difference?
Think I have Maris Bard (early) and Maris Piper (maincrop), hope it was good decision - based entirely on ease of remembering names...

[Millymollymandy]

They do need a lot of water, especially at the time that the tubers are forming (like now, Han & Matt!). They can get scab more easily through lack of water though some varieties are more susceptible to this than others. It's mostly just unsightly on the skin surface - this can be scratched off when they are young and the skins are not yet set - or peeled off - but not so nice later on for baked spuds!

[Christine]

For what it's worth - I completely forgot to plant potatoes and had to embarrass myself by going to the allotment shop to see what was left. I bought a bag of Wilja (2nd earlies) and a bag of king edward (maincrop and thanks for the tip of waiting till the tops go over as I had no idea).
I think the Wiljas went in mid-June into a newly dug bed on just-cleared allotment and some flowered and some not. king edwards went in 3 weeks later and grew away at once - the tops are huge! I didn't know when to lift the Wiljas but tried one plant at a time and finally lifted one row last week to find a good crop of varying sizes, just the odd very small one. The really good bit is that the experienced allotment holders, who were sighing over the newby's stupidity in forgetting to plant potatoes, have had poor crops! Sometimes, you get it right by accident ...

[PurpleDragon]

Well, I braved it and lifted one of the tattie plants. There was one big one and 4 smaller tiddlers that would be less than a mouthful, so - no - they aren't ready yet. However, I was very pleased with them. The quality looks fine. I only lifted them last night, and didnt cook them yet though.

[Smooth Hound]

I tried some early red Dukes this yr and picked them 2 wks ago and they were realy nice, and a good crop too.

[Christine]

I lifted the rest of the Wiljas on Saturday and noticed that the plants had formed little green fruit (you can see they are related to tomatoes) and the foliage was turning browny yellow. The potatoes were definitely ready - even though a handful were really tiny, most were a very good size and many were 'baking' size - so I'm wondering now whether those two indicaors are a reliable way to tell that it's time to lift them...

[deniseduck]

I have been growing some potatoes in a potato barrel this year, and emptied it out today. I did everything wrong, I put them in far too late, they had gone all wrinkly and had great big dangly shoots on them because I'd had them too long before planting, and they have come up trumps! Lots of big, lovely looking tatties.
By the way, this is the third year I have tried with this potato barrel, and the last two years I did everything the books tell you to, and I had the most miserable crops, tiny little runts which were a real disappointment.
Was this my reward for persistence do you think, or have I stumbled on something here? I'm not sure which route to take next year, will I be pushing my luck too far to repeat the process of neglect and test my theory out - that plants just do what they want regardless of the care they receive?