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Spud virgin - basic question

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in Fruit & veg
We've had a bit of rain and my spuds have shot up about a foot. They have flower buds on them. I'm thinking this is a 'good thing' and l can let them get on with it..
How do I know for sure when to harvest?
There's only about eight plants so I can't really afford to dig one out to have a look.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    My spuds said 'approx 15 weeks from planting', so I made a note in my calendar. Last year (my virgin year) I left them a bit longer than that and I still think it was too soon. I had some lovely spuds but they were tiny and I think another week or two would have been better. 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    It seems a trifle rude to disturb them too soon.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    You can't ever really be sure as there are too many factors involved (eg. variety, water, soil) and if you've been suffering from drought like me, I'd advise leaving them in.  Drought is the most significant factor in reduced crops.  First and second early varieties are often harvested when the flowers appear, but that's done to get 'new' potatoes and the crop would be much greater if you left them until the haulms died back, like you do for 'maincrop' varieties.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Flowers are so much easier! Everything happens above ground.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Mine are beginning to flower ... I’m going to lift one plant in a couple of weeks and see how they are ... they’ll probably be tiny but we’ll enjoy them, and then we’ll make an educated guess at how long to leave the rest. We've only got 8 plants too.

    As potato farming brother would say, getting the watering right is the key ... too little and they’re too small, too much and you lose flavour. Leave them too long and the slugs’ll spoil them. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    What amazes me is that I've been keeping them watered -nothing much happened . An hour of light rain and away they go. Ungrateful if you ask me!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Temperamental things, spuds ... you ask my bro 🙄 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I sort of assumed spud growing was in my genes. But, that being said, they're not dead.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Green MagpieGreen Magpie Posts: 806
    You don't have to risk pulling up a whole plant. Just put your hand in the soil around the roots and have a little furtle around, to see if you can feel any potatoes. If there are some that are big enough to eat, you can gently pull them off if you like, and leave the plant to carry on with the rest. I have done this twice now but left all the plants to carry on growing.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    A bit like a gynecological examination, then.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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