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1st Early Potatoes

burgess8bsburgess8bs Posts: 51
in Fruit & veg
When is the best time to plant 1st earlier as the weather is still cold and given heavy frost out.  Live in Staffordshire on high exposed ground.

Posts

  • BraidmanBraidman Posts: 274
    .
    April, I got caught out last year by planting very early because of the good weather, plants were about a foot high, two frost in the beginning of May, will be more cautious this year!

    I am in Gloucester much milder than Staffordshire!
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    In your position I'd probably plant now, but invest in a length of fleece to put over them and protect them from the frosts.  It's good stuff - but extra expense.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Another vote for April
    Fleece will help but it will only protect from a couple of degrees of frost. I grow my early potatoes in a pollytunnel and I plant them in mid April. My last frost it not until 1st June but with the extra protection they can survive a bit.
    Commercially here new potatoes are big business and we use fleece and something called frost netting, which looks rather like a shower scrub but white and in sheet form, that will protect down to around -4/-5 for one night.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Traditional time to plant potatoes outside is good friday. In Cornwall you can plant a lot earlier. Scotland, they do it when they can get a pickaxe into the soil.
  • Jolly Gary the GardenerJolly Gary the Gardener Posts: 133
    Planting potatoes on Good friday is not a exact science as Easter changes so one year might be in March but another year may be in April.Various dates in April for next three years so soil should be warmer than in March

    Happy planting cant beat fresh spuds from allotment of garden
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