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First Early Potatoes

christa998christa998 Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
Hi,

I'm new to the forum and very new to gardening.

I planted first early potatoes into three bags earlier in the year and now the leaves have started to pale and wilt but I haven't had any flowers.

I decided to check one of the bags today and there were a few (although not as many as expected) potatoes ranging from marble sized to XL egg sized. They all look healthy both inside and out but I have a few questions which I hope you can help me with, namely:

1. Is it normal for them not to have flowered?

2. Why are some so small and there's not very many?

3. I also found two extremely mushy potatoes in the bag (I mean REALLY mushy). Is that normal and will they have any effect on the very healthy looking potatoes? 

I've attached a photo of the harvested spuds and I'm hoping you don't tell me I have to throw them away. 



Thanks in advance,

Chris

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hello @christa998 and welcome to the forum 😊 

    1. Some varieties don’t flower before the potatoes are ready to harvest … particularly first earlies. 

    2. Early potatoes are smaller in size and fewer in number than main crop potatoes. They’re more of a gourmet treat rather than a diet staple. 

    3. The mushy potatoes you found are the remains of the potatoes you planted. They’ve produced the crop you have and now are totally drained and rotten. All is as it should be. 

    Congratulations! Your potatoes look marvellous. Enjoy 😊 

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





  • OliyaOliya Posts: 228
    The mushy potatoes are the ones you planted (the seed potato). 
    I never gave a thought whether potato plant has flowered or not.
    Some of your potatoes are tiny just because you dug them up so early. 
    Enjoy your harvest! It’s looking good:)
  • christa998christa998 Posts: 3
    Thank you for your replies, that's really put my mind at ease.  I believe I can use the old potato soil to grow carrots so I may have a go at that next. It's addictive this veg growing!

    I also have some raised beds which I'm growing onions, aubergines, cauli, peas and sprouts in so may have more questions at a later date.

    Thanks again,

    Chris
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    You need to weigh your crop.  600 - 750g from two seed potatoes isn't bad at all if they're good quality.
  • christa998christa998 Posts: 3
    MikeOxgreen said:
    You need to weigh your crop.  600 - 750g from two seed potatoes isn't bad at all if they're good quality.
    Hi Mike,

    There were actually five seed potatoes so I'm not sure why i only found two mushy ones.

    I'm quite pleased for my first attempt though. Potato salad for lunch today.

    Thanks,

    Chris

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    I don't know how you decided when to harvest them, but I keep a diary and count 14 weeks from the date I plant spuds.  A note says 'Try ***** spuds' and it seldom fails, but is a cure for a good forgettery.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I stager the planting of my earlies in pots and the ones I started really early got overtaken by the newer ones because the weather was so cold. It's a big part of the reason why the yield will have been low, they just needed longer to get a good crop. It's also worth noting that in pots you get less yield because the depth of soil doesn't submerge as much stem on the potatoes and it's from here the spuds grow.
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    christa998 said:
    MikeOxgreen said:
    You need to weigh your crop.  600 - 750g from two seed potatoes isn't bad at all if they're good quality.
    Hi Mike,

    There were actually five seed potatoes so I'm not sure why i only found two mushy ones.

    I'm quite pleased for my first attempt though. Potato salad for lunch today.

    Thanks,

    Chris

    The seeds of first early potatoes often come out looking like they did when they went in, you can tell them by their colour though - brown. I've pulled some out recently that were in such good condition I was tempted to plant them again as an experiment!

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