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Potato plants dying - whats happening?
alex.beston
Posts: 39
in Talkback
Hi there,
Planted some "Picasso" variety potatoes back in April this year and I've noticed that over the past month the leaves have been gradually dying off; I went to the plot today and discovered all of the leaves were 'dead'.
Could anyone shed any light on this? I would have thought at the beginning of August, potato plants ought to be thriving?
Its not the "blight" is it?
0
Posts
Picasso are a very early maturing maincrop potato - could they be ready to harvest?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
ahh - okay, so when the potato plant has matured its leaves die off?
Yes
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
alex dig a root up and see what's there, lovely spuds I would think.
ok! good-o.
I've noticed that some plotters cut off the branches at ground level. Is that just to tidy things up or does it have a beneficial effect, I dont know to stop the tubers from rotting? If I do cut off the branches, how long do the potatoes they keep for in the soil? I've heard of a technique where you dig 'em all up, remove all plant material and cover with soil. OTOH, I'm thinking of putting them in the shed on a bed of straw, covering with a blanket or something.
How do you keep yours?
Hi Alex. I tend to dig mine up on a dry day, leave them on the surface for a while to dry off thoroughly and then bag up in either hessian sacks or netting bag, definitely not plastic as if still damp will rot. I keep them in the garage, where the temperature stays pretty constant, but anywhere that is not too hot or cold. This seems to work for me anyway. I check them regularly, any bad smell and you are best tipping them all out and making sure none are rotting, as this will progress through them all - really horrible stink! Good luck
Make sure that when you store them they're kept in the absolute dark, otherwise they'll turn green and you mustn't eat them.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hello I am keeping a keen eye on my Kind Edwards and Cara and was reading this as some have become a bit tall and are falling over already with only one or two flowers on ... so I was wondering how Alex got on last year and what you found when you had a root around (pardon the terrible pun)
LMS
Thanks Edd, I do like both varieties but didn't support them and when I thought I could they seemed to brittle to move so I just water and leave well alone now... can't wait for late August to have a peek and see how they are getting on!