spuds.... whats going on - earlies flowering before mains??

[mew]

Hi All

Heres the thing

I have 4 varieties of potatoes – Orla, Kestrel, Golden Wonder and Picasso. I planted the Orla and Kestel on 31 March (I understand they are first and second earlies according to Alan Romans (where I purchased them from) and I planted Golden Wonder and Piccasso a couple of weeks later.

Unless Ive got it completely mad (which Im hopeful (although MOH may disagree on occasion….!) I haven’t) the mains are just starting to flower and my earlies haven’t even started to bud yet – whats going on, surely it should be the other way round shouldn’t it…….??? Help……. Pllleeeaaaaassseee

MEW

[Cheezy]

I could be wrong here, but I think that is normal. I don't think earlies flower until much later. You just have to keep checking to see if they are ready to dig up. My Swift (extra early) I planted in Feb and should have been ready 12 weeks later. With the dry weather I left them much longer because the crop was pathetic

[chadspad]

Now Im probably wrong but is it possible that potatoes dont have to flower? I dont recall having seen a single flower on my spuds but the crop has been fab!

[red]

we have started to dig and eat our first earlies.. and they never flowered. they still seem behind the mains though - went in at the same time.. but I am determined to eat them in the right order!!

[Thurston Garden]

Hmm. I would have expected the earlies to flower erm, earlier than the mains. I would be tempted to ask Alan Romains, he is the tattie guru hehe. You can dig the earlies when in flower, but it's best to leave the earlies till after flowering, let the haulms/shaws die back, then remove them and dig shortly after.

I have some 2nd Earlies, Marfona and Estima which I got from my tattie growing farmer landlord. I planted them on the same day as he did. His are 4 fields away, in a reasonably light soil. Mine are in dreadful heavy clay. His are 4 times ahead of mine with the shaws meeting in between the drills. I am certain this is purely down to the air in th soil - or lack of it in my case!

Not all of mine flowered last year, but I just put that down to soft seed, late planting and sh*te soil.....

[Millymollymandy]

I've grown spuds that didn't flower but had plenty of great spuds. Maybe some varieties just don't flower!

[mew]

thanks everyone - really needed to hear that, really thought i was losing it for a second. i might just ask the guru - alan roman to see what he says too xx

[Thurston Garden]

If you do ask AR, can you post his wisdom for all to see?

[mew]

but of course. watch this space guys and gals xxx

[littlebluefish]

Our spuds have been weird too. The second batch we planted show very little signs of doing anything at all, and the third are up already!

I think my spuds are dead

[red]

dug some of my mains just to see.. they are the same size at earlies. only alot more of them per plant.

next year we might stick to mains and just dig some of them a little earlier