Potato Growing 2025

No sign of my swifts or foremost yet, I think it's too dry. Hoping the forecast rain will bring them on. I need to get all the others in as soon as conditions improve.

 

The swifts are just showing through. I'm going to let them get a bit of sun before I earth them up again.

 

My Anya have had to be earthed up again. I'm hoping we don't get any frost!

 

The Winston and Pink Fir Apples are just showing, no sign of the Buster yet though.

 

Only my first early spuds are showing. No sign of the Charlotte or Sarpo Mira yet.
Still haven't had time to get the Anya in the ground.

 

My first time potatoes seem to be doing well. Charlotte’s. I’ve earthed-up twice this week! When do I stop earthing up? I mean it will have to be when the soil reaches the top of the tub, but do I just let them grow away after that?

 

I wasn't going to plant any this year but found some sprouting in the pantry so I left them on a windowsill to chit and then planted them about 3 weeks ago. They needed watering as it's been so dry but have shown thru and been earthed up twice already.

Meanwhile, OH forked over last year's potato patch, finding quite a few that had been missed and then piled on a load of compost ready for me to plant something new. It now has 7 or 8 healthy new (old) potato plants.......

 

You could try and put a few sticks around the tub to stop them flopping. I grow mine in bags and I cut the bottom off a few bags and slip them over to give more height.....If all that makes sense

 

Well you do need to let the foliage have good light, eventually, as without it they will not produce the crop.

 

The purpose of earthing up is to prevent frost damage, and later to exclude light so as to prevent your new potatoes from turning green. Some kind of collar on a tub or bucket might serve to hold additional soil, or a cap of some kind, perhaps straw matting ?, to block light.

 

Frost damage

 

Ouch!

 

Mine are in tubs like that @JWK - do you just leave like that now as I was contemplating doing a collar for more earth?