Might plant spuds and other Veg in garden

Seve OB

Heard a guy on Newstalk a few weeks back saying something about tubes of spuds and it would be a good time to plant them in time for Christmas. He was talking about putting them in pots. Can't remember the finer details.

I have an area which was a poor attempt at a flowerbed which I recently decided to get rid of and let it become part of the lawn. It's ready to go, but I haven't put down any grass seed yet. I think I've heard before that it can be good for the earth to grow spuds, so I'm thinking of doing it and wait till next April before laying the grass.

Area is about 60cm * 3m. And another area about 60cm * 1.5m

There is an electric cable running the length of each buried about a foot down within some hard plastic (kinda like a small waven pipe) which brings power up to the shed, this might make a difference ???

How many spuds would I get in that area?
What yield would I get per plant?
What are the tubes I heard mentioned?
What variety is good for Ireland?
What other veg would you recommend?
I like the idea of maybe putting some rhubarb in but no idea if right time to plant?

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

macraignil

Seve OB wrote: »

Heard a guy on Newstalk a few weeks back saying something about tubes of spuds and it would be a good time to plant them in time for Christmas. He was talking about putting them in pots. Can't remember the finer details.

I have an area which was a poor attempt at a flowerbed which I recently decided to get rid of and let it become part of the lawn. It's ready to go, but I haven't put down any grass seed yet. I think I've heard before that it can be good for the earth to grow spuds, so I'm thinking of doing it and wait till next April before laying the grass.

Area is about 60cm * 3m. And another area about 60cm * 1.5m

There is an electric cable running the length of each buried about a foot down within some hard plastic (kinda like a small waven pipe) which brings power up to the shed, this might make a difference ???

How many spuds would I get in that area?
What yield would I get per plant?
What are the tubes I heard mentioned?
What variety is good for Ireland?
What other veg would you recommend?
I like the idea of maybe putting some rhubarb in but no idea if right time to plant?

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

It is not the standard time to plant potatoes and if you are not experienced with growing them then I think you should try growing them at the normal planting time first. There was a recent post in this forum related to this on this link.
It highlights the extra problem of blight and frost in growing them outdoors in autumn. I'd guess you could end up getting no crop. No idea what the tubes on the radio are. The link mentions some varieties good for late planting but again I would say you might be better going for standard potato growing first and that electric wire in the ground would make digging up anything more difficult or dangerous. You would be better growing something you don't have to dig out of the ground so lettuce, spinach, chard or even some cooking herbs might be an option. If you go to a garden centre they might have some part grown vegetables that you could plant out in your plot to get bigger and be OK to harvest over winter like cabbage or kale.


Rhubarb is usually divided when it is dormant in January or February.

Dog Man Star

I've never seen the point in planting potatoes when they are so cheap to buy. If it's for christmas, planting garlic, rosemary, thyme, a bay tree and sprouts seems more exciting and worthwhile.

bizidea

Dog Man Star wrote: »

I've never seen the point in planting potatoes when they are so cheap to buy. If it's for christmas, planting garlic, rosemary, thyme, a bay tree and sprouts seems more exciting and worthwhile.

Nothing in the shop tastes like your own

Mech1

Would your Tubes be Tubers?

Seve OB

Mech1 wrote: »

Would your Tubes be Tubers?

Could be. Enlighten me please?

pconn062

Seve OB wrote: »

Could be. Enlighten me please?

Tubers are another word for potatoes or other root veg like jerusalem artichokes/yams. Personally I don't know about planting potatoes at this time of year unless you have a greenhouse or polytunnel to grow them in. The risk of losing them to frost is very high.

RiderOnTheStorm

Tubes could be Tubs. Growing potatoes in large buckets, barrells or tubs is fairly common. IIRC you half fill the tub with soil, plant the spud, and when it starts to grow, you cover the shoot and wait & repeat until tub it full of soil and in theory growing spuds all the way down on an elongated stem / root. However, not sure if this better or worse going into autumn / winter....

Seve OB

Tubers.
Went shopping today for some but all sold out.

Link here about Christmas potatoes

https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/gardening-on-pat-kenny

Seve OB

planted a few spuds the other day
still have some more to plant but it was a mud bath today out there, hope to get them down during the week
will keep the thread updated with my progress...... or lack of it!

Car99

Seve OB wrote: »

planted a few spuds the other day
still have some more to plant but it was a mud bath today out there, hope to get them down during the week
will keep the thread updated with my progress...... or lack of it!

Small areas so you could make your own little polytunnell for cheap

Technophobe

If they are outside, the frost will kill them..Christmas potatoes are generally plantd in bags/pots that can be brought into a tunnel or g/h when frost is a threat...best of luck tho...

bizidea

I m planting potatoes as well I'm going to plant them in grow bags outsidr and move them inside I have premier potatoes that I kept from earlier in the year I put them in a fridge for a few weeks have them on a window sill for the last two weeks trying to sprout them but they dont seem to be doing anything should I chance just planting them or is it possible that they were sprayed with something to stop them sprouting

rolion

At 9 degrees over the night,quite challenging to plant / grow / pick anything to be honest.

In my greenhouse,the cucumber flowers are drying-up and falling to the ground, the tomatoes are barely staying green,i hope a good few days to get the red out of it.
Very tricky this year... for inside and outside as well...never seen like now,leafs drying,turning black and curling.I have few big nettle plants inside growing special for tea,then sprayed over the leafs on flowers,trees and vegies inside the gh,thats how i managed to keep them still green at this time of the year...

Graces7

When I had a polytunnel I had a corner filled with dry grass/hay and grew potatoes there all the year round. Threw some old ones out here to a bed of cardboard, and seaweed, well covered, and they are doing well . Remains to be seen what the crop is like but that is all part of the joy of gardening. west mayo offshore

Seve OB

spuds seem to be sprouting through nicely
will stick a few pics up if I think of it when I get home

how often would you water/feed them?
I've a feed bottle with this tomato feed which sticks on the end of my hose and it filters a very small amount of feed with the hose. been using it about 3 times a week for a reasonable dose, as in giving the soil a good wetting but not water logging it

Seve OB

Some pics of location and progress

Seve OB