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Some of my seed spud order arrived 2 days ago, but I had to wait until today before I could set them out for chitting. I rescued an egg box from the recycling bag and set them out rose end upwards and then put the box on the dining room windowsill. This is the perfect spot as it's light, but cool owing to its northerly aspect. The spuds were quite small, so it was often difficult to tell where the rose end was. I suspect I may have to turn some of the spuds up the other way when they start sprouting!

These are a maincrop variety, so it'll be a while until they get planted out on the plot. The spuds were accompanied by a letter from the supplier. I've put an extract below to see if you think they're fobbing their customers off this year:

'...Unfortunately due to the adverse growing conditions experienced this summer, our crops of Sarpo varieties have not grown fully to the sizes expected. As a result and to ensure we are able to satisfy the huge demand for these varieties, we have graded the seed potatoes on a smaller size... The size of the seed potatoes will not adversely affect the yield of your resultant crop - in fact farmers normally pay a premium for small seed potatoes! We do suggest that you plant the tubers closer together,... we suggest 12 inches apart between tubers in rows 18 inches apart. This will ensure that the tubers do not get too big during the growing season...'

Hmm, if the rest of my order's small tubers, I'm going to have to revise my plot plan much earlier on than usual!

Comments

  1. Anonymous18 January 2008 at 16:16

    I shall get mine from the horticultural society. Apart from potatoes I'm still undecided on what other vegetables to grow. It's an subject I know little about so I'll be taking lots of advice from my plot neighbours.
    Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP18 January 2008 at 16:27

    Hi Flighty - spuds are 1 of the things our allotment society doesn't do that well, just 10% off from DT Brown, whereas seeds we get 45% off. Besides NAH bought me an RHS membership Xmas 2006 & I had a £5 T&M voucher burning a hole in my RHS diary, begging to be let out and spent!

    I've also taken advice from my allotment neighbours - a lot of them grow Kestrel, alas mine got eaten by slugs the year before last and I didn't have much of a crop at all. I felt very smug last year as I was the only plot holder left with spuds in June as blight had got the lot elsewhere. I also tried Harlequin last year (1st Early, so just about beat the blight)and they were delicious - tasted like they had butter on them even when served plain.

    Take care & have a good weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Threadspider18 January 2008 at 16:50

    2 of my varieties have arrived now, so I too will be chitting them this weekend. I have some earlies-Lady Christie- and Sarpo Mira so far. I believe the Sarpo Mira should be blight resistant too. Not really the weather to be thinking about gardening though, is it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. VP18 January 2008 at 16:54

    Hi Judith,

    Yes you're right Sarpo Mira is also blight resistant. It was the first Sarpo variety to be marketed in the UK. Be prepared for some extra large spuds!

    I'm thinking about gardening, but not really doing any :( However, 'chit spuds' is on my Jan/Feb to do list, so at least I've ticked off 1 of my jobs this week :)

    ReplyDelete

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