I wanted to share with you a film on an experiement I conducted this year to see just how little effort you could put into a potato crop and still get a viable return. These potatoes were sown directly onto some well rotted manure which had been placed on top of three layers of cardboard on totally uncultivated ground. They were then covered with 3inches of well rotted manure and left to their own devices. At its simplest this could be considered a no dig method and whilst I would not recommend this if you have a small space it has cultivated the ground quite deeply and has produced a much more than acceptable crop of the three varieties I choose for this experiment.
The 3 variety i used for the experiment were
Pink Fir Apple – very knobbly so can be a pain to clean but very nice taste eaten hot or cold
Vitelotte – also called Vitelotte noire, Négresse or Truffe de Chine, is a gourmet French variety of blue-violet potato.Great taste doesn’t crop as heavy as some modern variety’s having been bread around 1860 but I always make room for some as its my personal favorite
Harlequin – This was my first time growing Harlequin as I like to try at least one new variety each season.The crop was fantastic ,double Pink Fir Apple which was one of its parents and I think the taste both hot and cold is equal to it.
Not included in this experiment but which I also grow and would recomend are BF15 – High-yielding first early salad potato, as delicious as its name is unromantic, which I also grow in bags for Christmas and Mayan Gold another with great taste.
Remember if you are storing your potatoes they need to be in Paper or hessian sacks with the light exclude or they will turn green and not be fit for eating
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Hello Mark, as an experiment I’m growing some 2nd crop potatoes in sacks with the idea of having new potatoes for Christmas. What measures should I take in the event of an early frost being forecast? I’ve been told that with the slightest frost potato plants will die and I don’t have a greenhouse to protect them.
John
Hi John
yes a frost will certainly finish them of so you would normally grow them in a bag on a greenhouse or conservatory, you could try covering them with Horticultural fleece which will keep a slight frost a bay,and can be reused around the garden and is not expensive.
When did you plant them and when did you dig them up? I’d like to put this on the calendar for next year.. Thanks as ever for your informative videos..
We did something similar, BUT we placed chicken wire mesh at the bottom, we laid a section of chicken wire, placed one variety of spuds, then some soil, then laid another section of chicken wire and placed another variety of spuds and when they are grown all you need to do is lift the wire up and shake a little (needs 2 people) and all your spuds are safely on the wire, again no dig. The soil falls through the wire.