my pathetic potato bags

Sorry I can't answer your question lilypad. Just to say I grew pototoes a lot of years ago. Got a bumper crop but when I boiled them they all turned to mush! I was so disappointed. Hope someone can help you but in the meantime chin up, it's all trial and error.....:o)

That's a disappointing result for you lilypad ... after the anticipation!

This is such a shame, lily! pity we can't see what is going on down there in the bags. The foliage does look like it has begun to die back, so may well have been ready to harvest. Did you water enough, and keep topping up the compost as the folaige grew? Hope you planted only 1 or at most 2 seed tubers per bag? A tip I learned here is to cut off the flowers as they appear, which diverts the plant's energy into potato production. After all, we all look for the flowers as a sign, but it is the withered foliage and strems which herald harvest.

The ones in the ground look good. presumably, you are earthing these up?

All the best for a bumper crop from these, to make up for the bagged ones. :-))

Below is a link to a good clear plan for growing potatoes. It also identifies why you might have a poor crop. A late frost is one which can affect pot grown potatoes and lack of watering consistantly when the potatoes reach about 1" in diameter is another. Veg growers are often not aware that early potatoes often take longer than the time stated by the suppliers to reach a decent size. Earlies are planted last not first. Their shorter growing period is
sometimes given as being as little as 7 weeks. The weather conditions will affect that time scale. Potatoes respond well to being fed with tomato food every couple of weeks although personally I would use seaweed extract. http://www.garden-pots.com/howtogrowpotatoes.html
This not a critisism but my bags and pots are all full of compost. I can see several inches of stem in the bags in your photos. As a rule of thumb I would not be expecting to find potatoes in the bags you have there until the foliage which still seems to be growing strongly and is very fresh looking was withering a lot more than we see here. I'm afraid trial and error is still the way to gain experience. I am sorry you are so disappointed by your results but do not give up. If you had watered for another few weeks I am sure the results would have been much better, all those small potatoes would have grown to the size of the larger ones and the larger ones could have been used for baking. Your pink fir apple are late potatoes and can be left in the ground until October/November. The resulting potatoes are very knobbly and only need to be scrubbed to remove the soil as they are too knobbly to be peeled. Pieces will break off as you wash them, don't worry. Put all the bits in the pot, big or small, no need to ensure all the spuds are the same size when you are boiling them as they will all cook at the same rate no matter what the size. I generally boil mine till they are almost cooked through, drain them and then put them back on the heat for a short time to steam cook and dry for a couple of minutes. Shake the pan and take the lid off to allow all the steam to escape and I get lovely floury potatoes every time.

Thank you all so much for your advice. I only lifted two bags so I shall continue to water and monitor the other 6 bags and even more in tubs. and in the soil. Thank you so much for the expert knowledge from Scotsgran? I shall have to go back to recall names. Wonderful advice! I hate floury potatoes though . I had no idea first earlies should be planted last. I am not deterred . Next year I shall have selected my favourites and will have a little more idea of what I am doing. Does anyone know how the celebrities are doing in their experiment either in the times or the telegraph? I should like to know when you all harvest your potatoes, what reults you got

As I am not sure where you are I cannot say if there are any Potato Days near you but google in Potato Days UK and you may find there will be one near you. They usually happen from January through to March and you can buy individual potatoes of as many different varieties as you have room for.