Somerset, United Kingdom
After chitting and before planting seed potatoes, do i need to rub of some of the stalks ?
- 27 Jan, 2010
Answers
I expect that you will get "yes" and "no" answeres to this.
The old practice was to rub some shoots off so that those remaining produced larger potatoes. This is now disputed and I think that modern practice is not to rub them off. We won't rub any shoots off out seed potatoes but I expect that somer GoYers still do.
27 Jan, 2010
I have read that you should rub off all but 3 shoots,....but don't know if this is right.....I would take the advice of Moon Grower and Bulbaholic....they usually know what they are talking about!......
27 Jan, 2010
Potatoes are just pieces of swollen stem on the plant which happen to be below ground level, particularly as we earth up the plants or cover them in some other way.
The more shoots there are, the more potatoes you will get. Like Bulbaholic and Moon grower, I would very much doubt the conventional wisdom of rubbing off shoots to get 'larger' potatoes. What determines the size and health of the new tubers is the new potato plant which grows, not the old tuber. When you dig your potatoes you often find the shrivelled remains of the old tuber.
Each 'sprout' simply grows a new stem of the potato plant. Some will be weak shoots which make poor tubers, and others very strong ones which will make larger tubers.
What really determines the size of your potatoes is variety. If you want fewer larger ones, choose a late variety recommended for large potatoes. Most people nowadays tend to grow the smaller early salad varieties, which to be honest, taste far better.
27 Jan, 2010
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27 Jan, 2010