easily a week if not more . what the potatoes will do is shut down for winter and prepare to grow for next spring . im know expert but id guess you could leave them in the ground a long time .

thats if duke of york is a type of spud ofcourse lol

Duke of York are a first early potato. You can leave them in the ground but they wont grow much bigger. Try to harvest and use before your main crop potatoes are realdy

sorted rozalia i was kind of right it seams lol .

thanks. This is my second year for growing potatoes. I haven't any main crop potaoes as I just put in the 4 rows of Red duke. Very pleased with them - we've had them boiled in the skins; then sliced and fried; roasted with covering of olive oil and best of all boiled and made into potato salad. I will definately try different sorts next year - it helps to be on this site and get the benefit of all your expertise.

Rozalia be aware that the red dukes will not keep in the way that a main crop potato would. These are designed to be harvested and eaten. So lift what you need but make sure ll eaten by late October, early November.

how do you keep a red duke of york potato till the next year incase you have to grow them again then moon grower please ?

can you grow potatos from seed then i guess if the spuds rot .

It is not a good idea to save some of your potato crop to grow as seed the following year. You run the likelihood of disease as the will not be 'clean' potatoes which seed potatoes are. The only exception I would make to this is if you are growing rare heritage potatoes we you will probably have to save some for seed. Regular potatoes buy seed from a reputable supplier, I would not buy from the likes of B & Q as, in general, the potatoes will not have been looked after properly, even some of the chain garden centres should be avoided. We order direct from Chase Organic the seed supplying wing of Garden Organic and top up from our local independent garden centre.

bye seeds you mean potatoes

Yes seed potatoes

how do you look after a potato then moon - grower and make them clean etc ?

can you tell a clean seed potato from any other kind ?

Seed potatoes are grown in areas away from other commercial potato growing so they are unlikely to have any blight spores on them. As the plants grow they are regularly checked 'rouged' to make sure of this. What this means in practice is that several people who have been trained walk through the potato field and inspect every last growing plant and remove any that might possibly be diseased. This isn't a job for a teenager wanting to make pocket money. These people are trained to spot the first stages on any disease on the potato shaw. I remember a friend of ours doing the course 30+ years ago. It is mostly a miserable job as come rain, come shine they have to be out checking. Usually in waterproof clothing. If you save your own potatoes to use as seed you may well have all sorts of diseases in them. Seed potatoes are not expensive it makes sense to ensure you do not introduce disease onto you land or you may not be able to grow potatoes at all in future years.

fair play i just wonderd moon grower thank you .

You are welcome Noseypotter... this is how we all learn :-)

ofcourse especialy if your nosey lol . what goes around comes around .