Ordinary supermarket potatoes and garden grown seed potatoes carry more spores of bacteria and fungal pests than high grade Scottish Basic seed potatoes. In addition, non-certified seed can carry PCN eelworm or can be treated with sprout suppressant which will stop your crop from growing properly.
Some of the best varieties to grow as a beginner include Maris Piper and Charlotte potatoes. These are two of the most popular varieties for good reason, they’re tasty, versatile and show decent resistance to most diseases and pests.
First earlies are planted 30cm apart along your drill and the space between drills should be around 24?.
Second earlies and maincrops can be planted just over a foot apart with a space of 80cm between the drills.
Frosts & Cold Weather
Spuds are sensitive to frosts, which damage them in the ground. Even just spells of cold weather makes spuds more susceptible to bruising and possibly later rotting which can easily spoil a large stored crop.
At harvest, home growers will dig up spuds with a long-handled, three-prong “grape†(or graip), also known as a spading fork, or a potato hook which is similar to the graip but its tines are at a 90 degree angle to the handle. In larger plots, the plow can serve as the fastest implement for unearthing potatoes
Large scale harvesting tends to be done with large machines which scoop everything up, plants, crops and all. This then gets transported up an apron chain made of steel links several feet wide, which removes some of the earth. The chain deposits into an area where further separation occurs. Different designs use different systems at this point.
The most complex designs use vine choppers and shakers, along with a blower system or “Flying Willard†to separate the potatoes from the plant. The result is then usually run past workers who continue to sort out plant material, stones, and rotten potatoes before the potatoes are continuously delivered to a wagon or truck. Further inspection and separation occurs when the potatoes are unloaded from the field vehicles and put into storage.
Some of the best varieties to grow as a beginner include Maris Piper and Charlotte potatoes. These are two of the most popular varieties for good reason, they’re tasty, versatile and show decent resistance to most diseases and pests.
First earlies are planted 30cm apart along your drill and the space between drills should be around 24?.
Second earlies and maincrops can be planted just over a foot apart with a space of 80cm between the drills.
Frosts & Cold Weather
Spuds are sensitive to frosts, which damage them in the ground. Even just spells of cold weather makes spuds more susceptible to bruising and possibly later rotting which can easily spoil a large stored crop.
At harvest, home growers will dig up spuds with a long-handled, three-prong “grape†(or graip), also known as a spading fork, or a potato hook which is similar to the graip but its tines are at a 90 degree angle to the handle. In larger plots, the plow can serve as the fastest implement for unearthing potatoes
Large scale harvesting tends to be done with large machines which scoop everything up, plants, crops and all. This then gets transported up an apron chain made of steel links several feet wide, which removes some of the earth. The chain deposits into an area where further separation occurs. Different designs use different systems at this point.
The most complex designs use vine choppers and shakers, along with a blower system or “Flying Willard†to separate the potatoes from the plant. The result is then usually run past workers who continue to sort out plant material, stones, and rotten potatoes before the potatoes are continuously delivered to a wagon or truck. Further inspection and separation occurs when the potatoes are unloaded from the field vehicles and put into storage.
About the Author:
JBA are the UK's largest growers and suppliers of seed potatoes with over 100 varieties to choose from including Maris Piper, Desiree and more.
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