EARLY POTATOES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 24

EARLY POTATOES

SECRETS OF SUCCESS Where facilities exist, potatoes may be produced many weeks in advance of the usual season. The earliest crops are grown in pots and, if a greenhouse is available in which it is possible to maintain a minimum temperature of 50 degrees, a start may be made in June. Two sizes of pots are usually employed, those of eight inches and ten inches diameter. The former will take one set or tuber, and in the larger pot three sets may be grown. The pots must be clean. This is very important, because it is often necessary to turn the ball of soil out of the pot, and to replace it. and from a dirty pot the ball could not be removed without some disturbance of the soil and injury to valuable roots. A good layer of clean drainage must be provided. On this place a few lumps of flbry loam. This will preflner soil seeping through to clog the drainage hole. A light and moderately rich mixture should be prepared. Old potting soil is very good, particularly that shaken out of old chrysanthemum stools, but, if a compost has to be prepared, it may consist of three parts fibrous loam to one part of flaky leaf mould, with, to each bushel of the mixture, a five-inch potful of bonemeal, A sprinkling of coarse sand will help to keep the soil open and sweet. The compost must be thoroughly mixed, and should be fairly moist, but no more.

DO NOT FILL THE POTS WITH EARTH The pots must not be filled with soil when planting the tubers. If threeparts filled some soil may be added at a later date, and this will approximate to moulding-up, as practised in the open garden. Sprouted tubers should be used, and the soil made moderately firm with the hands. Do not use a rammer. Potatoes will not root freely in a hard compost. With the exception of watering and putting more soil into the pots as the plants advance in growth, the cultural routine is not exacting. Careful watering is necessary, particularly so until the time when growth is free. It is most important to stand the pots in a light position and as near as possible to the glass. Plenty of air should be given at all times when the weather is favourable, and, in fact, everything oossible must be done to encourage the short and sturdy haulm so necessary to a good crop of tubers. It is wasteful to turn out a plant and collect the crop at one time. The ball of soil must be very carefully freed from the pot and the tubers picked from . round the side. If returned to the pot, a number of small tubers, invariably present, will soon develop into usable size. As the haulm elongates, it Is best supported with some twiggy wood. This permits sun and air to work their goodwill on, the plants, and, moreover, an upright haulm is natural and conducive to good progress. Successional batches may be potted in July and August CULTURE IN FRAMES Another method, or an additional one, for producing early potatoes is to plant the sets in a frame placed over a mild hotbed, and this can be done in July or August. Eight inches of good light soil should be placed on the hotbed, and the tubers planted in drills a foot apart. The tubers should be placed six inches apart and five inches deep These measurements may appear somewhat meagre, yet they are sufficient for these early crops It is a good plan not to fill in the drills completely at the time of planting, but rather to cover the tubers with two inches of soil, and to add the remaining three inches when the plants are growing freely. • Even though the plants are on a hotbed, it will be wise to cover the frame with mats during severe frost-pota-toes are very sensitive to cold. Water should be given sparingly, but, as the plants increase in size, it may be more liberally supplied. Air must be admitted freely whenever the weather is favourable. A mild and nearly uniform temperature should be maintained. The tubers should be used when they are about one inch in diameter, the largest being taken first and the small ones being left to afford a supply in succession.

In August some potatoes may be planted in cold frames, at least a foot of light soil being provided for them, and not too far from the glass; about eighteen inches between soil and glass is an ideal distance. Tris crop may be given rather more space, say. 15in between the drills, and Bin or 9in from tuber to tuber In all cases, sprouted sets are best, and. when frames are used for potatoes, with or without a hotbed, they should be placed in a sunny position, a northern exposure being by far the best If the frame may stand in front of a wall or hedge it is a decided advantage. The cultural routin is much ihe same as for the plants grown on a hotbed. In both cases the haulm should be given some support, as the plants then receive the greatest benefit from sun and air. Stirring with the hoe between the rows about once a fortnight will oromote growth EARLY CROPS IN THE OPEN

The first garden crop can be planted in August, towards the end of the month, on the warmest and most sheltered border available. It is not wise to plant too large an area thus early because, in the event of cold weather, a small bed can be easily protected with straw, bracken, or mats whereas a larger area would be inconvenient to cover. It is surprising how easily this protection may be afforded. Some mats or a street may be arranged on some light improvised si pports, and rolled down each night. Potatoes must not on any account remain covered during the day.

The drills for this first planting *n the open can be 18 inches apart, the tubers 9 to 12 inches asunder. Cover

the growth with soil as soon as it is seen. A gradual daily moulding up is the best protection it is possible to afford an early crop. Use the hoe freely in favourable weather, and when the soil is sufficiently dry. For pot and frame culture early varieties with short haulms should be chosen. Some of the most suitable are: May Queen, kidney, white flesh; Duke of York, syn.; 'Midlothian Early, oval, yellow flesh; Immune Ashleaf, kidney; and Sharpe’s Victor, kidney, yellow flesh. 'Vrran Pilot is a new variety of great promise. For the earliest outdoor crops, in addition to the aforementioned varieties, others of proved merit are: Sharpe's Express, oval white flesh; Eclipse, oval, white flesh; Dargill Early immune, kidney, white; Arran Rose, immune, oval, white; Epicure, round, white; and Edzell Blue, immune, white round—A., in Amateur Gardening.