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10 February 2011
Potato season is here, so why not pop down to Smith's and get your hands on our wide range of potato seeds, First earlies, earlies, main crop and salads, 26 varieites in total.
HINTS AND TIPS
I recommend that you chit your potato seeds before you plant them, chiting is allowing the seed to form strong healthy shoots (chits) before they go into the ground giving them a great head start. You can achieve this by placing your seeds in an open egg box then storing in a cool well vented place out of direct sunlight, a shed is ideal but be careful not to allow the seeds to get frosted (below -2c is a guide to offer more protection). Leave the potato seeds for approximately two weeks until it has chitted with shoots about 50mm (2") long.
When planting I recommend that the chitted potato seeds are planted at a depth of 10cm (4") in rows (north to south for the best light coverage), space them at 30-40cm apart allowing 50-60cm between rows.When the first shoots appear out of the ground it's time for 'earthing up'. Pull the soil from both sides of the shoots up into a ridge covering the exposed shoots a 'draw hoe' is ideal for this job. Repeat the process as it grows until the ridge sits about 20cm high, this will protect the plants from late frost and prevent the spuds going green, Green spuds are NOT edible.
Planting and Harvesting times are as follows:
| Maturity | Plant | Depth | Distance | Width between rows | Harvest |
| First Earlies | March-April | 10cm (4") | 30cm (12") | 45cm (18") | June-August |
| Second Earlies | April-May | 10cm (4") | 30cm (12") | 45cm (18") | July-September |
| Maincrop | April-May | 10cm (4") | 37.5cm (15") | 67.5cm (27") | September-October |
| Salads | March-April | 10cm (4") | 30cm (12") | 45cm (18") | July-September |
Alongside myself are Mick and Matt to assist customers with choosing their trees. Whether its Apples or Pears, Plums or Cherries, or even some more unusual fruits such as Mirrabelles, Quinces and Mulberries. We can advise on sizes of Rootstocks, Polinating requirements, pruning advice, choosing different varieties for flavour, or anything else you can think of! We have been growing the new crop of trees since last November, when they were first potted as 'Maidens' (One year old grafted trees). I've looked after them all year along with Matt, to get them ready for this Autumn.