First spuds ever....

[GKW]

Well, it's my first time at bat re growing potatoes.

One bed in which I planted kipfler seed spuds (co planted with broad beans which did well and have been harvested) is getting to that stage of the plants really dying back and when combined with the last couple of weeks of decent constant rain in Sydney, I decided to have a look see at what's happening under the surface and pulled one of the plants out and had a dig. Whilst still a tad undersized I was happy with the prelim harvest. All in good condition and ready for a bake up.

Raised bed soil not too wet so will leave the rest for a couple of weeks and have another look.

In the back of my mind, there's that nagging thought that this could be as good as it gets as you just don't know what's going on under the surface.

 

[67HR]

Hi, that looks like a good yield from one tuber and they look a nice size. The small ones would boil or steam up and go well cold in a salad.

 

[GKW]

Update....Have pulled out the all the spuds now.

I used four of the seed spud packs from Bunnings, let them chit a while then planted them in three different raised beds (different heights and sizes) plus put some left overs in some pots / planter bags.

Some lessons leaned in my first try at spuds.

1) I think if I'd gotten them planted a couple / few weeks earlier I would have gotten some bigger spud growth before the hotter weather killed off the plants.
2) Relates to point (1)...it took a few weeks to find the right place to position the seed potates to get them to chit. This extra few weeks delay won't happen next year.
3) Co-planting with beans / peas. Worked okay and got a decent haul but undersized a tad.
4) If going to use a shallow raised bed, only plant determinate spuds so they grow on one level and don't need mounding up.
5) Yields from grow bags not great. Will keep and use in future if I've got a couple of left over seed spuds, but not as a main cropping bed. Same with pots. Got some decent spuds, especially with the larger pots, but not a huge haul.
6) I really enjoyed trying spuds and did much better in both yield and size from the larger raised beds, which I keep building up as the plants kept growing.

Here are some pics from the haul over last few weeks up until yesterday.


Cheap $20.00 bed from Bunnings which I co-planted spuds, snow peas and board beans.

and the haul.

Larger raised bed, two grow bags and some plastic pots.

and the haul from this bed, one grow bag and a few pots.

The the longer raised bed..2.1m by 600m type

and the haul plus one planter bag and some pots.

All in all, pretty happy with this lot for a first try. Now all boxed away under the house for cool storage and later eating.