Potatoes. Please don't laugh....

[Miljah]

😂 As an experiment I grew 2 bags of Charlotte potatoes in my conservatory.

They say you can harvest at 10 weeks, which is next weekend.

Given that I want the space back, and have 10 five litre chillie pots to go there- would you chop the vegetation back to 12" now?

Will it make any difference?

Have the plants flowered yet? I mean, you can tip them out whenever you want, of course, but you won't get a true idea of your success if you do it too early!

Can you not just move them outdoors?

Can I move them out in one hit or should I acclimatise them?

We got 3 degrees a couple of nights ago!

They haven't flowered.

In a conservatory it gets cold at night, so they are likely to be fine but you could harden them off for a bit today, leave them out all day tomorrow and bring them in late and then kick them out on Monday.

Hi OP - I've grown potatoes in bags with great success but IME you do need to let the plants flower for the best results. Not sure whether you'll get a decent crop otherwise....I could be wrong, though.

I'd agree with sackrifice that leaving them out during the day today (at least) to help them harden off would be best.

I only grew maincrops in bags, so I never harvested this early. But if it's an experiment maybe it's worth a try?!

Can I ask what maincrop potatoes you grow in bags, please, Pilcrow?

And I am taking the advice to harden them off!

You can grow any potatoes in bags.

Got to be better than when my dad tried to grow them at the side of our house when we were kids. We all watched excitedly as he harvested them. he pulled out some puny looking things which were exactly the same size as they were when they went in. Was a source of merriment for a while after!

Which is why I haven't allowed my rather older children any input into this!

Mine have been outside since March and are doing well.

I wouldn’t harvest until at least a week after they have flowered or you will be disappointed.

Sorry, Miljah - got distracted and didn't check the thread! I've grown Desiree, Pink Fir Apple and I er.....forget what else! But those two did very well. Yields not as big as in the ground, understandably enough, but I was happy with them. A good compromise if you haven't got a lot of space.

Thanks!

Um- I suspect much of mine won't flower because I had to prune it to put it outside as much of the ridiculous, luxurious top-growth happened due to being in a nice warm conservatory!

Once outside, it collapsed!