All about Potatoes

terrysimmonds06

I was given some seed potatoes so unsure if earlies, main or lates, I planted and have been covering the shoots with soil in a bag, these have now overgrown the bag and are approximately 2 foot high, how do I know when I can harvest these, flowers are starting to develope on the stems
any help is appreciated, by this novice veg grower

Biglad

I think conventional wisdom is that when the flowers start to die back, you should harvest.

terrysimmonds06

Makes sense, thankyou

Dovefromabove

If they're a variety that doesn't flower, then when the foliage starts to yellow is a good guide. 

purplerallim

As earlies tend to not have flowers( generally) you probably have mains or lates. To check you could dig around and see if you can find a potato near the top, if you would like little new potatoes pick a few, if not leave them till later. The flowers are usually picked off to keep the plants feeding the roots, and yes they are huge tops, which in a bag need to be tied together. Then wait for the tops to start to die back and then check again. Hope this helps @terrysimmonds06 🙂

terrysimmonds06

Thank you, all makes sense

breadmusgrawe903

You may try to wait until the tops(or flower if you want so) turned yellow and fell.