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Early Potatoes - When to sow

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  • 24-03-2017 10:42am
    #1
    johnjohn3423
    Registered Users Posts: 120 ✭✭


    New vegetable gardener here so looking for advice on when the plant.

    I bought a 2kg bag of Homeguard potatoes last weekend and they are well sprouted at this stage. I have the drills ready to go with the fertilizer already in for a week. My question is with the cold weather over the last week, should I plant them this weekend or hold off for another few days?

    Same question for cabbage plants that are currently in individual containers.

    Also for onion sets.


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    #2
    Zzippy
    Registered Users Posts: 14,166 ✭✭✭✭Zzippy


    johnjohn3423 wrote: »
    New vegetable gardener here so looking for advice on when the plant.

    I bought a 2kg bag of Homeguard potatoes last weekend and they are well sprouted at this stage. I have the drills ready to go with the fertilizer already in for a week. My question is with the cold weather over the last week, should I plant them this weekend or hold off for another few days?

    Same question for cabbage plants that are currently in individual containers.

    Also for onion sets.

    Get the spuds and onions in now I would say. I have mine in 2 weeks at this stage. Haven't grown cabbage so no idea there.


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    #3
    Genghis Cant
    Registered Users Posts: 4,980 ✭✭✭Genghis Cant


    If you're near the coast you could stick in the potatoes anytime now, as ground conditions allow you. It'd be unlikely you'd see frost.
    Inland I wouldn't plant them yet. They'll sit in the ground till soil temp is right and then make a burst. If you've a heavy frost in May it could wipe them out.
    Years ago we used sow a few around St Patricks day but it meant getting up at dawn to wash the frost off them before the sun scorched them.
    It's more trouble than its worth.
    I never sowed onion sets in March. April or May is when we'd sow them.
    Some cabbage varieties are hardy enough. You could harden them off and sow them when ground conditions allow.
    Again if you're in an area prone to late frosts I'd hold things up a little.


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    #4
    Zzippy
    Registered Users Posts: 14,166 ✭✭✭✭Zzippy


    Genghis Cant wrote: »
    If you're near the coast you could stick in the potatoes anytime now, as ground conditions allow you. It'd be unlikely you'd see frost.
    Inland I wouldn't plant them yet. They'll sit in the ground till soil temp is right and then make a burst. If you've a heavy frost in May it could wipe them out.
    Years ago we used sow a few around St Patricks day but it meant getting up at dawn to wash the frost off them before the sun scorched them.
    It's more trouble than its worth.
    I never sowed onion sets in March. April or May is when we'd sow them.
    Some cabbage varieties are hardy enough. You could harden them off and sow them when ground conditions allow.
    Again if you're in an area prone to late frosts I'd hold things up a little.

    Good point on location. I'm near the west coast so very mild climate, rare to get frost from now on. Was up in Offaly for the ploughing a few years ago in late September and there was heavy frost one morning, I couldn't believe it. We wouldn't gt frost til November most years and often not even then.


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