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What happens if I leave undug potatoes in the ground?

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  • 06-11-2022 1:42pm
    #1
    n1st
    Registered Users Posts: 571 ✭✭✭


    I tried nodig potatoes for the first time, the ground is overgrown with heavy grass so I didn't get the dig.

    If I leave them as is what will happen next year?

    I'm thinking of covering the ground in cardboard again, doing it right this time. Would new crop emerge next year?



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    #2
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,442 ✭✭✭macraignil


    I have had the experience of potatoes not dug up at harvest time in one year (simply by missing some of them when digging) having sprouted another crop the following year but don't think the crop was very good the second year. The ones in the ground over winter may get eaten by slugs or simply rot and so a crop next year is not guaranteed either. I think if you covered the ground with them under the cardboard and compost now the cardboard might kill off the grass over winter and be softened enough by rain and rotting over the winter months to allow your potatoes sprout next spring but if they are all eaten by slugs there may be none next year and a good chance the crop next year would have a lot of damage from pests that can feed off them and had a chance to build up in numbers in the soil. My potatoes this year had a lot of scab on the skin and I saw on TV this condition is one of the reasons commercial potato growers like to go to new ground for their crop of potatoes each year. I probably wont plant any potatoes next year but wont be surprised if I still get a few pop up from near the compost heap. I think if you do try grow your potatoes next year have a backup crop ready to go in case they fail to sprout or get a disease that stops them producing a crop.

    Happy gardening!



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    #3
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    You will have visitors

    rat.jpg




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    #4
    youllbemine
    Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭youllbemine


    Frost could get them along with pests as mentioned above. Some of my main crop suffered from what looks like internal rust this year. This is supposed to occur due to a lack of potassium. We have light sandy ground with little organic matter and I didn't use any manure so know for next year. Although have grown potatoes using the same method before and never had this issue before. Plenty of scab yes, but no internal rust.


    My recommendation would be to get them dug soon as you risk losing the crop. Go again next year with fresh tubers. Or maybe experiment, leave some of this years tubers in the ground and see what happens.



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