We hope you had a lovely St.Patrick's Day. It is getting to that time of year when the weather is warmer, the evenings are longer and everyone wants to get outdoors! It's a great time of year to garden and particularly to grow your own. This week, our horticulturalist Justin Smyth gives his top picks for potatoes and has some excellent advice on growing tomatoes.
POTATOESHOME GUARD
Home Guard is one of the best first early potato grown in Ireland. It is available to buy from mid-February. It has a fluffy texture that improves as the season progresses.
MARIS PIPER
Maris Piper has a golden skin colour with dry creamy white fluffy flesh of good flavour. They are a good all-rounder, excellent for roasting and the one of the best chipping variety available. Indeed, they are the variety of potato most favoured by chippers throughout Ireland.
SARPO MIRA
Naturally blight resistant and currently grown by approximately 300 researchers around Ireland.
When to harvest potatoes:
1st Earlies : May – July
2nd Earlies : July – September
Main crop : September – May
TOMATOES
If you're not sure what type of tomato you want to grow and are a bit overcome with the huge range available, I would try 'Gardener’s Delight' It's a beautiful, juicy cherry tomato that is really easy to grow.
For greenhouse cultivation: sow from February to March.
Sow seeds on the surface of a good, free-draining, damp, seed sowing mix and cover with a fine sprinkling of compost or vermiculite.
Place seed trays in a propagator at a constant temperature of around 15-20C (59-68F) until after germination, which takes 7-14 days.
When seedlings gain 2 true leaves, transplant into individual 7.5cm (3") pots of compost and grow on at a minimum temperature of 15C (59F).
When growing in a heated glasshouse tomato plants may be transplanted at the end of May or when the first flowers are showing, if earlier.
Allow 3 plants per growbag, or one per 25cm (10") pot, or plant tomatoes directly into the greenhouse soil.
All above varieties are available in Powerscourt Garden Pavilion.
See you soon at Powerscourt!
Justin
POTATOES
HOME GUARD
Home Guard is one of the best first early potato grown in Ireland. It is available to buy from mid-February. It has a fluffy texture that improves as the season progresses.
MARIS PIPER
Maris Piper has a golden skin colour with dry creamy white fluffy flesh of good flavour. They are a good all-rounder, excellent for roasting and the one of the best chipping variety available. Indeed, they are the variety of potato most favoured by chippers throughout Ireland.
TOMATOES
If you're not sure what type of tomato you want to grow and are a bit overcome with the huge range available, I would try 'Gardener’s Delight' It's a beautiful, juicy cherry tomato that is really easy to grow.
For greenhouse cultivation: sow from February to March.
