potatoes

Question

My potatoes are very small every year on my allotment. Should I use compost and, if so, what is the best one?

Answer 1

Small potatoes is usually due to one of two things:

Temperatures may have been too warm. Potatoes like to cooler temps. Also, potato plants need to be continually hilled up to get good potatoes from them. Keep the soil piled up as the plant grows or add a generous layer of mulch.

A nutrient imbalance may also be to blame - such as too much nitrogen, too little phosphorus. An abundance of nitrogen results in lush foliage growth with little to no blooms/fruit, or in this case, tuber growth. It may help to give them an extra boost with a high phosphorus fertilizer, or bone meal, for better flowering and potato production.