6 hours Ago By Grace Piercy
Gardeners have been urged to check one of their vegetables next month due to a risk of them turning poisonous. The Royal Horticultural Society shared some top tips for May gardeners - things to look out for and jobs to do during the month. One of them was to earth up potatoes (mounding up soil around the stems) and promptly plant any still remaining.
The site said: “Potato plants need ‘earthing up’ as they grow, to protect early shoots from frost damage and ensure the developing potatoes aren’t exposed to light, which turns them green and poisonous." Potatoes turn green when they are exposed to sunlight or damaged. The green pigment comes from chlorophyll.
This is entirely harmless. It’s present in many of the plants you eat every day. Nevertheless, potato greening can also signal the production of a toxic plant compound called solanine, which can make people ill with abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, sweating, and headaches.
Once the shoots are about 23cm tall, draw soil up around them to form a ridge, leaving just the top 10cm of the plants visible. As the stems grow, repeat the process a few weeks apart. The final height of the ridge should be 20cm to 30cm.
Potatoes can then be harvested in the summer or autumn, depending on the variety you’ve planted. Early potatoes should be eaten soon after harvesting, but maincrops can be stored for several months. The RHS suggested other jobs for May, including protecting tender plants from late frosts, which can damage new growth in the spring.
This can be done by mulching the root area of shrubs and trees and covering plants with fleece or a sheet overnight. They also recommended planting summer bedding into containers at the end of the month for temporary decorative seasonal hanging baskets, beds, and borders..
