Potato Growing Methods

Call me crazy !! I just bought 50 lbs of red nordlands the former chicken pasture will hold those I think.

Ha-v-v wrote:Call me crazy !! I just bought 50 lbs of red nordlands

It's a large asylum. While it's filling up fast the warmer it gets out there, there's still room.

tomperrin wrote:

Ha-v-v wrote:Call me crazy !! I just bought 50 lbs of red nordlands

It's a large asylum. While it's filling up fast the warmer it gets out there, there's still room.

I am itching to plant, but, I know it's just too early, so I've been researching on the net and found this article on potatoes. obrdrin, this article talks about the potatoe/tomato growing together. (This is how to get potatoe seeds!) I think it is a good read, I will be putting at least 1 tomato with a potatoe to see what I get!



http://www.potandon.com/ss_potatoes_plant.htm

I figured I'd give one plant a try, too. I mean what's the worst that could happen??? (Hope the original sower of kudza(?) didn't think the same thing!!!)

Judy

Last year, this was my method (it was a first year, so I was conservative)...

• Two squares of my SFG
  
• Dig out MM, leaving just a small amount at bottom
  
• Plant 4 potato chunks (Yellow Finns - my fave) per square, cover with compost mix (not MM)
  
• Keep covering with compost mix as branches and leaves appear
  
• Surround squares with a 'high rise' box to continue covering branches and leaves (about one foot tall, placed on top of 6" level of SFG, for a total of 1.5 feet)
  
• Yield: not tons of potatos, but the ones we got were HUGE! I deem my first year a success. This year I'll expand to four squares, or perhaps a different larger container -- not sure yet. I definitely like the high rise concept, and will repeat it.
  

Normally, when using good ol' garden dirt, it's not a great idea to replant potatos in the same place year after year. However, I didn't plant in dirt -- I used MM as a base and a mix of compost. The SFG method is to just adding a nice scoop of compost to refresh the squares when replanting. Would that work with potatos as well? Or is it better to start fresh? My potatos had no apparent disease, so I'm not currently concerned about that.

Thanks!

I had the same success as you. Last year used one square with 4 seed taters. Until someone else comes along with more experience to answer your question, I'm simply using more squares in a different part of the box.

I don't know much about the potato diseases, but, not supposed to plant using same dirt. I think the dis. could get on the plant, but, will not affect a healthy plant, but the next yr. could attack the new shoots. You should always let plant die, and remove, and wait to dig pot, at least 10 days, so they harden their skin and not get the dis. on them.?

Someone (on here) says they use different mm, same box.

Another person said pour boiling water on the mm.

Some of us (me) do not have enough boxes to move all the nightshades around, so, oh well.

Jo

I tried potatoes for the 1st time last year - Yukon Golds and Beauregard Sweet Potatoes. I planted them in big rubbermaid containers filled with MM, and for some reason they did terribly! The plants themselves looked fine but the golds were mostly tiny and had scabs and rotted spots on them, and the sweets didn't do much better. I think in both cases, after cutting out all the bad parts, I had enough to make mashed potatoes for one dinner, lol.

Anyway weather permitting I'm going to try to build some stackable SFG boxes and go that route this year. If it rains every single day like last year I'll probably have to do the containers again (which really, is pretty much the same as a tall SFG box anyway) and figure out what I did wrong last year. Either way I'll be sure to let you guys know how it works out!

Oh and I plan to try a early-med variety (purple viking) and a late variety (german butterball) this time around.

HieronRemade wrote:I tried potatoes for the 1st time last year - Yukon Golds and Beauregard Sweet Potatoes. I planted them in big rubbermaid containers filled with MM, and for some reason they did terribly! The plants themselves looked fine but the golds were mostly tiny and had scabs and rotted spots on them, and the sweets didn't do much better. I think in both cases, after cutting out all the bad parts, I had enough to make mashed potatoes for one dinner, lol.

Anyway weather permitting I'm going to try to build some stackable SFG boxes and go that route this year. If it rains every single day like last year I'll probably have to do the containers again (which really, is pretty much the same as a tall SFG box anyway) and figure out what I did wrong last year. Either way I'll be sure to let you guys know how it works out!

Oh and I plan to try a early-med variety (purple viking) and a late variety (german butterball) this time around.

Sounds like you need better drainage in the containers, more holes or add some rocks in the bottom.

Excess water may have been a factor for the sw. pot. also, but don't give sw. pot. any fertilizer, they will grow in bad soil.

Jo

You know I bet you're right...I drilled some holes into the bottom but it probably wasn't enough. Good to know about the sweet potatoes, I guess I'll just use the same soil and not worry about adding too much compost! Thanks for the info.

I want to try growing potatoes for the first time ever this year. I found this bag of 'Purity Organic Fingerling Potatoes' in my grocers.



When I opened it, this is what I got:


They were small, some were starting to grow buds, and some had whitish stuff on them. Are they ready? Am I going to get really small potatoes at they end of the season? Can I start the ones with buds first, put the maybe half away in the fridge, then take them out to plant later?

Also, I am considering using those polyester shopping bags, since I have so many, by doubling them and sewing another one on the top edge. And I hope to insert an old tomato cage inside to hold it up by trimming off the ends of the tomato cage and removing the circles which will be too big to fit in the bag. I would appreciate any thoughts from 'bag' users.

RoseinaRoseCity wrote:They were small, some were starting to grow buds, and some had whitish stuff on them. Are they ready? Am I going to get really small potatoes at they end of the season? Can I start the ones with buds first, put the maybe half away in the fridge, then take them out to plant later?

The ones with buds or sprouts may do well for you. If they have whitish stuff and are soft, they are probably spoiling and not good for planting. Some appear to be soft and bruised. I would not use soft or bruised potatoes as they might spread disease to the others.

I thought most fingerlings were naturally small in size, so if I were planting them, I would not expect large potatoes.

Sorry, I can't quite understand what you are describing regarding the tomato cages. If you remove the circles, wouldn't you just have stakes? (I may just be really dense this morning, sorry)

I placed my bags inside milk crates and they supported the bags pretty well once the bottom of the bag was filled with MM.

All the best authorities will tell you to use only certified seed potatoes. That said, a friend of mine planted store bought reds last year and did just fine with them.

So last fall, I tucked away in a dark cabinet in an unheated but attached garage a few pounds of organic potatoes: golds, reds, and browns.



The bag on the lower right was not labeled organic and appears to have been treated with a sprout inhibitor. These russets did not sprout and were terminated via the dinner table.

All the other spuds have sprouted nicely, and are only awaiting another couple of months to plant. I also have seed potatoes from Maine on order, and will probably purchase Northern New York (Malone, Franklin County, NY) seed potatoes when we visit in March.

Last year I planted only one chunk in each square. This year I will do 4 per square, and will keep records as to how they do. My reasoning was that organics would do just fine, especially when the budget is somewhat strained. In the same line of reasoning, your fingerlings should do just fine. Please let us know how it works out.

Tom

Hmm that was a good idea tom! I need to cut my seed cost to give me more wiggle room on seed-starting equipment etc...I wonder if I could get some store-bought organic potatoes to sprout in time for planting...

My understanding is that they need to be exposed to cold, but not freezing temps, for a period. I believe that they need a period of dormancy. I don't know how long.

I planted my box yesterday. The Farmer's almanac said plant root crops, including irish potatoes.

1 problem I noted with this box is that in order to screw on the boards, it must be set out from fence, etc. I chose to put on boards on 2 sides, so it could be placed in corner by fence. I can add another SF box next to it now!

2 x 2 sq. 4 sq ft. to plant.

I put 6 in. of MM in the bottom, then planted 2 sq in the back with Red Pontiac, 2 sq in the front with Kennebec. I planted 4 sm. potatoes in each sq. The seed potatoes did not have lots of eyes, so opted to plant the whole potato.

If we get freezing temps, I can put plastic over the whole box.





I put approx. 2 in. of 'soil' over the potatoes. I'm using 1.5 parts compost and 1.5 parts peat. The vermiculite seemed to stick to the potatoes, so opted to leave it out.

The extra peat should help with the potatoes love of acid.

Is that treated wood you're using for your uprights?

Wow that's a nice-looking box you have, Littlejo! Hopefully my big tubs work that well, lol...

Anyway in case anyone wants to try it - I bought a bag of organic russet potatoes from Kroger and lined them up near a window, and they're sprouting (chitting?) now! I also stopped by a little produce store and found yukon golds, red pontiacs, and french fingerlings for sale by the pound (not bagged up). They weren't organic that I know of, but I was able to rummage through and pretty easily find seed potato-sized potatoes that were already sprouting! So I have 4 varieties to plant this year at a fraction of the cost I spent for seed potatoes last year. Not certified disease-free, I know, but people were successfully growing potatoes for who knows how long before that term was even conceptualized, so given my budget I'm willing to give it a shot!

Yes, it is a treatment they are trying down here. It is a salt based pressurized system that they are using on telephone poles. The wood will still rot but will take a much longer time. They don't use chemicals except for salt, which is not supposed to leach out. I've used for a yr. and the veggies were not bothered by the salt. I grew potatoes last yr. and they didn't seem to pick up the salt.

Jo

Interesting. The only salt-based treatment I could find was sodium silicate used under the trade name TimberSil. It's basically a glass rather than a chemical, and thus inert. TimberSil is not available in our local box stores in NJ. But it seems to me to be a far superior product for exterior or water contact uses, including gardens. It's not classified by the EPA as hazardous.

Tom

http://timbersilwood.com/company-info.html

I m really excited to see what you have. I also need to ask a question to any one with experience with potatoes. Im somewhat limited on my growing space so I want to see if my sfg boxes will do "double duty"

What Im thinking is, to plant one to 3 potato sets in opposite ends of several of my boxes, then as the folage comes up to place a lg ring of plastic (imagine a lg deep plastic pot with the bottom removed) around the plant, so as it grow i can continue to mound dirt over it just like I would in a field, until the proper time to harvest the potatoes. my thinking is that if i keep the folage covered it will contiune to expand the root nodeules that sprout the new potatoes, on the bottom of the box. Thus i can plant a top crop(lettuice & such) on the surfave & have the potatoes growing under everything else.

Has anyone tried anything like this??? my boses are all either 6" or 12" deep.

Bump

What Im thinking is, to plant one to 3 potato sets in opposite ends of several of my boxes, then as the folage comes up to place a lg ring of plastic (imagine a lg deep plastic pot with the bottom removed) around the plant, so as it grow i can continue to mound dirt over it just like I would in a field, until the proper time to harvest the potatoes. my thinking is that if i keep the folage covered it will contiune to expand the root nodeules that sprout the new potatoes, on the bottom of the box. Thus i can plant a top crop(lettuice & such) on the surfave & have the potatoes growing under everything else.

I am sorry, but I am a bit confused and not sure how you would do this. If you surround the potato plant with a bottomless pot, and continue to fill the pot to cover the potato foliage, what surface would you have to plant the lettuce or spinach?

fjayco2l wrote:I m really excited to see what you have. I also need to ask a question to any one with experience with potatoes. Im somewhat limited on my growing space so I want to see if my sfg boxes will do "double duty"

What Im thinking is, to plant one to 3 potato sets in opposite ends of several of my boxes, then as the folage comes up to place a lg ring of plastic (imagine a lg deep plastic pot with the bottom removed) around the plant, so as it grow i can continue to mound dirt over it just like I would in a field, until the proper time to harvest the potatoes. my thinking is that if i keep the folage covered it will contiune to expand the root nodeules that sprout the new potatoes, on the bottom of the box. Thus i can plant a top crop(lettuice & such) on the surfave & have the potatoes growing under everything else.

Has anyone tried anything like this??? my boses are all either 6" or 12" deep.

Well, I might not be understanding what you are doing with the plastic. Potatoes(white potatoes?) grow upwards, and you put dirt on top until you can put/hold no more dirt(MM)They supposedly will put on taters from the sides of the stem as they grow. You can plant lettuce, etc on the other end of the box, but you cannot plant lettuce, and then pile more dirt on top of it? Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture?

You could probably do this with sw. potatoes. They grow under the ground, and you could plant lettuce, spinach, etc, next to the vine that is above ground. I think I'll be doing this. Jo