potatoes :)

Do the plants have to bloom before they die? My plants are just slowly shriveling up and keeling over but have not bloomed. Any hope for some potatoes?? It is also been over 100 the past few weeks so maybe they are just being baked?

petals1973 wrote:Do the plants have to bloom before they die? My plants are just slowly shriveling up and keeling over but have not bloomed. Any hope for some potatoes?? It is also been over 100 the past few weeks so maybe they are just being baked?

Err, you have been watering them? :scratch:

Kelejan wrote:

petals1973 wrote:Do the plants have to bloom before they die? My plants are just slowly shriveling up and keeling over but have not bloomed. Any hope for some potatoes?? It is also been over 100 the past few weeks so maybe they are just being baked?

Err, you have been watering them? :scratch:

Mine did the same and yes I was watering them. They started dieing back(never flowered) when we had a hot spell back in May & never recovered even with a long spell of milder tems. I continued watering til the tops were all dried up & brown in mid june. Stopped watering and about 10 days later dumped the trashcans. I was pleased to find potatoes ranging from cherry tomato size (a few smaller) to baseball size. Enough for 4 or 5 family deliscious meals of roasted potatoes. This was my 1st attempt at potatoes, Yukon Golds. I only planted 6 small seed potatoes, whole, in 2 garbage cans in march.

I learned that here in southern California I will not again plant in metal trash cans but really want to try potatoes again.

Kelejan wrote:

petals1973 wrote:Do the plants have to bloom before they die? My plants are just slowly shriveling up and keeling over but have not bloomed. Any hope for some potatoes?? It is also been over 100 the past few weeks so maybe they are just being baked?

Err, you have been watering them? :scratch:

Water? We're supposed to water them? LOL. Yes, I have been watering twice a day or more depending on the heat. Crazy thing is my tomato plants are setting fruit in this 100+ weather.

[quote="FamilyGardening"]its really sad that every morning i rush out to check on my taters hoping to find them dieing off.....

hugs
rose.....on a positive note....we have three baby birds in a nest inside one of my hanging flower pots [/quote

Ah! Meat',n Potatoes.

Sorry!

[quote="Kelejan"]

FamilyGardening wrote:its really sad that every morning i rush out to check on my taters hoping to find them dieing off.....

hugs
rose.....on a positive note....we have three baby birds in a nest inside one of my hanging flower pots [/quote

Ah! Meat',n Potatoes.

Sorry!

[quote="Lindacol"]

Kelejan wrote:

petals1973 wrote:Do the plants have to bloom before they die? My plants are just slowly shriveling up and keeling over but have not bloomed. Any hope for some potatoes?? It is also been over 100 the past few weeks so maybe they are just being baked?

I learned that here in southern California I will not again plant in metal trash cans but really want to try potatoes again.

Metal?! Yes, they were baked!

Yikes, we returned from an extended 4th in Eastern Oregon to find the Purple Vikings with suspicious spots and some yellowing on the lower leaves (both Kennebeck and Makah Ozzette leaves in another part of the garden were clean). In panic, I removed the spotted leaves, drenched the 7 plants with compost/worm casting tea, then sprayed all leaves with a baking soda/molasses spray. Now watching for recurrence of icky looking leaves. Should they appear, all the Vikings will be dug and destroyed. What would you do? Nonna

with out seeing a pic of them.....im not sure.....i know last year ours did turn yellow and looked awful while they were dieing down....which is normal......its the normal process for them.....you are suppose to keep watering them because while they are dieing down they are suppose to be making tublers...sp?....which is rooting...which is potatoes

are you thinking they may be getting a potato blight?

hugs
rose.....who is waiting for taters

Hi, everyone! I've been away from sfg and my little garden for far too long. Almost 3 weeks in Arlington TX (between Dallas/Ft Worth) just about killed me. I never knew one's eyelids could sweat!

Anyway, just catching up with my favorite tater thread. Everybody's got yers going now but I thought I'd share this info for some of you for next year:

Although classified as a cool-season crop, potatoes are flexible and will grow well under a broad range of conditions. While they tend to be more productive in the northern tier of the United States and in southern Canada, they can be grown virtually anywhere in this country.

St. Patrick's Day, March 17, is the traditional potato-planting date, but regional weather conditions may dictate fudging a bit on that timing. In the South, start plants before temperatures regularly climb into the 90s. Determine your last average spring frost date and back off three weeks from there to set a planting date. Potato foliage is hardy to about 28 degrees, but the roots can withstand even more cold.

Klettke, in North Dakota, times her potato planting by feel. "After tilling," she says, "grab a handful of soil. If it feels cold, wait; potatoes can easily rot. The ground should be cool-to-warm to the touch."
Many home growers just take their tater-planting cues from nature: When the dandelions bloom, it's time to set the spuds.

Potatoes need at least six to eight hours of full sun a day and at least 1 inch of water per week from rain or deep watering. They will grow in any soil but prefer a light, well-drained sandy loam, high in organic matter and slightly on the acidic side.

For most vegetable crops, heavy soils can be amended with manure, but for potatoes, manure increases the chance of infection from potato scab, a disease that causes superficial reddish-brown spots on the surface of tubers. As the potatoes grow, the spots may expand and turn corky and necrotic. For a safer, alternative potato amendment, try compost and leaf mold.

Potato plants are started from small tubers called seed potatoes. Buy "certified seed stock," which is guaranteed disease-free. The best size is comparable to a hen's egg, but larger tubers can be cut into 1 1/2-to-2-inch-square pieces, each containing two to three eyes. Rest cut seed potatoes in a warm, dark place for a few days before planting, so the cuts develop calluses, which help protect the seeds from disease and rot.

Seed potatoes can be "chitted" to hasten the development of the crop. To chit them, spread the tubers in open-topped crates, boxes or flats in a single layer (standing them in egg cartons also works well). Position the heaviest concentration of eyes to point upwards. A week or two before planting, place them in a warm location with a medium light level but no direct sunlight; the seed potatoes will produce strong, stubby sprouts.

Traditionally, potatoes are planted in "hills." A trench is dug about 4 to 6 inches deep, and the seed spuds are set in it, 12 to 15 inches apart. The trench is then back-filled until it is level with the soil surface. For home gardeners, the recommended spacing between rows is 24 inches.

When the plants are 8 inches tall, they are half-buried by hoeing soil up and over them from each side of the row. This is done at least twice as the plant grows, each time being sure to let some leaves show for continued growth. After that, the hills should be heavily mulched with straw, dried leaves or other organic materials.

"There are three factors that affect potato yields: relative fertility — rich soils produce greater yields; watering — the soil surrounding them should be consistently moist but not soaking wet; and to what extent you successfully keep insects and disease pressures at bay."

For day-to-day new potatoes, merely work the soil under the plants with your hand or a fork until you encounter the small. tubers. Gently break off those you want and re-cover the rest. {TREASURE HUNT!!!}

To harvest potatoes for storage, wait until the plants have died back completely. In dry weather, if temperatures are below 80 degrees, let the crop cure by allowing the tubers to lay on the soil surface for a day or two. If temperatures consistently exceed 80 degrees, sunlight can cause the potatoes to turn green and rot; in this case, collect them immediately and place them in a dark, well-ventilated place to cure for 10 days at 60 to 65 degrees and 85 percent humidity.

After curing, tubers will keep for several months without sprouting if kept in complete darkness at 40 to 45 degrees and high humidity. For potato storage, heirloom gardener Weaver recommends buying a cheap, old-fashioned refrigerator and keeping it set at 40 degrees (a box of moist leaves or sawdust in an unheated garage or basement is another alternative if no refrigerator is to be had). In his potato fridge, Weaver keeps his eating potatoes and two or three egg cartons full of each variety of next year's seed potatoes.

I will rush out tomorrow and get pics of my little community farm 'test plot' of potatoes. I had a transplanted WY extension agent tell me that straw mulch 'pulls nitrogen out of the soil' so that's why my potatoes in that area are stunted. But then, I've read that lots of folk grow potatoes ONLY in straw mulch.

I'll also throw you all a little more 'lore' and info on the fascinating SPUD. (including how it GOT the name 'spud'.)

Linda

ps - hey, Petals1973! I'm from the east side of Arlington! back in the day...

oxmyx1 wrote:

ps - hey, Petals1973! I'm from the east side of Arlington! back in the day...

Linda,

I practically lived in the east side of Arlington for 10 years. I worked at Six Flags. I live in the south side of Arlington & graduated from Martin.

My potato plants have been slowly dying the last few weeks. I planted them late so I hope I get something. I hope you enjoyed your vacation and that you took some of this heat with you.

Margarita

I'm happy to meet you, Margarita! I graduated from Sam Houston (before there was a Martin). I worked at the old Ranger Stadium. My Dad passed away a few months ago so I was down there for 2 weeks assisting my sibs with his estate. Ugh - I'm sorry to say I was NOT sorry to leave there - where the humidity and the temp were both 100! It was 55 degrees this morning at my place outside Santa Fe. Ahhhh. And my tater plants are twice the size they were when I left! Now I'm anxious to know if all they are is... leaves..!

I'm betting that horrid heat is doing the bad thing to your plants. Poor things! You'll be having fried potatoes! Just make sure you give them water, even as they are dying back and you should get SOME potatoes. I planted mine late too. Good luck! Hey post some photos!

Linda

welcome home Linda!!.....hope you had a great trip!

thanks for the wonderful info on the taters.....

my garbage can taters are getting really droopy now.....still have some flowers and are green....but they are wanting to fall over....yippeee!

the wine barrel ones are still standing tall......eeerrrr......

hugs
rose who wants to eat some fresh taters

Really, this is going to be about potatoes....

Last night I went out and harvested a square of Fava Beans. I've never had them or grown them before. I planted them because I want to grow more protein. I was pressed for time (we are going to hit the road for a few days to trailer-camp with friends) and wanted something simple for our first try BUT I just wasn't convinced that plain beans would fill the bill. In short order I found Chef Anne Burrell's Fava Bean soup on you-tube. Yum.

I had everything except for ------->potatoes, so I went digging under some lush, bushy plants to see if it would be possible to obtain a few from the garden. SCORE! I easily snagged about six tennis ball size potatoes for my soup. WooT

Deborah....there is NOTHING simple about preparing fava beans.

congrats Debs!

let us know how the soup turns out.......i just got back from shopping and found some seeds on sale......i bought some fava beans i want to grow them too!

hugs
rose.....who just may go and stick her hand in and see if she can feel some taters

My spring taters petered out, again. I guess I need to pay more attention to them. I will try again.

Today I could contain myself no longer. I just had to have some of my own taters.

I had to debate which plant I should sacrifice. Having made my choice of a one-gallon pot, I emptied it, and found about one pound of red taters.

I am glad my curiosity is now satisfied. If I had left them, I feel that the yield would have doubled as the foliage was still very green and there were tiny taters there that I feel could have developed some more. They were al clustered around the base of the plant.

The mama potatoe was still very firm. Does that mean that I pulled it too soon? I assumed that when the plant is finished that the seed potato would have shrunk to nothing.

I have a 4x4 full of taters and three one-gallon pots left, so I am looking forward to having a decent harvest later on.

well i couldnt take it anymore.....i just had to know if there were taters growing or not......the kids and i took a feel and look what we pulled out we only dug around two plants....we didnt pull any of the plants up....just reached in and felt around......my plants are still tall and green....these are out of one of the wine barrels....they are yukon golds these guys havent even flowered yet


rose.....who is having taters tonight for dinner

camprn.....what do you mean they petered out?.....if you mean the plants died down....that is what they are suppose to do.....not sure if that is what you meant or not.....if it was that they didnt produce for you.....then im sorry....it happend to us last year when we used an organic tater instead of a seed potato....it grew green and lush but didnt give us more then a couple little potatoes....

hugs
rose

WooHoo, FamilyGardening, Great job of Easter Egg hunting, you won the gold! Bet the kids were proud! My 2nd grade grandkids last year helped dig potatoes, they were astounded. Never knew potatoes hid underground! Your children will not forget this.....ever. Nonna

Naw, they never really got going. I don't have them in a box or Mel's mix or any thing special, just dirt and compost. They had a good start for about 18" of growth and then just kind of wilted and crapped out. I have not investigated, but maybe I will tomorrow. I wasn't super commited to the taters like I am building the rest of the garden.

thanks Nonna!

they were thrilled.....my son who will be five this month and my grand daughter who is seven...... both were so excited.....they rushed them into the house and washed them....they were just to cute!....they didnt even care that they straw on top was wet and mushy.....i even showed them some tiny little bugs that were in there....still didnt care....they couldnt wait to feel around under the dirt and straw and find those hard potatoes.....they said they felt like a baseball 2.8 pounds is what we got today.....

we left the other plants untoched.....my sister is coming in for a visit from out of state.....she cant wait to see what the garbage cans produced....she thinks its pretty cool that we are trying differnt ways to grow food my hubby wanted to wait until she came before we did any exploring....well.....me and the kids thought other wise....ha ha ha

hugs
rose.....yes...has a grand daughter......and....six children who are 20 years apart!

camprn wrote:Naw, they never really got going. I don't have them in a box or Mel's mix or any thing special, just dirt and compost. They had a good start for about 18" of growth and then just kind of wilted and crapped out. I have not investigated, but maybe I will tomorrow. I wasn't super commited to the taters like I am building the rest of the garden.

if they were in the ground long enough....there maybe taters in there!!
let us know what you find

hugs
rose

This is what my poor spuds look like. I may just have to go digging tomorrow to see what we can find.

Margarita