Potatoes in SFG

Is anyone else on here doing potatoes in their SFG? I have 4 4x4 boxes full of potatoes (1 per square). I have stacked a second level on them so I could add more soil and was just wondering if anyone out there was trying the same.

I put mine in rubbermaid bins with MM and straw. Last time I saw them they were growing good. I planted them 17 March. When should they start blooming? A blue variety.

yosoypanadero wrote:Is anyone else on here doing potatoes in their SFG? I have 4 4x4 boxes full of potatoes (1 per square). I have stacked a second level on them so I could add more soil and was just wondering if anyone out there was trying the same.

I am so crazy I am trying the same thing with 2 2x8' beds the boards are 2x8s (another crazy thing, I just went with what I started with) One bed is 5 of those boxes high and one is 3. I have decided Im wacked to try so many at once lolololololol but I want to have potatoes for us so badly. I am now done putting boxes on top and going to let the plants do what they may. The only problem Im seeing is I cant see the "soil" they are in because I am using hay to "hill up". Knowing when to water is killing me, but I just watch them to see.



I do hope you do well with those potatoes !! Here is to you have a great harvest
Ha-v-v

I have two 4x4 boxes that I made last year that I can add more boards too as needed. Last year I kept it at only 10 inches tall and still had a lots of potato. I have already put an additional layer of soil over the top and probably will one or two more times. Then I am adding shredded paper as the potato mulch instead of dirt.

I planted purple magesty, red mountain, nickola, and russett. I started them in about 2" of soil and kept covering them up until I ran out of Mels mix, about 10" I guess.

There's a row of peppers in front, but they are overwhelmed by the taters. Probably will not do that again.

yosoypanadero wrote:Is anyone else on here doing potatoes in their SFG? I have 4 4x4 boxes full of potatoes (1 per square). I have stacked a second level on them so I could add more soil and was just wondering if anyone out there was trying the same.

I am trying for the first time. I have the little box that sits on top of the squares. What do I do once the box is full of MM? I covered the potatoe plants and they just keep growing. They have grown up out of the box that Mel says to use. What now?

Keep them moist, and let them grow until the tops finally turn brown. Try to time it so that the ground is somewhat dried out. Then dig them up, knock as much dirt as you can off, and let them dry somewhere out of the sun for a week. They get a harder skin, and will be good for longer storage. If you have some with defects that would make them rot more easily, eat them at that time. Monitor for rot, and enjoy.
I am told it is better to not wash them at this time, better to do that when it's time to eat.

Squat_Johnson wrote:Keep them moist, and let them grow until the tops finally turn brown. Try to time it so that the ground is somewhat dried out. Then dig them up, knock as much dirt as you can off, and let them dry somewhere out of the sun for a week. They get a harder skin, and will be good for longer storage. If you have some with defects that would make them rot more easily, eat them at that time. Monitor for rot, and enjoy.
I am told it is better to not wash them at this time, better to do that when it's time to eat.

Thanks,

I was getting a lil nervous.

I assume the rubbermaid bins have drainage holes? And, how are they performing in sunshine and warmer weather? I tried containering tomatoes one year and I think the roots just boiled from moisture and the sun's heat. But, I would grow potatoes in bins if I were able....just looking for success stories to learn from.

Just for the fun of it (and because I had extra MM) I'm growing potatoes in these...



This is the description:

"The Potato Tubs by Gardman make growing your own potatoes easy and convenient without the need for a yard or garden. May be used on a patio, these tubs are made of heavy duty polyethylene and have strong seams. The carry handles make transport easy. Each tub has drainage holes and two access flaps for harvesting potatoes. Sold in a pack of 2. Size is 16" diameter x 20" tall."

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:I assume the rubbermaid bins have drainage holes? And, how are they performing in sunshine and warmer weather? I tried containering tomatoes one year and I think the roots just boiled from moisture and the sun's heat. But, I would grow potatoes in bins if I were able....just looking for success stories to learn from.

Last picture taken 5/29. On left is the bin from his house and on the right is the bin from my house that got hit by a frost. But my son says his bin is now looking more like my bin. They are not doing so good this week. Yes the bins have drainage hole. Planted in 6" of MM, hilled with straw then another layer of MM. Another hilling of straw and MM topped off the bins.

This is my second year growing potatoes in a SFG. I didn't bother with the extra boxes on top and still got quite a few potatoes last year. This year I planted them in half of a 4x8 made with 8in boards. We'll see how they do!

I am in the RDU area of NC - zone 7 - mine haven't flowered yet - been in since early March - did great until about 2 weeks ago now just looking pathetic - trying to decide if they have a disease or if they are struggling in these 90+ degree days. Off on vacation next week so trying to decide if I should dig up or cross my fingers and hope for the best. I have white superior and yukon gold in a sfg ~16 inches high (2 levels) which look the worst, then red pontiac in a giant tub which look pretty good still - just not as good as they did a month ago. Still crossing my fingers for a few good spuds

I am growing potatoes for the 1st time in a high rise built by my husband of 1 x 4 over part of our 4 x 4 box. I am growing Kennelbec and Fingerlings. They are growing crazy and I hope I get a good amount of potatoes.

Good luck to all of us!

Dunkinjean

So I went on vacation for a week. Before I went, I dug down to see what was happening at the bottom of my potatoes and my white superiors had baby potatoes - about the size of a half an egg. I got 3 and decided to leave the rest till I got home.

When we got home form vacation, the tops of my spuds looked worse than ever - even my red pontiacs look sad now, but when I started removing the dirt from my yukon golds, I found a full side delicious looking spud. And another one right next to it. Unfortunately this was late afternoon in 97 degree sunshine. I covered them back up and will harvest them ALL later on this morning when the sun comes up.

One post a while back mentioned that the early potatoes like white superior and yukons form a layer at the bottom of the boxes. This is what these seem to have done. I havent peaked at my pontiacs yet, but from what I read, they might have more potatoes higher up in the MM.

I will observe and post my results later today - now I am just wondering if my spuds did flower and I just didn't notice? I thought they were quite noticeable when they flowered - why - I have no idea because this is my first time, but for right now, I am calling them a success for this year!

Yay!

My potatoes are just starting to show flower buds. I'm WAY ahead traditional potato farmers here. I think I've added the last of the MM for "hilling up" the plants. I'm just going to let them grow now. I'm growing in potato bags... can't wait to reach in and see what's in there!!



I need to get an updated picture of my potato bags... this was taken at least 2 weeks ago!

My 4x4 potato bed looks like Squat's 3re June post so I am feeling happy about that.

The bed is actually one of my compost beds, it had partially done compost in it and I had to plant these potatoes that I had been given somewhere. Have added dried grass clippings each time I have mown the lawn.

With all the rain we have had the pot are very green. No yellowing and no flowers.
I think they are red pots.

I also have some large white ones and they are in black pots and Mel's Mix and I have keep them hilles up with more MM until they reached the top.

Can't wait to see what comes.

Pictures as promised - In the bottom picture I have Yukon Gold on the right, and White Pontiac on the left. There were 6lb of each kind of spud - and I swear I never saw the plants flower. I sure am glad I went to the effort of digging all the way to the bottom of my boxes. They were all in a single layer on or near the bottom - nothing to be found higher up in the box. Happy with the harvest all the same

The top pic is my sorry looking red pontiac spud plants. If they follow the same path as the yukon and white superior they plants will look almost completely dead by next week. We will be on vacation next week so I plan on harvesting them today.

are all those taters from that one box?

hugs
rose

no - I harvest the spuds from that one container this morning. Each pile of potatoes in the picture is 6lb (12lb total) - they were grown in another box 3ft x 3ft roughly. I got 7.5lb of red pontiacs from the round container in the pic above. pretty happy with all three varieties of potatoes heres hoping the red pontiacs are as tasty as the others

Nice looking Potatoes!!

How will you store them?

I am growing potatoes for the 1st time this year.

Dunkinjean

Thanks - I have them in a wicker basket with a lid - I have lined it with newspaper to keep them in the dark, and will store at room temp. We eat a lot of potatoes so they will only last a few weeks

Well, a few weeks ago my hubby and I dug into our potato box on the 1st level and found alot of baby potatoes (fingerling) and 3 good size kennelbec potatoes.

We took them to Washington, DC to my son's house and cooked the fingerlings up to have with breakfast. They were yummy.



Now the Fingerling plants are just about brown and dead.

Does that mean I should harvest all of them now? Do I wait until the greenery dies down completely to the soil?



The Kennelbec plants are now turning brown.



Thanks for your assistance.



Dunkinjean

I dug my 19+ squares of potatoes. I did get some, but was overall
unimpressed with the deep planting method. I tried several varieties in
the bottom of a 12" bed and put about 10" of Mel's mix on top as they
grew. The potatoes were all on the bottom. Next year, 6" will do fine,
thank you. That is a lot of dirt to move, and my back can only take so
much.


from L-R, Nicola (6 squares), Russett (6 squares), Mountain Rose (3
squares), Yukon Gold (1 square) and Purple Magesty (3 squares)

Squat_Johnson wrote:The potatoes were all on the bottom. Next year, 6" will do fine, thank you. That is a lot of dirt to move, and my back can only take so
much.

Last year, I grew half my potatoes in six inch boxes and half in the ground. Harvest results were similar. I'm trying the same thing again this year and expect to see the same. I'm just careful to keep any exposed potatoes covered up so they don't turn green.