Potato Growing Methods

GWN wrote:

GWN.....I never heard of "adding more dirt and then MORE potato halves." I've grown them before but its only the soil that I've filled in above them, not more seed taters. Can you elaborate?

Well it is a method to increase your yields. You start growing potatoes in the bottom of the barrel and then as they start to grow you add more dirt and plant more potatoes.
IT is an elaborate way of "hilling" in that you plant more potatoes at each level, so when you finally get to the top you have many potato plants, close together

Wow. I have never heard of that either. Very interesting...

If you half or quarter the potato make sure you have an eye on each part .

Dabbing the cut faces in lime also helps stop slug and eel worm attack ( eel worm is a UK / European nematode )
Aditional plantings in a growing barrel as the growth medium depth is increased as the plants grow is quite common in the gardening circles that I play in..

.

my father in law..... (he was irish) said you needed at least 3 eyes in each piece you planted...

This is a decent video I found of Mel growing Potatoes in a bucket.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7369228_to_-build_as_you_grow-potato-bins.html

This is the closest reference to the planking one, no photos, but with this you build up the potato grower and then remove the plank at the bottom to harvest the potatoes

Here is another link with pictures
http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/

I'm going to try to get the potato tower built, maybe utilizing some palets that I have. Haven't decided on variety of potato yet, but here is a note on a favorite, Yucon Gold, they don't do well in a tower for they are short season potatoes.

**NOTE - EDIT** Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte.



Here is a link to the page with the potato tower.

http://sinfonians-garden.blogspot.com/p/2-build-as-you-grow-potato-bins.html

GWN,
If you knock the supports into the ground and temporary brace the top from the inside so it stays the correct distances apart , then use simple unscrewed /unfixed boards for the bottom two lifts and hold them in place with ratchet tie down straps or rubber bungeees that way when you come to harvest you simply undo the straps or bungees and remove the timbers & can take any potatoes out , but I suspect it's not quite as easy doing it as it is supposed to be

I had thought of using a plastic trash can with the bottom removed and inverting it so that the contents esily slide out of the inverted cone shape. but you would stil have the likelyhood of unharvested potatoes in the middle of the column of the growth medium as the unsupported bits fell down .

Yesterday I selected my five seed potatoes and put them to chit in an expanded polyestyerene egg box on a north facing window cill in the spare bedroom

Isn't it a little bit early? OR how long do you leave them there?
I have potatoes on order, but I do not think that they will come until March Or April
I had a bag of potatoes that all had sprouts on them last week, I just hated to just peel them and compost the peels, but....
what zone are you in?

I'm in the UK in South Wales it is a temperate climate with 46 inches or so or rain each year.
Last frost date for me supposed to be is around 7 th May but we do get a late May frost every few years . Some years the frost has stopped by the middle of March . So we tend to chance a few early crops of things .
Easter is a traditional spud planting time but it varies so much as it is a moveable religious calender event .

My spuds will be grown in my unheated glasshouse house in poly bags .
When the concrete floor was cast I got the guys to mix in three cans of jet black concrete dye in the hope that the black floor will absorb heat from the day and give some of it back at night , it appears to work .

At the end of Feb I will also chit up some more spuds for growing in bags out side .

You could try digging a hole in the compost heap next time you have sprouted spuds in the cupboard and plant them in the hole about a foot down .
Then if they do grow you have a bonus of new potatoes when you start to use the heap unless you turn your heap every 2 to 3 weeks .
If the tops get fosted they can often recover unless it is a really prolonged frost of a couple of days

what a great idea
I have compost piles all over the place.
I also have a tumbler.

So I COULD actually plant them in one of the
"other" compost piles.
I have been living in southern oregon for years and just planted all my potato peels all over the garden and then just went and dug them up when I wanted more.
Great thoughts Plantoid.
You clearly have experience.

thanks Janet

I'm glad to say I got the BH to build a potato box, with sides that screw on, so I can rob the bottom for 'new' potatoes. Bin is 2x2. I'll plant 'Red Pontiac' in 2 sq, and 'Kenebec' in the other 2 sq.






Also, in the above posted video, Mel talks about planting in a bucket, and says to put compost in for potatoes to grow in, and add compost as potatoes grow. What's up with that? Any ideas?

Jo

Also, in the above posted video, Mel talks about planting in a bucket, and says to put compost in for potatoes to grow in, and add compost as potatoes grow. What's up with that? Any ideas?

I am going to try just that in my greenhouse, it is being kept somewhat warm and I have some potatoes growing out of the cupboard here..
What a beautiful potato box, I think I might do the same......

I'm new at this SFG thing but am committed to giving it the good ole college try.

I read in another book a unique way of growing potatoes---and I will try one plant like this...

Bore a hole straight through a Yukon Gold.

Gently thread the roots of a tomato plant through the hole until they come out the other end.

Plant the tomato/potato until the potato is about 2" below the top of the soil.

After the tomatoes have been harvested---pull up the plant to reveal your potatoes.

Sounded fascinating to me. Anyone ever done this? Did it really work????? A potato box surely would be in order for this....I'm thinking a deep, square plastic planter in the front yard!!

Judy

littlejo wrote:Also, in the above posted video, Mel talks about planting in a bucket, and says to put compost in for potatoes to grow in, and add compost as potatoes grow. What's up with that? Any ideas?

While I don't know about Mel, I do know that this is the way my parents grow potatoes, in bags with a compost growing medium, nothing else.

Seems to work quite well, going for that this year, my 4 year old loves pouring the potatoes out of the grow bag and searching through the compost for those lovely potatoes.

Probably going to do that plus soil this year.

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