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Post by DarJones on May 22, 2012 21:50:07 GMT -5
I dug 1/2 of my row of potatoes this afternoon and got between 200 and 250 pounds of Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes. This is the best potato harvest I've seen in 10 years. That is 200 lbs from 60 ft of row or about 3.3 pounds per ft.
I will dig the Azul Toro, French Fingerling, Russian Banana, La Ratte, and red commercial potatoes tomorrow. When finished, that row and the 4 rows of snow peas will be planted in cowpeas.
DarJones
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Post by steev on May 22, 2012 23:05:33 GMT -5
I really don't feel optimistic about potatoes until I dig to put in cages. PITA!
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 22, 2012 23:23:00 GMT -5
We will begin digging some of our commercial tatties in a couple of days. We plan to use them to make potato salad for a friends 50th anniversary. If the greens are any indication, these are not going to produce a whole lot.
However, over in Tom's Tatties, there one variety that is a huge beautiful bush barely touched by CPB. If they have as much underground as above, we will be saving nearly all of them for planting next year.
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Post by johninfla on May 23, 2012 6:38:40 GMT -5
WOW!!!!!!!!!! 200 pounds per 60 feet of row?!?!?!?!?! I am in awe!!!! Just curious.....how many pounds of seed potatoes did you plant to achieve that........
I was impressed when we got ten pounds dug per one pound planted...............
I'm blown away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good for you!
John
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Post by 12540dumont on May 23, 2012 17:06:20 GMT -5
Dar, That's a great harvest.
Do you keep your own seed stock or do you buy tubers?
I dug up 2 Yukon Golds last night for dinner. They're looking good, but nothing like your harvest. (I'm digging the over wintered ones.)
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Post by DarJones on May 23, 2012 19:12:25 GMT -5
I purchased the yukon gold and the kennebec. The rest are kept over winter.
The key to the big harvest is that I planted huge seed pieces. The difference is dramatic!
DarJones
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Post by davida on May 23, 2012 22:38:00 GMT -5
The key to the big harvest is that I planted huge seed pieces. The difference is dramatic! DarJones Interesting. How many "eyes" do you try to have per "huge seed piece"? And approximately how many ounces are the seed pieces. Are you talking one half of a large seed potato? My potato harvest has been excellent this year but not as good as yours. Thanks, David
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Post by DarJones on May 23, 2012 23:04:43 GMT -5
I planted potato pieces that had 2 or 3 eyes and many of the seed pieces would have weighed 6 ounces and a few 1/2 pound. I deliberately got the biggest seed potatoes the guy had so I could compare larger vs smaller. The best I recall, I bought about 12 pounds to plant. So from 12 pounds of seed potatoes I got 200 pounds return. Like I said, this is the best production I have had in 10 years. But most of it would come down to nearly perfect potato growing weather. Rainfall has been consistent and plentiful.
DarJones
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 23, 2012 23:23:07 GMT -5
Last year my father gave me a bucket of potatoes to plant. A couple days later he asked for space in my field to plant a row of potatoes. So I gave him the next row over from where I planted. He used potatoes from the same bucket. His potatoes really out-grew mine. I teased him all summer about why his did so good... Did he love his more than I loved mine? Did he sing to them? It became clear when we dug the potatoes... He started about with about 4 ounce pieces of tuber. I started with about 1 ounce pieces.
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Post by steev on May 23, 2012 23:43:51 GMT -5
Any time I plant spuds (gophers permitting) I prefer to plant whole spuds. I know that's not general practice and mostly not so cost-effective, but I'm pretty sure that's how Nature does it. I make no claims of significant success, not having had so much. Someday I'll get my act together on spuds, but not today, although as I may have mentioned, I think a fresh-dug spud is sweeter than fresh-pulled corn; just personal preference, no disrespect to corn intended, as I love it even raw in the garden; spuds, not good raw.
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Post by raymondo on May 24, 2012 2:37:09 GMT -5
I used to be content with just a few pounds per plant. Now the marker has been set and set rather high! Well done Dar. Magnificent haul.
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Post by 12540dumont on May 24, 2012 12:44:26 GMT -5
Dar, I'm digging the overwintered potatoes today. We planted whole spuds. I have found that pieces rot in winter rather than sprout. Now we planted spuds that were puny, about an ounce each. I didn't want to risk my good potatoes to an experiment. The harvest is looking meager. I'll give you the weight at the end of the day. I'm sure that it will not be anywhere near what you have achieved. I'm not very happy with our potato supplier. Can you let me know who you used? I've saved our own spuds for a number of years, but they look pretty bad by March. This is the field I'm harvesting today. P.S. I always think you should sing to potatoes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUhK8sS9gnY Oh the potato without it you would not have chips, and then what would you have with your fish? Or if you're old like me; Dee Dee Sharp, Mashed Potato Time www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQBKpV9emKc Go girl go.... mashed potatoes...it's the latest it's the greatest. Okay back to harvesting. Phew, hard work here. Five 50 foot rows. Attachments:
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Post by davida on May 24, 2012 14:17:16 GMT -5
I planted potato pieces that had 2 or 3 eyes and many of the seed pieces would have weighed 6 ounces and a few 1/2 pound. I deliberately got the biggest seed potatoes the guy had so I could compare larger vs smaller. The best I recall, I bought about 12 pounds to plant. So from 12 pounds of seed potatoes I got 200 pounds return. Like I said, this is the best production I have had in 10 years. But most of it would come down to nearly perfect potato growing weather. Rainfall has been consistent and plentiful. DarJones Dar, And what spacing do you use for these large seed pieces, both in the row and between rows? Thanks, David
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Post by richardw on May 24, 2012 14:52:27 GMT -5
Ive always believed that planting the biggest spuds give the best returns despite what others have said that cut pieces grow similar yields,if you look at a patch of the year before volunteers, a month or so after they have come up,the larger spud will always have the more vigorous growing plant.
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Post by DarJones on May 24, 2012 18:30:15 GMT -5
Holly, my potato plants were up to 3 feet tall and 4 feet across. They were very bushy and vigorous. I purchased the seed potatoes from a local store. He gets them from a supplier though I don't know which one.
If you divide 12 pounds of sets by 60 feet you get about 1/5 of a pound per set on average. This means my sets were running 3 ounces each though some were obviously larger and others smaller. They were planted at a rate of about 1 foot between sets in the row.
I just harvested the Azul Toro and weighed them and measured the row. Production was exactly 42 pounds of potatoes from a 22 ft long section of row. That is an average 1/3 less than the Kennebec and Yukon Gold but still a respectable 2 pounds per ft of row. Size of the potatoes is smaller, but there are a lot more of them.
DarJones
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