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Post by philagardener on Jun 22, 2014 6:02:11 GMT -5
Potatoes are coming up sloooowly even though they were all planted the same depth plus they are coming up will-nilly regardless of new seed or left overs. I used mulch over potatoes buried four inches deep as I was worried about a dry spell like last year. It is odd though for the new seed to be so slow and sporadic in time. I plant at the bottom of a trench and back fill in / mound up as the plants grow. I think that gets them off to a quicker start, and it lets me have more control over the soil in which (I hope) the potatoes will form. At the least, I try to pick out the rocks and add compost as my base soil is heavy clay. My own saved material did much better than the seed potatoes I bought this year, although they are different varieties. Good luck with your crop! |
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Post by ferdzy on Jun 22, 2014 11:41:34 GMT -5
Potatoes are coming up sloooowly even though they were all planted the same depth plus they are coming up will-nilly regardless of new seed or left overs. I used mulch over potatoes buried four inches deep as I was worried about a dry spell like last year. It is odd though for the new seed to be so slow and sporadic in time. We are having the same problem. I don't know why. Should get out there and water them (again) I guess, and see if that helps. The ones that are in the ground because we missed them are coming up like crazy! Just not where we want them. |
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Post by RpR on Jun 30, 2014 11:50:54 GMT -5
Potatoes are still popping out of the mulch willy-nilly but I think some of the first planted, most likely to sprout, may be doa.
I am a bit worried that a new seed variety may also be totally doa.
Odd year, not dry, not hot just odd.
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Post by jondear on Jul 12, 2014 12:34:57 GMT -5
I've been at battle with the Colorado potato beetles for a week or two. I hated to, but had to spray the little buggers today. They'll be gone tomorrow. I also spread some wood glue over the weak spot between the blossom and stem on a few dozen plants. I have no idea if this type of thing will help produce true seed, but I'm only out 15 minutes of my life if it doesn't work. On the other hand, if it does give me some seed, I'll waste hours and hours fooling with them.  |
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Post by RpR on Jul 14, 2014 23:23:13 GMT -5
Approx. fifty percent of my potatoes came up this year and it does not matter if they were left-overs or new seed.
I am anxious to see how well they produce.
The ones I threw in the compost heap produced far more plants percentage wise, than the ones I planted.
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Post by littleminnie on Jul 16, 2014 19:43:46 GMT -5
The seed I saved that got real sprouty but planted anyway, Adirondack Red, is definitely the weakest variety and maybe 15% didn't come up at all. The 2 fingerlings were pretty long sprouted too but had more vigor to them. I have been sneaking the top taters for the customers. I dug a half dozen plants yesterday and stopped because it is a waste when they have growing left to do.
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Post by RpR on Aug 19, 2014 14:19:56 GMT -5
I have dug up some of my potatoes whose vines are dying off.
Not bad yield especially some purple ones whose seed were left overs.
I have some scab now in my northern garden, my fault but I can live with it.
This year the mulch I put over the potatoes, leaves mostly oak, has held up far, far, far better than ever before as no bare spots showed up.
I am eager to see how my chosen new potato seed have done but they are far from ready to dig as some bloomed not that long ago.
It has been a pretty good year over-all.
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Post by RpR on Oct 4, 2014 13:13:11 GMT -5
It dug up one plant of my new varieties of seed in the southern garden, Victoria, and it produced very, very well, 8 chicken egg size and couple of baking size.
I made a combination of home made potato chips and shoe string French fries and they were very good.
The vines this year are staying green later than I remember for a fair number of years but then maybe I just bought more late varieties this year than in a while.
I hope they keep producing as well as they have.
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Post by synergy on Oct 5, 2014 2:24:45 GMT -5
Uh oh, I live in coastal BC and I dug up some potatoes to eat through the summer but I sort of thought to dig the potatoes when they sort of gave up growing but now I realize it is getting cooler and wetter here, and they will need to dry to store . When are you suppose to dig them? Do you wash them and spritz with vinegar or anything before you dry them to store ?
This is my best garden year ever even though I made a ton of mistakes and it is only now that I learned I ought to plant some varieties of things for fresh eating and other varieties for storage or processing. Live and learn , I'll try to keep that in mind next year . My potatoes seem to be the fresh eating ones, Red Pontiac and German Banana , so I know they will store a short while but we will use them up and buy some Russets to store maybe ?
Dang I have a lot to learn .
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Post by billw on Oct 5, 2014 12:03:15 GMT -5
They'll dry just fine inside. We harvest our late potatoes in Nov/Dec and are usually pulling them out of mud by then.
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Post by synergy on Oct 6, 2014 2:03:24 GMT -5
Thank you Billw , I enjoyed your website .
I seem to have most of my potato plantings ready to dig but some I planted in barrels are just crazy growing more greenery , I think they like the rabbit manure ? I filled the half barrels half with old goat bedding and rabbit droppings before I added about a third of that half barrel with soil , to make the barrels lighter to move . I guess I leave those another month and hope they are making potatoes.
Updated, well I figured it out , I had lush plants one week and they were dying off the next , I dug out lovely red pontiac and german banana potatoes for short term use . I am thinking I am going to store them in an old wood dresser in a shed, maybe nestled in dry peat moss . I have no idea if this is a good idea or not so I will google around and see how others store potatoes successfully in a cold damp climate. In all I probably got 40 lbs which for sure isn't a whole lot but they are nice looking, I am just going to towel off the little dry dirt on them for storing dirt. I will read up and make a plan for next year in another part of the garden , maybe planting earlier in a trough then hilling more ? I am making gardening markers through the winter for everything I plant painting stakes because I don't remember anything (I have been trying painting on recycled plastic from yogurt containers and old thrashed window blinds , then a varathane coating).
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Post by RpR on Oct 6, 2014 16:39:21 GMT -5
I uncovered the last of my Kerr's Pink and had very good yield.
Best year I have had in a while and the few potato bugs I had must have been eradicated by other insects as I only saw three plants attacked, squashed one larva and that was it.
Praise the Lord.
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Post by RpR on Oct 13, 2014 17:45:46 GMT -5
I uncovered the last of the potatoes in the garden up north and the pink ones had a large yield.
My Snow White potatoes did well but two of them with vines that were the size of small bushes gave two or three quite large and very shallow potatoes.
I will be going down home tomorrow to see how the last of my whites did, Anushka and Victoria.
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Post by RpR on Oct 25, 2014 0:22:27 GMT -5
The Anushka did well but the Victoria did very, very well indeed!
I finally was able to put four yards of Sheep poop onto my Southern garden and hauled two yard fifty miles north for my Northern garden.
Hopefully next year will show good results from the manure.
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Post by Tiirsys on Nov 10, 2014 0:07:22 GMT -5
I harvested my potatoes last week. I had a lot of surprise/volunteer plants that I hastily threw in some containers. (I was happy to find them because rats got to the ones was saving to plant during the winter.) I got a few that are good eating size, and a lot to save for seed taters. I am okay with that. I definitely need to plant them in the ground this next year though, because they really do not seem to be liking the containers.
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