Seed Potatoes

Does anyone know of a good source for seed potatoes that sells year round?

Apparently I should be planting them in late December in my zone but most of my regular seed companies don't start to ship until spring.

Thanks

BB...last week I was on Ronnigers website. They had a few varieties still available. I just assumed they would ship them since they showed the availability. You might want to give them a holler. Their availability list is:

https://stores.myregisteredsite.com/user1385939/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PLST&Store_Code=RPFL

Shoe

I'll never order them from Burpee again - in my zone they should be planted by April, but Burpee wouldn't ship them until May.

Thanks Shoe!

When do you plant them in your area?

LTilton:

I don't understand why they don't realize that we all have different planting times. Maybe it has to do with how they produce the seeds.

BB, I normally plant them first of March thru first of May. However, I've been debating on trying some Fall planting recently, just haven't gotten around to it yet (plus I'm not geared up with the required amendments, i.e. leaves/compost, deep trench!). Sure seems like an interesting way to grow them, get them going, and having an earlier crop though.

LTilton, isn't there still snow on the ground up there in April? Or the ground still frozen? Or maybe I'm not realizing you are in a much warmer zone than I imagine.

Shoe

Shoe,
I'm pretty much due west from LTilton-approx 200 miles.

The "old-timers" around here always have sworn by planting their taters on Good Friday! Now, we all know that there can be almost a month's spread from one year to the next,. That being the case, sometimes they (the old-timers) would have been planting taters in late March, some years-up here.

I generally plant the taters as soon as I can work the ground in April, when I do plant them....uh, it's been a few years, tho.

Sasha

Thanks, Sasha...

We've got plenty of folks here in the South that also tend to plant (many things!) on Good Friday. And yep, Good Friday sure can change from year to year, eh? (More'n likely the planting idea has been decided on for years according to the moon phase, Good Friday happening always around a full moon.)

I'm like you, plant the spuds when the ground is workable in the Spring (and not super cold ground temps).

Thanks for the input!

Shoe

:-)

Yes, you're right about the Moon sign-I forgot to mention that those same "old-timers" based their belief, according to the Farmers Almanac (their Garden Bible).

Sasha

I plant them - and the peas - before the ground can be worked, because my garden isn't well-drained and it can take a long time for it to dry out enough to till.

I dump a load of compost to make a sort of raised bed, press the seed potatoes into the compost, then cover it up with a hay. The potatoes grow in the hay, not the ground, and don't get waterlogged and rot.

Burpee claims they ship "at the right planting time for your area", but that's sure not May in zone 5b

Hi there, I'm finding this thread very interesting as I'm in zone 7a in the UK and it is also traditional to plant potatoes on Good Friday here. I do usually plant them quite deep at the end of March and so by the time the tops are through we aren't getting so much frost, although I'm ready to earth them up or cover the tops with newspapers if a keen frost is forecast.

I also always put a few Charlotte or Red Duke of York in the greenhouse border early in the New Year for a very early crop. That part of the greenhouse is unheated and I put fleece over them at night in really cold weather and they always do well.

I do save my own seed potatoes as long as they are still vigorous and disease free and renew them from the seed companies if I've any doubts, so I don't have to wait for them to be despatched most years. I also don't renew all the varieties at once so I've always got some of my own to start whenever the weather seems right.

Planting dates for potatoes is quite interesting, but I expect it has more to do with a target planting date for a given area. In piedmont Virginia where I grew up Irish potatoes were planted on St. Patricks's day. A few would do that even in a rain shower, but for most folks it was just a target date to remind them. When I lived in SW Virginia, ( a cooler climate, with a later spring) the traditional date was Good Friday. In this part of Georgia, the traditional planting date is Valentines day.

Thanks Farmerdill:

I finally learned the hard way that the planting schedules here are at least 2 months ahead of what I was used to in NY.

If you are planting on Valentines Day, where do you get your seed?

BB

Grovetown Farm supply most of the time, but sometimes Browns Feed and Seed in Martinez. All the locals will have have them by the last of January. Not much choice other than Pontiacs, Kennebecs and Yukon Golds, but they are solid performers in this area.

Thanks

I just got my fall plant potatoes from Irish Eyes (Garden City Seeds) which is a division of Ronningers - OR - so the web gossip goes. These seed potatoes look really great!

http://www.gardencityseeds.net/

I plant in fall under leaves 12 inches deep. Info:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/williams48.html

Cheers,
DL