Here's what it looked like with flowers in it.
potatoes under straw
Tater plants are pretty. They will look great there.
I'm looking for a source for Norland Red seed potatoes. Johnny's has them, but they only sell a minimum of 5# and I only want to grow these for early new potatoes, with my main crop being fingerlings.
What are fingerlings?
Gymgirl, are you planting potatoes now? This gardening calendar says the 10th - 13th is a good time to plant them, but do you suppose we're safe from actual cold? I'm a novice at potatoes (hence planting them last June and laughing when nothing happened).
http://www.amagickgarden.com/pages/amgpages/amgcalendar.html
Fingerlings are smallish potatoes that sometimes look like peanuts. There are several varieties, notably Russian banana http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/50462/ and Swedish Peanut http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/128684/. IMO they are the very best potatoes ever.
Brigidlily et al,
YES I AM GROWING POTATOES!!! In that little flowerbed in my post. As a matter of fact, I just rushed out to my local Whole Foods Market and purchased 2 lbs of Yukon Gold and 2 lbs of Red Creamer potatoes. They're organically grown, so I can use them as seed potatoes! I paid $7.50 and most of them have sprouts already. I picked the smallest ones so I don't have to cut them and worry about them getting disease from the wounds. I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited.
I believe I read somewhere in a post by Feldon30 that we can plant potatoes here January 15th. With a 110 day growing window (is this correct????), that would put my harvest at the end of April. I can't wait!!!!!
Thanks guys, for all your help. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.
Linda
That same schedule works for my zone 8b.
Even if the foliage should get nipped by frost, it will be fine under the leaves and will put on new foliage. I still have a couple of volunteer plants in the leaf pile I grew them in last year. Frosts bite the tops back and they come right back.
When I planted mine under leaves, I loosened the soil but simply laid them on top of the soil. Then, added leaves. The best part is the leaves are now breaking down to compost so it is a double bonus. Good Luck ~ GymGirl
GG - sorry no pics of my potato beds. Perhaps I will remember to do so this year, lol - but then it won't matter!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/435/
hope this link works for you - article by Doccat last year. She was immensely helpful!
Where can I find out when to plant them in my area? We are having hard freezes here, still.
I think it's safe to plant about 2 - 3 weeks before the last frost date for your general area.
CajunKy: Since it's safe here in Zone 5b in late March, I would imagine it would be fine in your area anytime in March, possibly late February if you get an early spring. Our "safe frost-free date" is traditionally not until early May, so I guess I'm getting them planted about 6 weeks before the last frost, the same time I plant peas, lettuce, cabbage, and radishes. Since the spuds are under a light layer of soil and mounded with straw/leaves, they can take frosts.
Just 2 ?s. Spuds R laid on the soilbed and lightly covered with layer of soil, then begin covering emerging vine blossoms with leaves, Right? 2nd. Is approx. Growing time 110 days from sowing date? THX!
Thanks HG. I'm looking forward to this project.
Gg, I think that's right. At least, it's what I'm counting on! I'm trying to do this by the moon as well, so I will get them in the ground this weekend and harvest in April. Just have to decide what to follow them with, or if I want to let it lie and see if more come up in the fall.
(Bothers me to have idle beds through the summer, though!!!)
Looks like I will be heading to Whole Foods today for potatoes. I am in zone 8a and the average last day of frost is March 17th. However, have read and observed that Easter is the true harbinger of spring with the possibility of one last frost, as we all witnessed in 2008. If I count back 6 weeks from March 17th that puts planting in the first week of February. Mine didn't do too good last year and I think I planted them way too late.
Any comments?
Christi
LouC: Easter changes dates every year, so I wouldn't use it as a barometer for frosts. I would think you'd be safe planting anytime mid-January till into February. If brigidlily plants this weekend and you plant later, we'll have to see the results of each of you. Good luck to you both.
Easter is set by the phase of the moon. That also determines the weather pattern. If one could track the temps over the years at Easter, it would be cold more often than warm. Wish I knew what question to ask on the pc to find it.
I think our taters should be fine under the leaf cover. Even if we get a freak frost between this weekend and the end of March, they rarely last more than one night and it warms up during the next day. I'm planting my taters this weekend and next, so I'll take the worst hit if there's a blizzard!
My grandmother farmed for many years in the MO Ozarks. She always planted her potatoes on Good Friday. I looked up the hardiness zone for that area: 6. She could not afford crop failures. She depended entirely on her garden for her food. Purchased only flour, salt, sugar, etc.
Karen
I am in the Pacific Northwest, outside Seattle.
I normally have planted potatoes & peas sometime between the middle & end of March.
I don't always need to water them in, as the rain is pretty consistent at that time of year.
I have very good results with planting peas, too - unless I forget to cover them when they sprout. The Crows love to pull the seedlings out of the soil.
Will the frost Not Kill the new potato plant back to the ground level? Surely the leaves are just as sensitive to frost as tomatoes and peppers.
I have never grown potatoes before but we plan to this year because the prices are unreal at the store.
How many pounds of potatoes do you get from one plant? And does it matter if pieces of potato have more than one eye when planted?
No, the leaves are piled on thickly and will act as a mulch, an insulator. Only the exposed plant will get bit by frost.
CricketsGarden: In your Zone 7b, it's recommended that you plant potatoes from the middle of January - March 15. Lucky you, you can plant a second, late crop for winter from late July - mid August. Light frosts won't bother them at all, and like podster says, the leaves/straw will insulate the new sprouts. By the time they grow out of the mulch, they'll be safe. The greater danger is the summer heat, since cool nights aid the final stages of the ripening process.
Seed potatoes should be about the size of small eggs (either cut to size or whole small ones), and have one to three eyes. I usually rub off any "weenie" eyes if there are more than three on a piece.
Your yield depends on the variety of potato you use, but roughly speaking, twenty-five feet of row yields 25 to 50 lbs. of potatoes at one harvesting. Some gardeners note that using straw/leaves mulch instead of hills of soil will result in somewhat smaller potatoes, but many more of them, with the same yield in pounds.
When the potatoes are flowering, you can reach in a find new potatoes without digging up the whole plant. The plants will keep growing and the remaining potatoes will grow to full size. When the potatoes are done flowering, that usually signals that the potatoes are full-sized, but you don't have to dig or uncover them right away. They'll "keep" in the ground longer than they will dug up.
It's really fun to raise potatoes. Kids love to harvest them! With the price of potatoes in the stores, it's sure worth the little effort it takes to raise a good crop.
As mentioned earlier, potato bugs don't like the straw/leaves piles. I've heard the bugs like to go to the ground at night and the straw confuses them. Whatever... I get so few potato bugs now, if any, that they are easily controlled by hand.
Good luck.
I was thinking about growing potatoes for the first time this year, and after reading this thread I think I'm brave enough to try it now! But, probably a dumb question, how far apart do you plant the seed potatoes? You can tell I've never done potatoes before!
It depends in part how big you want the potatoes to grow. For little new potatoes, they should be closer, like 8" For bigger potatoes and baking potatoes, more like 18"
Thanks! Also, how about how tall do potato plants grow?
2 -3 feet high
Thank you, I think I'm all set now to try a potato experiment this year!
Midwest_tyro: You'll never regret growing your own potatoes. What's really fun is growing some unusual varieties, Yukon Gold, purple potatoes, fingerlings, etc. If you have a farm coop store or large gardening center in your area, they will probably stock many varieties. If not, you can use fresh from Trader Joe's or a similar store. They are just as easy to grow as any other, and with the fancy prices in the stores for these fancy potatoes, it's well worth it. And... there's no comparison in flavor!
There's a couple of large nurseries near me where l remember seeing seed potatoes in the spring, although I didn't really look at them so have no idea what kinds they offered.
Quite a few of my catalogs offer seed potatoes, often of very interesting looking kinds, are mail order seed potatoes usually OK or something to stay away from?
The problem with mail order seed potatoes is that they often ship too late for the best early planting time.
This is one reason why people are talking about getting their seed potatoes from the grocery store. Another thing to do for earlier potatoes is to buy them a month or so before you want to plant and then let them sit out to sprout. Have to be careful not to snap off the sprouts in the process.
Sounds like the time to plant in Chicago area will be late March?
Well, I AM going to plant them this weekend, come what may. Light frosts no problem; however... it is not unknown for us to get a severe, several-day spell (like an ICE storm or snow) although it's entirely unusual. That would kill them, right? (So I'd just have to plant again.) I mean, if I got them in the ground (raised beds) and before they sprouted they got treated to a bad one, they'd die? Would covering them with a blanket take care of it?
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/CLIMO/dfw/dfwclimo.html
Found this information that just might help with a lot of planting determinations. You may put in your own zip code and then scroll down to filter your questions by a dozen different areas. At least it is interesting even if it doesn't help. It happens to show my area but if you change the zip, yours will come up.
Tyro - yes, if the ground is ready, not too wet and muddy.
Most sources say to plant potatoes "as soon as the ground can be worked" which usually means it's not frozen or too wet. I know potatoes can take frosts, but not hard freezes, which wouldn't be usual in most zones after the "ground can be worked". But, I'm speaking as a Midwesterner and am not familiar with conditions in the South.
From now until the end of the month is great for planting potatoes in zone 8b. I have some that I planted too early and it is supposed to get in the high 20s Monday night. I hope the weather liars are wrong again but I have some empty flower pots to cover them with.
Last year I put some in about now and the leaves got frost burned but they kept on coming. They were ugly but still made some decent spuds. I've got more to put in as soon as this cold spell passes. It takes about two weeks to poke their heads out.
I have a row cover over the lettuces; I guess putting one over the potatoes would at least help. I've never known a time down here when the ground couldn't be worked!!!