This was taken this a.m. These small volunteer potatoes were apparently not found when I harvested this plot in the fall. These have been nipped back by frost more than once and the plants under the leaves are still growing and will deliver potatoes. I had intended to let the leaves break down and use them in the garden spot but will wait and see what these plants deliver.
Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that nature was doing this all along before we decided to cultivate!
I get the same reality check at least once per year...
I have never succeeded in getting all of the potatoes out of the place where they grew the previous year. There are always little seeds left behind, no matter how careful I am. Often even the third year after planting. I do try not to plant potatoes in the same place year after year, yet I have little potato plants all over the place.
Help!
I think I messed up trying to improve Mother Nature. Earlier this week I put all those lovely organic seed potatoes in an aluminum bowl and went to work. They were on the back seat, in the shade. It was going to be cool (the germination temperature). Well, I decided they needed some sun too, so I put the bowl on the dashboard so they could "bask." Well, I think they baked! The yukon golds turned a little dark and are starting to get a bit soft. The eyes all went from greenish to darkish. Did I kill them and do I need to go back to the Whole Foods store?
I dunno gymgirl. Put them in the house in a dark place and see if they send out any new green growth which they should if they survived.
My best way to make taters sprout is to put them in a box or paper bag in a dark place. I think the darkness fools them into thinking they've been planted. Once you've got good sprouts you can tell how to cut them if they're large enough to need it.
One last question. I'm gonna get my flowerbed ready to plant the seed potatoes next weekend. The flowerbed is currently filled with decomp leaves, coffee grinds, and lovely earthworms. I'm gonna rake the top lightly to get down to a good organic layer. Should I maybe sprinkle a light layer of potting soil to lay the seeds in, or just go with the bed as it is?
Linda
I wouldn't worry about adding any potting soil. The bed sounds just great as is. Rake aside the top like you plan to and have at it.
Lucky you. I have to wait three more months before I can even think about setting out seed potatoes!
I think they go in about St. Patrick's day here. Don't know if I will plant any this year or not.
Our normal in ground target date here is Valentines Day...
Thanks, Guys!
On another note, which of the other Spring veggies will develop a root system along its stalk (or wherever the stalk touches the soil), like a tomato will? I'm gonna try BocaBob's deep rooting system with the tomato seedlings and was wondering about any other stalks I could try this experiment with. Will okra make roots along its stalk?
Don't know about okra, but I understand cabbage will.
Thanks!
We planted Clemson Okra last summer. The stalks got so big it took a pick ax to get them up. Also some 6 feet tall. This variety mainly produces on the ends of the top half. I don't believe it produces roots along the stalk nor would it need to. Easiest veg to grow of all. Doesn't start with the okra until it gets real hot. Goes until first frost.
Squash will, won't it? I know I've staked down gourd and squash vines when dealing with borers and the vines rooted. Willing to admit I'm incorrect on this one if anyone challenges it!
Thanks, guys.
Don't know about squash, but i don't think so. Just based on my own experience.
Forgot, okra is in the hibiscus family and the blooms are just like one of H plants. So beautiful.
Love okra including the flowers. Just don't much care for the hot weather it loves. Okra really doesn't grow here. You can plant plants of okra, but they just sit there and shiver all summer long, then die. Poor things. I won't do that to them again!
Pajaritomt,
I thought okra loved the hot weather. Why do they shiver in New Mexico?
brigidlily,
At least some types of squash will root along the stem. Last summer I had a yellow crookneck planted in a five-gallon bucket. It was growing over the side and down to the ground, about three feet long. I tried to move the bucket carefully -- but the whole plant broke off right at the soil line.
So, at this point with nothing to lose, I stuck the end of the plant stem back into the bucket about six inches deep. Personally, I was sure it would never grow this way. There were no roots any more -- just a stem and leaves. It wilted and stayed wilted for several days. Then I noticed that the leaves were no longer wilted. In fact it was growing again and had new leaves starting on the end. This plant went on to produce several nice squash before the first frost got it.
I've also seen pumpkin vines and gourd vines put out new roots where the vines were touching the soil. After the vines had rooted in a new place, the older, original portion died off. I can see this would work nicely for your borer problem.
Karen
Well, what interesting info glendalekid. Sounds like it really works.
gymgirl,
Okra does love hot weather and grows well in Southern New Mexico. But where I live it is cold. Summers never make it to 100 degrees. Mostly in the 80s, a few in the 90's. Right now my entire is covered in snow -- and has been since before New Years'. The difference is altitude. I live at about 7,300 ft. But the altitude decreases as one moves south. And the heat increases. So okra grows well there. Actually it grows well in the Rio Grand Valley near me -- but it is much lower and hotter there, though it isn't far away.
Thanks for all the info. I needed that.
I even laughed a few times.
I think I should plant my tators Mid Feb---just after our normal hard freeze... If the ground lets me.
Speaking of Pumpkins----thats how the big Giant Pumpkin growers grow big pumpkins, they bury the vines to encourage more roots at the leaf nodes----which in return pulls up more nutrients to grow a bigger pumpkin.
I have grown a big pumpkin, ( 310 pounds) but not a giant one Yet. Sadly that pumpkin aborted when it was only 35 days old tis why it only reached 310 pounds.
Cricket, are you going to try for it again this year?
Yes , will be growing several giant pumpkin plants again this year.
Seed from 1200 + pounders.
Good luck!
Y'all think good thoughts. I planted those seed taters and it's supposed to get below freezing tonight. I have a good layer of hay over them but I think I'll add a cover. Worst that happens, I have to replant, I guess.
Don't worry about the potatoes freezing. They always tell us to plant potatoes when we are still getting light snows. The problem with potatoes is that they need to be grown in cool weather before the heat of summer sets in. After that they sort of die out. That's why in your area they are planted very early or very late in the year. I bet you can get two crops -- ask your county agent.
CricketsGarden,
Wow a 310 pound pumpkin after only 35 days? Amazing! Crossing my fingers that you will get a whopper this year. How did you weigh it? I don't have anything that would weigh 310 pounds and I definitely couldn't lift it.
Great luck this year. Do send pictures!
Hello everyone! I followed a lot of your gardening projects last year, and can't wait to get back to it. Happy gardening - even to those of us who still have a couple of months before we can really get out and dig.
Gymgirl - I love your idea of planting potatoes in your flower bed. I think it will look great. Make sure you keep us updated.
Hoosier - congrats on your potato success! One question, though. How do you keep 12" of straw around the plants instead of blowing around in the yard? Maybe I should try to do some sort of low, makeshift fence around the potatoes? Or plant some sturdy plants around them?
I'm still disappointed about last year's potato failure, but I think I'll get it right this year. I was extremely late in planting them last year.
I ordered my potatoes from Ronnigers www.ronnigers.com last year, and recommend them to anyone who doesn't have a garden store with seed potatoes in their area. I suspect, though, that I messed up the cutting and prep because some of them never came up. So follow those instructions carefully, wherever you get the potatoes. There's an article on that someone on DG, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.
I like Hoosier's idea of picking the smallest potatoes out of the bin, and I think I'll try that this year.
For those of you who are unsure when to plant what, you can google something like your state's name and "vegetable planting calendar". If you don't find it online, google your state's or county's "cooperative extension service" and contact them. (I gotta put this one in a binder! I printed one last year, but who knows where it is!)
Don't know what I would do without my county agent. Planting your potatoes to late can lead to failure as well.
Here's a question. I would like to grow my taters in the leaves. I tried the tires last year and they didn't do a thing. I can move the tires this year to a better place. Then I was thinking I could fill the tires with compost for the soil layer and cover with leaves. Then add leaves as the plants grow. Here is my question. Could I use fence wire, say 2'X4' dog wire and if I just tuck it into the tires before adding the compost then wire it together down the side, will that be sufficient to anchor the cage? Also, do I need to use leaf litter as in moulded leaves or can I use freshly raked leaves?
I have tried growing potatoes in bins. They were flat pieces of plastic or rubber or something, about 4 ft. high with holes punched in the plastic. I forget what I used to clip them into a cylinder. I then put a variety of kinds of mulch into the bins. and proceded to increase the amount of mulch all summer.
Unfortunately it didn't work or produce very many potatoes. I don't know why, but the potato supplier, and I think it was Ronniger's, said that such methods had not worked well for them.
My advice is to bury them about 4 inches deep in the soil. Then pile mulch on them. I think almost any kind of mulch is fine except shredded wood. I used that once and destroyed my crop.
Perhaps someone who has had more luck with above ground, mulched potatoes will tell you what to do, but I think the potatoes seem to need the weight of the soil on them -- and the moisture the soil holds. Leaves just won't do it. Rotted leaves ( compost) probably will. I am told that manure causes potato scab, so that is out. Normally potato growers use soil.
I have not mastered the potato with mulch method. Maybe someone else can help you.
I used freshly raked leaves and over the period of the past year they are composting.
Podster, maybe you should explain to CajuninKy how it is that you grow potatoes in leaves. She has lots of questions about it.
Sure... if you've read this link before please excuse me. LOL this is the third time it has been posted in this thread but worth a read. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/435/
That article inspired me. I cut the eye pieces and let the raw potatoes scab over. Then I loosened the soil and laid them on the surface. I did not plant "in " soil. I added freshly raked oak leaves. About a foot deep to begin with. As the plants begin to grow thru the surface of the leaves, I would add more leaves. The leaves will compact and the weight of them will not allow them to blow around. As I said earlier in this thread, I will do so again but will move the patch to a sunnier location and one where I can provide water during the summer. I harvested in summer and let the leaf pile sit.
In the fall after a good rain from IKE, I found sprouts from potatoes I had overlooked. I harvested another mess of them in the fall and right now, there are more sprouts in the turned leaf pile. The growth just got nipped back by frost but the plants and potatoes under the mulch will be fine. The plants will have a set back from the freezing, having to put more energy into foliage. I am just letting it go out of curiousity to see what it will deliver a third time. I have no experience with growing in tires sorry... pod
CajuninKy:
I used the "2x4 fencing with raked-leaved method". Whew - that's a name!
I placed the potatoes in shallow depressions in the soil, and covered with leaves. As the potatoes grew, I covered with more leaves & continued like this until i ran out of leaves. I believe the sides were 30 - 36" high, and the top of the pile was close to the top of the fencing.
As far as staking goes, I cut the horizontal wire away leaving 4" verticals to insert into the soil. However you could always make longer anchor "pins" out of wire coat hangers - these work pretty well, inserted at each corner.
The beauty of this is the harvesting: it is clean with no digging involved, so no damage to the taters. Those leaves are in place & ready to be turned into the soil come Fall. I will be using this method again this year - very easy.
The article that Doccat wrote about this is cited somewhere back a ways in this thread.
Here it is:
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
Thanks for all your patience and info. I was only thinking of the tires as an anchor for the wire and to hold the initial "soil" to put the seed potatoes on top of. I have some small metal stakes that came with a couple of canopies we no longer have. I could peg those down over the bottom wire.
Incidentally, if you do read that link, read the responses to Doccats' article. She was more than kind to answer many questions.
I think after reading the link and this thread I may be able to raise some nice spuds. I'll let you all know how it all turns out. Wish me luck!
pajarito, thanks for the info about the cold -- I feel better now. Will post if and when I get any taters.
