I have planted several batches, the oldest being about 4 weeks, Nothing yet. Is this normal?
Followed all the instructions given to me. Cut pieces with at least 2 eyes. dug a trench and planted them with a little bone meal and lightly covered them.
Do I just have to give them time or is something wrong?
BB
How long should my potatoes take to sprout.
From my Cooperative Extension Book:
Potatoes need loose soil for best growth. The easiest way to plant potatoes is to dig a furrow about four inches deep. Scatter about three pints of a complete fertilizer down the bottom of the furrow, then rake an inch of soil back over the fertilizer. Drop each seed potato a foot apart . Cover with an inch or so of soil and walk on the row to pack it down. In warm weather the plants will emerge in a week or ten days.
An important practice in preparing seed potato pieces before planting is called green sprouting. After cutting the pieces (leaving at least two eyes in each piece)…allow the cut surfaces to dry and heal, otherwise the seed pieces may rot. Place the seed pieces in indirect light at room temperature. This will allow the buds of the eyes to sprout.
When the sprout is one-fourth inch long, plant the pieces in the garden. If the sprouts break off during the planting process, the work of green-sprouting is lost.
It sounds like you did things right as far as planting them. Since you apparently didn't allow them to sprout a bit first, it would naturally take longer for them to grow. And what about water? Are you keeping the soil moist?
I would suggest that you carefully uncover a few of your potatoes and see what is going on down there.
HTH
BB. Planted mine February 14, A few are starting to peep through today. You should average 5-10 degrees cooler so give them an additional two weeks. Don't want them up to early, we can have killing frosts til April 15. Won't kill the potatoes but takes away any advantage of early emergence. Photo is result of last years April 15.
Thanks All
I came home and actually saw some sprouts so it looks like I'm ok.
BB
My potatoes seem to sprout about two days after I bring them home from the grocery store. :-) (Sorry, couldn't resist an OT comment.) Z
I keep trying to get my potatoes shipped earlier so I can get a start on the sprouting indoors.
i put mine in jan first ill be diging a few next month paul
These are the potatoes I planted Feburary 1st. They were killed back by frost the third week of Feburary, so I should have waited for the traditional Valentines Day planting for this area. I had pre-sprouted the seed potatoes, so they started growing immediately. I haven't hilled much yet. I started with raised rows since the soil holds lots of moisture if there is much rain. I didn't want them to drown (which they might have if I'd actually done the trench thing). I'll just have to pile a little higher around the plants.
David
Paul: Looking good. Where's the steak growing? :-)
LTilton: I had the same problem at first. Peaceful Valley does have a shipping schedule that ships a lot earlier than other places. I purchased from them.
BB
I just thought I'd try a couple this year just to try them. I'm using the 'grow in a bag' method' and have no idea if it'll work.
This is what mine looks like so far. I was instructed to cover all but the topmost potato leaves with leaf mulch, so that's what I've done. Not much to look at, lol, but you can see how tall it has grown.
LiseP
Bronx Boy the Steaks are on the steak tree
These went in the ground Valentine's Day. I noticed flower buds today.
I have a post over here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/952679/ that shows my method for planting, but there are others out there who do it differently and have great success.
Jerry
This message was edited Mar 25, 2009 7:58 PM
