Growing potatos

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Ok, so it is Good Friday, does everyone have their potatoes in the ground...lol? Any way, I am going to try some potatoes this year but don't have any experience growing them. I bought some potato seeds at the local grocery store. I bought a couple different kinds to try but I am not sure how many I need. I bought about 6-7 of each kind. My garden is about 15' X 35' but I could go larger if needed.

I could use some tips on how to plant them (depth and distance apart). Do I need to fertilize before planting...etc. How many potato's can I expect from a plant? I don't need to get carried away the first year. I just want to see if I can grow them and maybe next year I could do more. I don't have a lot of questions right now but I have a feeling I will think of some. Thanks in advance for any tips. I love this forum because people are so helpful to us beginner gardeners.

[KEN W]

What varieties did you get?I plant Red Norland,Gold Rush,Viking,and Yukon Gold.You can most likely plant them earlier than I can.I usually wait till the first week of May.Frost will set them back if they are to big.

First.....what size are they?I always buy the maller 2-3 inch size so you don't have to cut them.If you didn't,that's OK.....cut them in half and let the cuts dry for a couple days.

Strech out some twine on sticks in a straight line to keep the rows straight.Then using a hoe dig a hole around 4-5 inches deep.Dig them around 18 inches apart along the twine.When you have a full row.....drop a potato in each one.Just barely cover each one.+

When they are 12-16 inches tall you need to hill them with your hoe.Just pull the dirt up around each plant.I then start putting grass clippins down the rows and around the plants.This will keep any that are pushed out of the ground from turning green.

Check them every once in awhile to see if you have any colorado potato beetles.They will lay eggs on the underside of the leaves.When they hatch,they can eat every leaf on the plant if you don't take care of them.

The best thing about growing your own is getting new potatoes in July.That's why I plabnt Red Norland.They are the first to produce.Watch for the plants to blossom.Wait for another 10 days or so and you can start scratching around the plants for new potatoes.Don't pulll up the plant.....just feel for them underground.

In the fall they will eventually die back.Leave them in the ground until Oct and then dig and store them in a dark place.

[Nainoa]

Ok, so it is Good Friday, does everyone have their potatoes in the ground...lol? Any way, I am going to try some potatoes this year but don't have any experience growing them. I bought some potato seeds at the local grocery store. I bought a couple different kinds to try but I am not sure how many I need. I bought about 6-7 of each kind. My garden is about 15' X 35' but I could go larger if needed.

I could use some tips on how to plant them (depth and distance apart). Do I need to fertilize before planting...etc. How many potato's can I expect from a plant? I don't need to get carried away the first year. I just want to see if I can grow them and maybe next year I could do more. I don't have a lot of questions right now but I have a feeling I will think of some. Thanks in advance for any tips. I love this forum because people are so helpful to us beginner gardeners.

Potatoes like a little more alkaline soil than acidic... So if tomatoes or peppers or any other acid loving plants have been growing well there, then the potatoes will do poorly.

This can be combatted by adding a little wood ash to the soil when you till it.

I would burry them now, 3 inches down, with 3 inches of mulch/straw etc over the top of them.

Then be patient

Be patient some more

Wait a little while longer

Then give it one more week...

And the potatoes will just start coming up.

Potatoes do better in cooler conditions, and lots of signs point to a scortching hot summer... So as temps start to rise in late june... Re-mulch the mound... And water frequently.

[LightningBG]

Potatoes like a little more alkaline soil than acidic... So if tomatoes or peppers or any other acid loving plants have been growing well there, then the potatoes will do poorly.

You sure about this one?

I was always told/read they like slightly acidic soil.

[Dotch]

Exactly. From Plant Pathology 101, potato scab on susceptible varieties is generally associated with higher soil pH's, especially once it gets above 5.2. This is one reason potatoes do so well in the more acidic sand plains region of MN. Potassium fertility levels are generally lower as the sandy soils have low potassium levels due to the lower amount of clay. The Red River Valley region has higher pH but the native fertility levels of potassium are also high. Wood ashes are high in potassium, a nutrient essential for potatoes, a vegetable known for providing large amounts of potassium to the diet. Potatoes are in the same family as tomatoes and peppers (solanaceae) and are susceptible to some of the same disease organisms. Planting potatoes or related plants in the same area of the garden more than once every 3 - 4 years is probably not a good idea.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I bought some Yukon Gold and Kenebec potatoes. I didn't know which ones to get so I picked the ones (mostly larger) with the most sprouts. They are probably 3-4" the long way. I had read to cut them in about 2" cubes and let them sit for a couple days before planting. Do I plant the sprouts facing up or down?

This is the third year of my garden. I am expanding it from 15' X 15' to 15' X 35' this year. I had great luck with my tomatoes the first year but they got early blight (I think) last year and didn't get a one. I learned I wasn't watering them properly and should have mulched them. I have had a tough time with my green bell peppers both years also. I am a little concerned with the blight again this year as I hear it may last 3 years. I was thinking of putting the potatoes, tomatoes and peppers in the new part of the garden hoping to be better.

I did great with both carrots and green beans both years and will do them again. I am trying snap peas and watermelons this year too. Should I do the watermelons in a different area in the yard? I thought I would try them for the heck of it. I don't know how they will do.

Is there a cheaper way to test the soil for PH and other nutrients besides sending it to a lab that charges $50-$60 per test? Do you till in some sort of fertilizer or manure in the spring? Thanks again for the advice.

[Dotch]

On spuds, sprouts up is preferable but in the overall scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter much as they grow towards the sunlight anyway. In commercial operations, the planting equipment can't make sure each seed piece has the sprouts pointed up.

As far as watermelons, it depends. The vines can spread 3' - 5' from the center of the hill/plant so if you're concerned about them competing or getting tangled up with your other veggie crops, then yes.

Cheaper ways to test the soils? Yes. Close to the degree of accuracy? No. $50 - $60 per sample is pretty steep. The U charges $15 per sample plus shipping. Wouldn't toss on manure or fertilizer until I knew what kind of test levels I had. A customer of mine had his garden soil tested and phosphorus, potassium and zinc levels came back so high additional fertilizer or manure was unwarranted. Turns out his garden in town was where his mother had once raised chickens many years ago.

http://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Thanks for the info Dotch. I will send in a sample this week.

[tigertrout]

has anyone tried growing potaoes using the box method? works every time!

[pushbutton]

if you happen to have access to a lot of leaves there is also a cool way to grow spuds. you actually do not plant them in the ground, instead simply lay the seeds on top of the ground and place a about a foot and half of leaves over them. throughout the summer you will need to add more leaves as they decompose or blow away. when all is said and done you will have very clean and uniform potatoes with an added benefit of adding a lot of organic material to the soil.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

My potatoes are all coming up now but I noticed that some seeds have several (3-5) plants coming up and some only have 1. Do I let all of them go or do I need to thin the ones with multiple sprouts? How many potatoes do you guys get per plant on average? I have 3 rows with 9 plants per row. Thanks

[KEN W]

Let all the plants grow.Depending on the variety and growing conditions.....I get 5-7 good sized potatoes from each plant.Just depends on how many I rob from them for early potatoes.I keep scratching for them right up until frost kills the plants.Just get enough for a meal or 2 at a time.Take a few from each plant.

Mine are just starting to come up out of the ground.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I noticed some green tomatoe looking fruit growing off the tops of my Kennebeck potatoes. This is the first time I have grown potatoes so I am confused. It looks like they are growing from the areas where the flowers were blooming. Is this normal because I thought they were supposed to grow underground...lol.

[KEN W]

Those are seed pods.Snap them off so the energy of the plant goes to making potatoes,not seeds.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Thanks Ken.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Here is a couple of pictures of todays harvest in the garden. I have 3 rows of potatoes, 1/2 are Kennebacs and 1/2 are Yukon Gold. The Kennebac plants were all dried up and and dead looking so I decided to dig up the potatoes before they start rotting. I dug up some that were soft and nasty smelling on the first plant or two then I found the mother load....lol.

I ended up digging up about 75 potatoes and several were suprisingly large.

This is the first year growing them and wasn't sure what to expect. The rest of the plants (Yukon Gold) are still green and they should be good to go for a while. Thanks to all who helped me get started.

[Dotch]

Thanks for sharing the pics and congrats on your successful 1st harvest! Few things taste better here than fresh garden taters fried up with a batch of fresh garden onions.

[KEN W]

Unless we get a lot,lot of rain,I leave mine in the ground even if the plants are dead.They keep better there than any place I can put them.Especially since we have a month of hot weather yet.I usually dig mine the middle of Oct.

Nice harvest for your first time.I really like Yukon Gold.

[Shane683]

I planted red spuds this year and when I went to look for some about a week ago I discovered that some type of grub worm had chewed into them. I ended up digging up all of them a couple of days later so the grubs wouldn't damage all of them. Anybody ever experienced this before? Thanks.

[Steve Foss]

Rafter, were these planted in beds recently cut out of a lawn, or next to a lawn? The common white grub, which is often found under lawn grass, can wreak havoc on potatoes. A pre-planting treatment with a soil insecticide should take care of them.

What color were the grubs? If they are white, they probably are the grub I already mentioned. If they are yellow, they could be wireworms. In either case, the soil insecticide should work. Not sure which brand of insecticide is labeled for them, but there'll be a few guys along here pretty soon, I'm sure, who know which is best.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I had some reddish brown worms in some of mine.

[Shane683]

Steve, thanks for your input. They were planted on the edge of my garden right next to the lawn and it was the common white grub (I had a few other names for them while I was digging the spuds)