POTATOES UNDER STRAW/LEAVES #4

We came from here. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1083163/

This message was edited Apr 27, 2010 5:00 PM

I'm nearing harvest time for my spuds.

QUESTION: "What can I safely plant in the washing machine tubs after the spuds are harvested?" It is filled with potting mix to the top of the tub, then topped off with decomp leaf mold.

Thanks!

Since we crossposted ont he old thread:

I have no idea if that price for slips is good, but why buy your slips? Start your own - lol... Though those of us in warmer zones should have already done it. They take a good 4 months to reach full sweetie size and last year I planted too late (eventhough you can plant through June here) and had to pull them early as I needed the space. Just get yourself an organic sweetie from the store or farmer's market and there you go. One sweetie will produce many slips.

We sure did cross post! My reply is still on the other thread.

"Yeah. I thought about that..."

I did not realize mine were growing so fast. I had not looked at them in about a week. I got the straw out to cover them because it is going to frost in the morning. To my suprise I had to start unrolling the bags because the plants were well out the tops. Ihope they do well.

For those of you looking for sweet potato slips:

I found Mericlone Labs to be the best source. She charges 1.00 a slip be 1 or 100 and the shipping is the price of postage. Her slips look better than any I've seen from other places. Nice variety, good service, quick shipping and beautiful plants.

I hope this helps.

Donna

Just got back from visiting with my potatoes and they are beeeyoooteeful! Nice healthy looking set of leaves on each of them. Put some sheets on them because tonight's going to be 34 degrees.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2010 9:07 AM

Forgive me for posting about sweeties on this thread.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled discussion of IRISH POTATOES....

Lookie!

Yeah! Blooms!

I'mm hoping mine bloom soon. It's been hot - in the 90s - and the taters are not lovin' it. Supposed to cool down for about a week and back to the 90s. Hoping to get taters before it gets too hot - waaaahhhhhhhhhh!

Linda, the short answer to the growing after potatoes is squash, cules, and the like. No nightshades.

Hmmm....maybe if I plant some squash later in the season after harvesting my taters, the squash vine borers won't find them. Last year's squash and most of the pumpkin crop was destroyed because of the SVBs.

My DH told me he saw a teeny, tiny little red potato forming on the reds when he was adding leaves to the box the other day. Sweet! Of course, he didn't take a picture. Grrr!

Linda, do you know which variety you have that's blooming?

Linda, are you going to harvest now or wait until the plant dies back? I was told that if you harvest now when the flowers are in bloom that you will only get small potatoes, the ones that you eat whole but if you wait until the plant starts dying off then you get the biggies. I am sure you have so many taters planted that you can problably do a little of both.

Boy no flowers on mine yet, but I did hear that yucon golds are not as early as other types.

Another question is, I still have the banana fingerling potatoes that I was hoping to plant but never had the room for I am wondering if I could even plant them now or is it too late?

Carminator1 I think I'm going 2 wait until the companion in the same container blooms and they both die off. Kennebecs and red fingers are planted together. One is early and one is either mid- or late-season. Don't know which is which, so safer waiting.

I put beans and peas in the potato area over the summer. There don't seem to be pest crossover problems, and the seeds get an easy start in the newly dug earth/leaves.

Although they might not be the best choice for your washer tub. I've got enough space I can be a little inefficient about it.

RBL what kinda beans and peas r u planning 2 grow after the spuds?! I've got cowpeas lined up next: crowders, purple hull, blackeyed peas, Zippers, pinkeye purple hulls, and Texas cream peas. They wouldn't do well in my washing machine tubs? I'll have the two SmPts available soon, too.

Can I put some purple hulls in the raised bed with the sweeties I'll grow there next?

Please advise soonest. Just ordered Vardamans and Georgia Jets.

Linda

This is what I've found, Linda:

Yeah, I see some listings of companion plants that say beans and potatoes are good, and some that they are bad. I think the general logic is that any root vegetable has some sort of chemical guard to keep soil organisms from devouring its root and/or to keep other roots from growing into its space. And the crop rotation logic is not to follow plants with related plants, because this is an opportunity for their common pests to uninterruptedly build up their population.

There's one crop rotation model I see a lot that has brassicas after potatoes, and then beans/peas. However, that doesn't work for the growing seasons here. I dunno. This works for me. I've actually got a few beans already growing out there. I think they must be seeds from last year that just never got up the nerve to germinate in the drought.

Boy, I could eat thirty plants worth of peas by myself, easy. I've got probably 60 plants in now, and probably about that after the potatoes. And now that you mention it, I was trying to figure out some quick one-season screening for a chain link fence - I'm going to plant some there, too.

I wouldn't think, in general, there's any reason not to grow peas in a washer tub. I was just thinking that they didn't most take advantage of the characteristics of the container. It's heavier than a plastic or wood container, right? So I was trying to think of something tall and heavy which could make use of that. Giant sunflowers? A melon arch?

Problems in potato-ville!! Help! Anyone know what's going on with these?

They have these spots all over them and the leaves are starting to curl.

I don't know about yours, but I got ants in mine and they near killed one entire container. I think I've got 'em under control now and evicted. I'm hoping the plants will rebound.

Steph, I'm clueless when it comes to identifying tater problems, sorry. I hope it is not anything serious!

I noticed some similar dark spotting on some of my plants Stephanie, so I'm in the same boat.

Here's a pic of my plants thus far. They're not as lush and green as I would like so I am a bit concerned. They get a bit of shade so maybe that has something to do with it. I'll have to take a wide-angle pic once I get a better camera so ya'll can get a better idea of what I'm talking about. I planted around mid-March. Please excuse the quality of the photo (camera phone.)

Linda, I also found this regarding crop rotation with potatoes. This is under the category on preventing Verticillium wilt.

Thanks, Steph! I went on the website last night and read some more. Very helpful info!

Ya'll think the LEAVES are affecting our potatoes? Mine started looking funky after I watered them in. Thinking I've been overwatering trying to keep the leaves moist, but the soilbed below is getting drenched. Also, could there be possible pathogens?? or something inherent to leaves that the vines don't like?

At least I don't have spots...we'll figure this out gang! "All for one, and one for all!"

Yes. If you do some googling for late blight or early blight or like I did this morning, "purple spots on poltato leaves", you 'll find images of taters affected by the problems on the leaves.

Forgot to mention that I got the above info from this site: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/pathology/pepper.html#potato

This message was edited Apr 29, 2010 11:26 AM

My tater leaves are looking funky too, but I think it's getting too hot for them. We have cool temps the next 3 days or so and I'll keep an eye on them real close. Steph, I hope you figure out what it is so we all know!

I shouldn't think the leaves are doing the damage. I've grown potatoes in oak leaves for three years now with no problem.

A closeup taken April 26th...

Sorry ~ wrong photo. Full moon effect here.

This message was edited Apr 29, 2010 7:18 PM

Couldn't remove that photo... this should be correct.

and the whole bed.

Nice, Pod. Looks like your potatoes get a little shade, too. Am I right? You know, I just don't know what I'm missing because my potato leaves are a bit on the yellow side.

Pod, I wasn't talking about the oak leaves. I was talking about the potato leaves. Small communication error. I knew what I was talking about! LOL

Sorry ~ it wasn't your post...

JohnCrichton75 ~ yes on the shade. Afternoon only. The first year I grew them in almost total shade and didn't get as good a crop.

Well, Pod, I don't know. LOL Where's Linda when we need her to explain?!?

My question is whether or not the leaf decomp I've added to my potato bins are now affecting my potato leaves...

She's BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK...

lol Linda! I think it's a watering issue.

Can i butt in here and ask a question?? I have been reading the posts about growing potatoes in straw, but I stll dont understand why...

This is my first year to grow potatoes, but I have seen them growing. Every potato patch I've seen has dirt mounded up around them, not straw. I don't get it. Don't potatoes grow off the roots of the plant? Or do they grow from the stem?? Apparently they do grow from the stem or what would be the use of mulching them?

My plants are 6-8" tall at this point. I do have them mulched with straw and planted in the ground. I see that potato plants can very tall, I have never seen them this tall.
If I knew where the potato forms, it would help a lot to understand what to do. Not sure about fertilizing either. Since potatoes are a root crop, this would make a difference in what kind of fertilizer to use?

At this point, it's just an experiment for me, but since I do have mmmm 24 'hills' planted, I would like to make the best of it!

Thanks so much for any advice:)

Mostly because they're cleaner when you harvest them, they're easier to harvest from the mulch than from the dirt, and we like trying new things. If you go way back to the original couple of posts from HoosierGreen, he gives a few more reasons. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/937306/ Ronniger's gives even a few more reasons for using the mulch method (page 6): http://ronnigers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2010-rpfcatalog.pdf

I did a quick image search, and here's a page that shows and tells you the parts of the potato plant: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/potatoes/bda04s02.html

So you're looking at that diagram and thinking, "Those potatoes are growing underground, so . . . ?" What I'm told (this is also my first year growing potatoes) is that those stolons (the underground stems that the potato tubers grow from) actually grow up toward the soil line - and beyond, I would guess. Makes sense, doesn't it, because why else would you have to hill them to protect them from turning green from sunlight?

Some people also say that mulching them like this increases yield by somehow encouraging them to produce even more potatoes above the soil line.

You're right that fertilizing root crops is different, but I don't have any recommendations to give you on adding anything other than compost to the soil.

This message was edited Apr 30, 2010 4:01 PM

Or because your soil is hard as rock, so that it's easier to pile on leaves or straw, than to dig enough to loosen enough area for the roots. Or it's cheaper to scavenge leaves off the street corners than to buy garden soil.

The taters do grow off the roots, but the plants are pretty easy going about converting a stem to a root. (They're related to tomatoes - you know how when you transplant a tomato seedling, you lay it sideways in a trench instead of straight up in a hole, so it will grow a more expansive root system?) When a bit of stem finds itself under ground, or otherwise blocked from the sun, oh well, it just starts doing root stuff. (See where it says "adventitious roots" on the diagram dividedsky linked? Remember, that was the Dave's Garden quiz vocabulary word from a few weeks ago. 8>)

Don't fret. There's no reason I know of that's there's anything the matter with what you're doing, either.

So I've got loads of fire ants in part of my potato bed...does that mean the ants are feasting on a "spoiled" potato crop or something? Do I need to get rid of them ASAP, or just before harvest? I know this topic has been covered before but I can't remember which thread. Thanks!!

This message was edited May 1, 2010 6:51 PM