Potatoes

When do I stop covering them up and start letting the tops stay above ground?

Thanks,
Gwen

Gwen you can find many of your veggie questions answered here:

Potatoes
http://www.tinkersgardens.com/vegetables/potatoes.asp

Then bring what worked for you back here!

~* Robin☺

Gwen, once the tops declare there should always be some topgrowth above ground. (I'm not sure if your post above indicates that you are completely covering the tops or not.)

When they 4-6 inches or so high, hill them up. Let them get another 4-6 inches high again (at this time you can side-dress if you choose) and hill them up again. Your hilled rows should be about a foot high or so. At that point just let them grow and enjoy the view.

I'm hilling mine with old hay,doing the lazy gardeners way.This is the first time I have tryed this I was hoping to just stick my hand in and pull them out,instead of digging them.Has anyone ever tried this method before?
Do I cut off the flower buds or let them grow?Thanks,Jody

Looked this up on the forums some time ago, Jody, and saw that people had better success using leaves than hay, but I'm sure either's fine. I do some straw then compost/topsoil (to keep the straw from blowing away). My potato plants are gigantic, blooming, and attracting Colorado potato beetles. Watch out for those orange egg masses under the leaves; I've already found about 10 on only 25 plants.

Zeppy,
Do I want them to bloom? or should I take off the blooms?Thanks,Jody

Never heard of anyone removing the blooms, and I'm not doing it myself.

But I'm no expert. :) Horseshoe? Farmerdill?

let the bloom stay no reason to remove it. Some folks I ran into said they cut their vines down after the blooms finish but I do not and neither do the potatoe farmers around here they spray to kill the plant and then let it dry up. This starts the potatoe to begin hardening up for storage. I just take the water away from mine they die soon enough for hand harvesting this way. Ernie

They spray to kill the potatoe plants?That's scarey;Just what we all need is some more cancer spray on our food.There should be laws! I'd better start more potatoes or buy organic ones Uck.Thanks,Jody

OK can I use peat moss to hill these guys up or is that too acidic? I have no leaves... Nor do I have any bare dirt to hill with, I can provide very composted compost? That might work...

Drew

I thought potatoes loved acid soil, all the way down to 4.5. I did some hilling with coir/compost mix.

Drew can you get a bale of straw straw works well and is good to turn into the soil and let rot all winter. I suppose you can use peat kinda spendy though.Ernie

Can I use peat and horse manure?Anong with my straw/hay mix?I have lots and lots of manure.It's aged and turning white,been in the pasture for about a year.Thanks,Jody

I'd nix the manure, myself. It can cause scab. We put it everywhere but on the potatoes.

I read that potatoes are not fond of manure of any type.

Okay everyone thanks; no manure.lol. Jody

Jody aged cow power or horse flour can be used if applied in the fall but all the other naysayers are right about it not being good for potatoes. By spring if you apply in the fall and till it in it won,t scab your potatoes. Ernie

My hopes of using my aged horse manure on my potatoes have evaporated. lol I can use it on other things. One thing about horse manure, it never goes bad.

Judy you got that right.lol.Jody

My project for tomorrow morning is to rake up all the manure and put it in one pile. I'm getting a load of dirt and I'm going to mix it with the manure along with some compost. I'm thinking if I do that, I'll have some pretty decent soil for my garden area. Playing in dirt is fun!

Judy be careful you do not contaimnate your goon new dirt with to many weed seeds from the stuff you rake up I try to put all my rakings in a pile with fresh manuer and green compost grass clippings or corn stalks and let it go through the heat of composting to kill most of the weed seeds. Ernie

I will do that. Thank you for the info. I sure don't want to battle the weeds. I have enough problems with weeds. lol I could always get that new weed puller that you put on your drill thats advertised on the tv. lol

I have a potatoe question for you. We planted sprouted potatoes in two 55 gal drums, added leaves regularly, water, etc. They were both growing like crazy. Then we found a possum in one of the drums - after he ate all the tops of the potatoes!!!

Here is the question: If we leave it alone will the potatoes sprout new tops again and grow potatoes - or is it over for that bunch?

I feel for you! I'll leave that to someone else,sorry about the opposum.

I plucked the flowers off my taters.Hope I didn't do something wrong.Here's photo.I need to add more hay today.Thanks,Jody

After the blooms die down you will have new potatoes. I have never heard of plucking the blooms off. Also some don't bloom as much as others so you may have new potatoes now Jody. We had a fresh mess the other day with new cabbage slaw and green onions. Ours still has blooms on them.
Winnie

I thought if they were making flowers,they were sort of like bolting.I got these in late.Hoping it's like flowers and will put it's energy into taters instead of making flowers.Just an experiment,I'm not a tater expert.I've only grown them twice.Jody

your potatoes look beautiful. now I have an idea of what to do for mine when I plant them.

Check out this place:

2005 Colorado Potato Administrative Committee:
http://coloradopotato.org/consumers/index.htm

~* Robin☺

Cool tater site.Thanks

*~] :^)


~* Robin☺

hmstyl,

If he left part of the stalks, they will probably grow back, although it will slow the growth. Good luck!

Big-Red- thanks! I sure hope so. I left them alone just in case they came back. Funny - we put the potatoes in the drums to keep them away from the voles/moles - and the possum got them!!

How about a metal grate over the barrel.That's how I keep the out of my burning barrel.Jody

good idea - I guess I never thought about critters climbing in there.