Got taters!

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIC_enUS220US220&q=Feed+stores+in+++Phoenix+Az

It is all in the details. If you click on those links you will see that none of them sell seeds.

LOl i had a blonde moment there i forgot to add the link duh " my bad"
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/435/
there we go
i hope it works lol :)

Rtl850nomore, I've got the same deal down here in Tucson. Heavy on livestock supplies, low on seed stuff. Even my never-fail nursery failed me on this one, which is why I ordered online. Apparently Arizonans just aren't "supposed" to be growing potatoes... I did cut up an organic 'tater from the grocery store and give that a shot, but I have no idea what to expect.

Rtl, I ordered from Ronnigers (link above) and they did ship to me in February, rather early too. I have two planting guides for our area and one says to plant seeds from January through mid-February; the other says to plant from September 1 through Feb. 15. Go figure. And I can tell you; I called every feed store in Phoenix and no one had seed potatoes. I called Bakers and they didn't have any either, but after mine from Ronnigers got here, I heard they did have some. Phhhhhbbbbbtttt on all of 'em. I'll probably order online again next year, providing I get some encouragement this year!

Btw, Jill, there is a huge potato-growing operation in Queen Creek that I've visited a couple of times. Just can't remember what time of year. You can go when they're harvesting and buy wonderful fresh potatoes for a pittance. If I could remember who they are, I'd call and ask for a bit of info about their planting times and varieties. Actually, I bought a lot of white potatoes from them.

Thanks for all the information Jill and tomatofreak. I will try Ronnigers in December. Sunset Gardens on 59th and Thunderbird has seed potatoes but this year they looked horrible and were all mixed together so there was no way to know what the variety was. And, the staff can be unhelpful at times so I passed on them.

I used to go to the Queen Creek potato farm when I was a kid and pick up the left over potatoes after harvest. I did not know it was still there. I'll see if I can find any information on them too.

Thanks for all the advice! I've been off live for 2 days.
I will try the 1 tire method. I have a nice sandy spot to dig compost into to start. I spied some tires on the side of the road on the way to Tucson. I may grab one or two tomorrow on my way to dinner.

Jill - I am using potatoes that have already sprouted, I have not found seed potatoes at this time of year. Mesquite Valley Growers had some in winter, but don't know if they have them now.

Huh, Sonoita, how odd. I asked at MVG, and was told that they didn't carry them at all--not enough demand. I must've gotten the rare soul there who had no clue what they were talking about.

Check in side those tires first before grabing any

hahahaha...dont you know it. I just about droped dead from a big corn snake in the pot I set my staghorn fern on this week. I know they live around here, but I dont like suprprises, and if I stuck my hand in and grabbed one. WEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Thanks for that laugh, gg! Reminds me of the time my OH walked into the dark garage barefoot and stepped on a hose. About the time he remembered there was no hose in the garage, it slithered out from under his foot! After changing his shorts, he called the local Herp Society and they came pronto and removed the big black snake to safer environs.

Sonoita, can't you still order seed potatoes online? You're at a much higher elevation and should still have time to plant. Above 3000 feet, you should be able to plant till early May.

TJill are you interested in splitting a order of seed taters? I'm in town almost every week, my hubby is for sure and has a centrally located office.

go organic! I got strawbs ,poe-tats and asparaguy online from Seeds of Change :
http://www.seedsofchange.com/

BAnnie, you can get organic seed potatoes at other sites, too. Ronnigers, link above, offers organic. That's what I bought.

What was the name of yours Tomatofreak ?

Tjill and I just ordered our organic seed taters from Wood Prairie Farms in Maine.

"What was the name of yours Tomatofreak ?"

Do you mean what potatoes did I buy? If so, Charlotte, Caribe, Adora, Bintje, Norkotah and Yukon Gold. All from Ronnigers. I bought from them because they would ship early and because I could get small amounts. I didn't want 5 pounds of one potato, just 1 pound of 5 potatoes. ;)

Well, I'm going to be p;antingmore than I'd expected :)
I have three different bags of potatoes that sprouted in storage. Guess they really ARE organic, it hasn't been very long...

Any one ever grow this one? Red Thumb Paul

No, but now I think I must. http://www.foodreference.com/html/fredthumbpotato.html

ronnigersm has theam Paul

I just planted my potato eyes today, I put mine in plastic 35 gal garbage cans. As they grow I add leaves and straw. Worked great last year, but my sweet potatoes didn't do anything, little growth, small vines and one sweet potato! So I might try the tires for sweet potatoes. I like the garbage cans when your ready to "dig" them up, you dump them over. It's fun. easy, no work. You all have a great garden this year! Phil

Too late to get a pic tonight, but I added another tire to Adora and filled with soil today. Holy moly, it took an entire 2 cu. ft. bag of soil to fill the casement and the hole! Thought I'd never finish. Next time, smaller tires! And I'm doing the wire and straw thing with the remaining two. I hope these 'taters are good, because they're gettin' more expensive by the day.

tomatofreak wrote;" I hope these 'taters are good, because they're gettin' more expensive by the day. "

giggle. Yup, ain't it the truth! On the shelf above my computer I see the book the "$64 Tomato". I think mine cost even more than that, but, hey, they're organic, and organic is always more expensive.....

LOL, thanks for that laugh, catmad. I need that book! And frankly, I'll spring for the extra $$$ as long as I get some good-tasting veggies that I know have never seen the likes of chemicals.

Here's my two-story potato 'bed' today. Yup, I'm going for smaller tires next time. My sweet DH got these and I'm sure he wasn't thinking about how big, how heavy or how much soil they'd need.

...And the Bintje's are lookin' like they're ready for a second story.

Use Small Trailer Tires Next time I tryed it with Tractor Tires one time up north never did that Again Tomatofreak did you order any Red Thumb ?/ Paul

Not yet, Paul. I think my next opportunity to plant potatoes comes up around the 1st of September. I'm afraid anything I order now will just shrink up and die in the fridge.

A tractor tire, OMG, no way! I'm gonna look for Mini-Cooper tires!

Beautiful tater plants, TF! I'm still not seeing hide nor hair of mine except the one... hope they're still down there!

Charlotte poked her little head through!

Now a question. How long before potatoes bloom?

Diff Kinds Diff Times But Most Will Bloom Around Six to 8 Weeks After Comeing Up Some Dont Bloom At All Paul

This message was edited Apr 18, 2008 1:05 PM

Paul, some don't bloom at all?? So if I don't see blooms, I shouldn't panic? I thought it was about time. How to find out which ones do and which ones don't?

lol grow some the ones that dont bloom will still make poatoes the reason they bloom is to make TPS True Poatoe Seeds

This is interesting. What do you do with True Potato Seeds?

they look like tomato seeds you plant theam let theam grow till they die they make a very small tuber about a half inch long then in the spring you plant that it will make a tuber but not as big as the poatoes we know they use theam to make new poatoes diff kinds

Here http://www.growseed.org/potato-breeding.html

That is a great site, Paul; thanks for putting it up! Btw, the photo of 'Charlotte' is really Caribe, the first potato variety listed in that link. So glad I ordered it and hope I can nurse it to maturity. Charlotte is poking up but just barely. So that's 5 varieties - and a lot of hope - I got going here!

just give theam time they will grow paul

Paul, what variety is that?