Got taters!

Farmerdill,

If I get any potatoes out of my experiment in growing them this year, I promise I'll add photos in the fall. I have four kinds planted. i say "if" because I did it all wrong last year and didn't get anything to eat or to photograph. LOL.

Karen

Soory i dont grow Irish potatoes Paul

Paul, you just posted a photo of new reds. I am also digging Red Pontiacs as "New" potatoes, but that is the only cultivar I am growing. Lots of the others mentioned have no photos or comments in Plantfiles. Just in case there is some confusion, If it is not a sweet potato, it is an Irish potato in the south.

I lived in Southie South Boston thats as Irish as you can get unless you move to Ireald LOL

Phicks and tomatofreak - We had a break in the weather so I buried my potatoes according to how I understood you advice...take a look and see if I did enough or should I layer even more on...

It is a pile of pine needle humus with some needles still intact.

http://post-oil-learning.blogspot.com/

This message was edited May 20, 2008 5:35 PM

here's another shot

Cover the vines completely, post. Don't want to see no green at all. They'll keep coming not to worry. :)

wow! thats alot of dirt! but, okey dokey! How do I keep the added soil from eroding away?

You could do cages I guess, I use only leaves and straw on mine so I don't have that problem. I just keep covering the vines until they stop producing. Once that happens we just rake off the covering and if it's not going to rain let the taters sit for a couple of days to cure and then harvest and store them in a cool dry area. I explained all of this in my growing taters on the ground article. Check my nick and go to my articles for more info.

I know I have some current pics of the potatoes but here's one of my favorites - a potato bloom! Hard to believe the delicious potato is related to this 'deadly' one.
http://www.plantanswers.com/Poisonous%20Plant%20Images/Nightshade%20family.jpg

Tomatoes are to And Egg Plants

doccat5 - what's a nick? and where can I find your articles???

Nick is my nickname, just click on my nickname in the box and scroll down my information box to articles I have written. :)

I didn't know that they were called Irish potatoes... if any of my photos will help, please let me know which ones and ill be glad to put them in there. I have to find them in the database.

I'm cooking several small potatoes now for dinner... with olive oil, garlic salt and water, just steaming them in the microwave...

After leaving them out a few days, they did turn a little red and some turned a little brown, I probably dug up two different kinds. You could sure tell the difference when they are cured for a few days. Wow..

i had some reds to night i baked theam paul

phicks - found your articles - willread the one on beginner root growing...thanks for the tip - I bought salt hay today to mix with soil to pile on top of the potatoes...if that causes reason for alarm, sound the bell!

i dont have any articles? paul

ooops - my mistake - I meant nick at doccat5 - I think...newbie techie...sorry!

All my plants look like they are dying, is it time to harvest them all, or can I leave some in the ground for safekeeping? I don't think I'll leave any in the ground, but was wondering about that.. my grandfather used to dig a hole (a big one) and bury apples and such for the winter at the farm long long ago..

I forgot to mention that several of the potatoes did not bloom at all.. good thing you told me about that Paul, that some don't bloom.

That's a good question Gourd. I, too, need to know how to store any potatoes I grow in the fall. I'm gonna use the 30-gallon garbage can for spuds. Plant out August 31st, and harvest (prayerfully) 1st week of November or thereabouts. In Houston, our temps could range anywhere from 60-85 degrees all of November and if it's really crazy, into December! How would I store any potatoes I harvest in November?

I'm thinking it would have to be a cold place, maybe basement or garage, so they wouldn't sprout.

I'm in the same boat as y'all. That is, IF I actually have any potatoes. I found this info about storing but it isn't going to get potatoes, especially new ones, though the winter. (Not my problem here; I'll need to keep them through summer.) http://www.ehow.com/how_3480_store-potatoes.html

Is it just me or does this same site give conflicting info? Store dry, store damp? http://www.ehow.com/how_3480_store-potatoes.html

I also see that you can dig new potatoes after the plant blooms so I should have some under that one I posted above, huh? I think I'll go look.

Yes that is what my neighbor said too, wait till the plant blooms dry up.. but, like paul said, some didn't bloom at all and the plants are drying/dying, so I'm thinking they must be ready to dig up.. or real soon anyway.

They Need a Cool Dark Place Not Damp Gourd id go ahaed and Harvest

How are we to find a "cool" place that's 45 - 50 degrees and not in a fridge?! Here I am hoping I have a bushel or two of taters and wondering what I'll do with them. Anybody else got a glimmer? Maybe I'll make frozen French fries like I did once upon a time many years ago. Hmmmm....

root celler basement

We don't have basements out here, Paul! Maybe 1 house in a thousand, but it's highly unusual. Don't think I'm up to digging one either.

Oh, c'mon, TF, whyever not? :) Other than the caliche, clay, rocks, scorching heat and blowing winds, of course... On the other hand, you could recoup your costs by renting space out to the rest of us 'tater-saving desert dwellers...


All silliness aside, why aren't refrigerators good options? I keep mine a little colder than your ehow article recommends (more like 42F), but I can't imagine that small difference is the make-or-break factor. And, I've stored taters next to onions in the fridge for years never noticed a problem... any idea what gases they're supposed to produce when in proximity?

I suggest you google root cellars. There are dozens of different ways to set up that type of storage for you root crops, everything from buried bushel baskets to old refrigerators.

We have an old hand dug well, big enough for a person to go down, that can store some things. No cellars here, either...they'd fill up with water!

refrigerators are moist a dark room will do

We have a storm shelter dug into the side of a slight downhill slope. However, I put a thermometer in there the other day -- 65 degrees - high and low for last 24 hours and current temp were all 65 degrees. I don't think that's cool enough for storage, but maybe it will get cooler in the winter. My grandma always used her storm shelter for winter food storage, and it seemed to work fine, but this was in the MO Ozarks.

Karen

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pot-in-a-Pot-Refrigerator

Alma, since all of my dark rooms will soon be 80 degrees and stay that way until next October, this link looks interesting. This Zeer Pot is designed for dry climates and it works much like an evap cooler. I don't know if it will work here or not though...just thought it was an interesting concept.

I forgot the maturity dates for the first potatoes I planted, including Adora which came up first and took off at the end of February. So I went searching online and came up with some interesting info I didn't know when I ordered. Seems Adora is a relatively new variety with the allure of 30% fewer calories than other potatoes. And it won some "international taste tests" too. http://www.hzpc.ca/english/newsdetails.asp?id=33

It matures in 80 days so I should have some, no? Well, I've dug around in the top tire and I can't find a single tater. The plant isn't growing any more but it also never bloomed. It's supposed to have a bright red flower. Now I'm conflicted. If I tear the top tire off, I'll kill the plant and if it's not done, then what. Any advice?

Yes Just Let it Be for a Month Paul

Hey, I like that evap pot idea. I may try it with some bottled drinks to see how cool they get. However, I'll bet once our humidity sets in, it won't keep anything cool enough to last very long. I did just remember that my neighbors (whose house was built earlier than mine) do have a root cellar. It's pretty primitive, under a hatch in their kitchen floor. Maybe if I offer something in trade, they'll let me store my non-existent potatoes down there! ;o)

OK, Paul. Thanks. I may have a hard time keeping them cool in those tires in June though.

I belive that there are poatoes more farther down in the tires it may have gotten to hot for theam to make any farther up . What kind of soil do you have in your Yard? Paul

Paul, they're planted in loose composted garden soil, mostly bought in bags.

Now I have another question for farmerdill. I thought I'd post a couple of pics to Plant Files. I've never posted there before so I followed the instructions and the pics aren't there. What's up?