potatoes under straw

Hey Podster,
I believe I "Killed" my organic seed potatoes when I put them on the car dashboard. They're turning brown and getting a little soft. And the eyes are black, not green like when I bought them. So, I'm gonna run out today and buy another batch. I have the first batch in a brown paper bag on top of the freezer, hoping they'll green up again and throw out some shoots at the eyes.

Do I still have time to sow them maybe next weekend or the following weekend in Houston, Zone 9a, and get a decent crop?

GymGirl: Here's a planting resource for your area. http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/earthkind/ekgarden14.html

Brigidlily,
I didn't see an answer to your question, what are fingerlings? Excuse me if someone already answered, but fingerlings are a gourmet type potatoe. They are smaller and somewhat finger shaped and around the length of a finger -- some shorter, some longer. They are very tasty but take longer to grow ( at least in my climate) than other potatoes. You find them in stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and in fancy restaurant.
I didn't know what they were either so the first year I grew potatoes, I ordered some and planted them. At the end of the season I had a large bucket full - something I haven't been able to achieve sense. I cooked a few, but my husband doesn't like potatoes -- perhaps the only male on earth who doesn't so I gave the bucketful to the cowboy who had the stable next to the gardens. I asked him if he wanted some potatoes and he said sure, that he loved fresh potatoes more than anything.
Unfortunately I could tell that he was disappointed when he saw these small, oddly shaped potatoes. He thanked me graciously, but I am reasonably sure he threw them all away! I would give my eye teeth to get another bucket full of those potatoes now that I know more what to expect of them. I could cook them for myself! One variety I have grown is Russian Banana, but here are lots of others. If you want to try something new and delicious, I recommend them.

Indy_V,
This is RIGHT ON TIME! Thanks!

lol. you're good. :o)

Gymgirl ~ I am not that far north of you and was late in the month last March when I planted in leaves. Our old timers target date for planting potatoes in Valentines Day normally. Mine still did fine. Yours will be fine. Just remember if you section the potatoes, let them air dry for a few days.

Does anyone here dust their seed potatoes with sulfur or ??? before planting?

I have read somewhere to dust with sulfur and I think somewhere else to dust with ashes. I also read a suggestion to place in a sunny window seal to produce solanine to protect seed potato from bugs.
Mike

So I'm trying potatoes for the first time. I planted Red Pontiac and I plan to mulch with straw....any idea how long it takes them to reach the surface after planting? Also, we are in an "extreme" drought, so what are the watering requirements for potatoes? I want to be sure that I give them some moisture, but not enough to rot the seed tubers. Does anyone have suggestions on watering? Thanks!

David

A thick straw mulch is good because it holds moisture well.

To keep them from rotting be sure there is good drainage.

I would say potatoes have average water requirements.

Pajar , There is a way to measure the giant pumpkin in order to get an estimated weight.



My potato eyes are growing now. Waiting impatiently

Has anyone ever tried growing potatoes in Peat Moss? / maybe mixed with straw or
dried grass clippings. A moisture meter would keep check on moisture.

My husband loves to grow potatos every year. A few years ago, he planted them in straw and the mice destroyed most of his crop. How do you keep the mice out?

Cats

That will do it!

My barn cat is doing a great job on the mice and ground moles at the barn. I know when he makes a kill because he doesn't eat much catfood. The female cat doesn't come around much anymore. She still looks very thin when I see her. A solid black cat got run over in the road near our barn. I had never seen him before. There are likely lots of them around that I have not seen. Quigly stays close to home. He knows he has it made. LOL

I never had gophers when I had cats. Now, alas DH is allergic to cats so i can't have them. As a result I have gophers and mice.

I've just begun gardening, never planted potatoes and this thread is so informative. Thank you. I have a bag of red potatoes purchased in the store that have sprouted. Can they be used as seed potatoes? and if so, do I plant the whole potatoe or cut up the eyes? Thank you for your help. Deb

If the potatoes are large, you can cut them - leave at least three eyes or sprouts for each piece.

Do the potatoes get "squishy" as they start to grow? I have never grown them before and I noticed as I was fencing the dogs out that the last one in the row was mushy. Is it dead or is this how it works? Thanks. D in TN

Are there any potato leaves? If they are squishy and have no leaves, they are probably dead. If they have leaves and roots, they are probably fine.

They haven't had time to make leaves yet. Just planted a couple of weeks ago.

Are they squshy wet or just soft but not wet?

If they're really mushy, as you say, they're rotting. Potatoes don't like to sit in wet undrained soil. First year I tried to grow them, they all rotted.

Thanks y'all. I will start over.

Devota ~ did you let the cut pieces of potatoes dry for a few days before planting? If the cuts aren't dried, they will rot easily... Good luck

yes, I did. Maybee too much water. oh well, try again

Good news for me!! I checked the other taters and they are doing just fine. Evidently it was just the one and I paniced. Thanks for your kind help. Devota

I've been reading this thread on growing potatoes. I've wanted to grow them for years but one thing or another has kept me from trying. Now that I'm retired I'll try. I live in zone 9, ocean at my
front door and mountains at my back door. My veggie garden is in raised beds because our soil is so sandy. After years of amending the soil I have what can best be described as a nice loam in the veggie beds. My garden area faces northeast and receives sun most of the day. I've often thought that I would like to try to grow potatoes in big wire rounds that have have been wrapped around the outside in something like a black weed barrier material that allows for water penetration and air circulation.
In addtion to white potatoes I've also wanted to try a sweet potato like Centennial or similiar type. I remember, as a kid that, my dad planted sweet potatoes in rows in the back yard and they took over the yard. It was a little mind boggling. Some of the potatoes were as big as Hubbards when he finally dug them.
So, from this I have a two part question. Can I successfully grow white potatoes the way I have described and if so how tall and wide should the wire circles be and how deep should the top covering of straw eventually be? How do you water the potatoes. Are they watered through the straw so the water percolates into the ground or do you water the ground around the base of the potato? Any additional growing tips would be appreciated for the white potatoes.
For the second part of the question I would like to know if I can modify how sweet potatoes are grown to adapt to the same type of growing conditions that I use for the white potatoes. If so should the growing room be enlarged to accomadate a more vigerous type of grower. Again any ideas or experience you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Barbsbackyard

added in by stupid novice: can the potatoes be put in the ground/compost pile and then grown as above is asking??? I don't have room in a bed but lots of wine barrel halves + room around the compost pile. Thank you. Deb

Here are some useful potato threads: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/952679/ and http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/825325/

Wow, the last one is one good link...Thank you so much....Deb

Hi Indy_V,

Thanks for sharing those potato threads. The second thread is just what I was looking for.

Barb

I haven't found mention of sawdust. My ground is utterly soggy
from lots of rain, and I am considering laying the seed potatoes
on the ground and covering them with (aged, of course) sawdust.

I loved the blue potatoes that I found at Lowe's last year. I grew
those under leaves, but the leaf supply failed this year. A neighbor's
yard had truck loads of leaves in 2007, but scant drop in 2008.
Fitsy

Well, we planted our potatoes in the garbage can yesterday...My one question is: at this time of the year our sun doesn't go overhead so will they get enough sunlight to start? we tipped it toward the sun's route. Thank you, Deb

All of these potato threads have been fascinating! In addition to this one, I just read doccat5's article (excellent!) and the discussion about growing potatoes in garbage cans. One thing I'm not clear about. In both Hoosiergreen's method, and doccat5's method, we are piling leaves or straw on top of the emerging plants. My question is, are we totally covering the plants, and continuing to cover them, so that we never see any green, or are we just covering them to a certain point on the plant or until a certain stage in their growth? Thanks so much! I'm going to try potatoes for the first time this year and I can't wait to see what happens.

That's two questions....any answers????? Deb

I'm hardly the one to answer any questions. My taters didn't do doddley in the tires last year. I need to be asking questions myself. LOL

I covered the seed potatoes to begin with but when they start growing, some green foliage must be left uncovered as that is how the plant gets nutrients. I added leaves as they grew until I ran out of leaves. That was leaving just the tops exposed. Mine wasn't that deep as the leaves compacted. I know one guy that grew his four feet deep in leaves and they delivered far more potatoes than mine did. Good luck with your patch and do keep us posted on how it goes... pod

Pod, does it matter about the sunlight on the actual foliage while it's growing?? Thank you for your experience....Deb

I'm covering mine just to the base of the leaves leaving them to the sunlight. They are about 8 inches from the top of my barrel.

Darla