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Potato question

mikeinsc

mikeinsc

I found a few spud volunteers coming up in my compost pile. I decided about a month ago to just let the plants that come up that do because I want to see what they are. So far I have spuds, tomatoes and some type of squash.

My question is, what are the white spots on this tater? They look like white flies or small mealy bugs but are actually potato. Thanks

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depending on the variety of potato and how wet the soil has been, the potato seed produces these, they are natural. some varieties have more, some less, some large and some small. dr seuss of vegetables!

they have the potato seed breath so it doesn't rot - it should make nice fries, good eating.
 
Why don't we call them freckles? They are normal.
I threw some potatoes in a compost pile 3 years ago and didn't even water them and in late summer had baby butt spuds! I mean they were so smooth.
 
Do you have any tips for growing potatoes? I got excited yesterday and picked up 10lbs of red seed potatoes that I'll cut today and plant in a few when they heal.
 
last year, i had a potato sprout in my composter, i just let it grow and grow it did, quite large in fact.

i use to buy potato seedlings at one time but always had way too many seeds and once they get growing their foliage can get quite large. now, i just use potatoes that start to sprout in my pantry, i just cut up the eyes and plant them. i no longer spend much time on growing potatoes as they are so cheap in the grocery store.

the main reason i started to plant potatoes, i was told they would energize my garden, so plant them this year and next year rotate the area with a different crop.

i have seen some urbanites put their potatoes in those large canvas/polypropolene style bags filled with soil, i never thought to do that but may give it go this year, along with some of my tomatoes. you can get the bags at a dollar store.

good growing.
 
my potato method:
cut up seed potatoes
fertilize ground and till
drop potato chunks on top of tilled earth
cover with about 6 inches straw

when it is time to harvest you can simply rake back the straw- no digging taters- man did i hate digging potatoes when i was a kid .

we planted 350 pounds this year.
 
I have heard of people growing them iin bales of hay before. I would have to figure out a way to keep all the hay from blowing away. I have zero breaks from he westward winds since I am in a farming area and its essentially all open.maybe dress with topsoil?

I cut up the 10lbs of spuds last night. I have enough eyes for maybe a 50ft row. I'll put peanuts in the next 50.
 
I hope so. This is the first time this ground has ever been worked in over 30 years. And the stuff I cleared out in the fall had been growing for about the last 6 - 8 years
 
Sure I got tips. I am growing 100# of seed this season. Heck that will be the end of my back to harvest that many!
In the ground is best because fancy methods require too much water. they need even and plentiful water. I prefer to plant them in double or triple rows, about 1 foot apart between each. if you have a few potato beetles try planting the same amount of bush beans in with the taters. Or use Spinosad. I live in a town of all potato fields so there are billions of beetles and nothing to be done about it however.
If you have high ph treat the area with sulfur as soon as possible, ideally the fall before. Grow only certified seed potatoes, not store bought. Only save your own seed if you have no scab.
Plant the taters when the dandelions do their big bloom but not before 3 weeks before the last frost. What I mean is right now it is an early spring here and the dandelions will be blooming like tomorrow but frost can still easily come for a good month. So I cannot plant my taters for 2 more weeks despite the soil temp being right. Thereafter there is no reason to plant only one crop. They can be planted through all of early summer. Some people plant them late and get out of the beetles' cycle.
Plant sprouts sticking up. if you can get small taters that can be left whole that is best. Otherwise cut 2 days before planting so they get a skin. Only plant 4-6 inches deep but you can plant in a trench in preparation for hilling up. I hill up 2 times and at the same time hoeing the weeds. I put a thick layer of straw on after that. It isn't worth hilling more than that, but if you want to, do it to late potatoes not early ones.
Before I hill I make a molasses dillution to feed with. Like 1 cup molasses from the feed store in 1 5 gallon bucket. Let sit 1 day and stir occassionally. Then pour on the roots before hilling. I do this feeding twice.
They will flower and get little green cherry tomatoes which are poisonous. After that you can sneak in a pull out some new potatoes. Potatoes keep best in the ground until right before winter. I dig the last ones for winter eating as late as I can.

Soil should be loose and moderately fertile. Do not use rich manures. They like compost much better. The soil here is sand and all we have are potato farms. But they irrigate a lot.
 
I got pics too. I planted 80# Thursday and Friday and have just about 5# more room left to buy and plant. I do triple rows and so I rake off a few inches of soil on the beds so it can be hoed back on later to hill up.

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Before planting

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after planting

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after drip lines but before any straw is being put down.

My camera made it a funny color but it truly isn't pink.
 
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