Potatoes

bentalphanerd said:
o.k so i have a bag of pontiac red spuds that are shooting off nicely. I'm keen to try the cage potato thing.

Whats the best soil to fill the cage with {red, black, potting mix, anything?}

how much sun is good?

how much watering will they need?


more questions to come as i think of them :P

getting star pegs & chicken wire tomorrow, winter is starting.

spudmania!
Click to expand...

I use just plain dirt from the yard but supposedly, they will grow in straw, mulch, potting soil - just about anything as long as it isn't too clayish. Many people have talked about using only straw, making them easy to harvest! Leave at least six inches of dirt or whatever around the potato. As for light, I use one 20 watt CFL (2700K) per plant.

Watering is based on Mother Nature - if it rains, I water them! Actually, potatoes seem to love water, as long as it isn't overdone. I water them a couple of times a week, using about 1/2 inch of water at a time.

Instead of using chicken wire, I use window screening, the nylon type. It's easier to work with!

Mike
 
We don't use lights here - i was hoping to get away with minimal light, kind of stash it away in a corner of the yard that gets about 4 hrs of full sun every afternoon. Be stronger than 20 W for shorter time.

Have a lot of dark/black soil available, will put in straw too. Sounds like it would prefer good drainage?

Window screen - good tip :) I was hoping to be able to poke a hole in the side & see when they're ripe, eventually some kind of shelving like i mentioned before. I'll try to find something finer and see how it goes.

Thanks

:cheers:
 
Potatoes like bright light. And my container has white plastic on the sides and back, so it reflects the light. Plus the 20 Watt is equal to 100 watts.

The story goes that once the plant gets tall enough, you can remove the bottom potatoes without hurting the plant, as long as you do it gently. That's why straw or mulch would be preferable to dirt, unless it's a sandy type soil that breaks apart easily.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Potatoes like bright light. And my container has white plastic on the sides and back, so it reflects the light. Plus the 20 Watt is equal to 100 watts.

The story goes that once the plant gets tall enough, you can remove the bottom potatoes without hurting the plant, as long as you do it gently. That's why straw or mulch would be preferable to dirt, unless it's a sandy type soil that breaks apart easily.

Mike
Click to expand...

Great info.

Thanks a heap wordwiz.
I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
 
bental,

I added four more inches of dirt yesterday - two of the plants seem to have really taken off in the last week.

On top of that, potatoes in four tires outdoors have finnaly made the scene, as did two more blue sprouts and two from white potatoes I had left over from last year's crop.

Mike
 
I'm done planting potatoes for the year. Stuck the last 11 blue and 12 red ones in the ground, plus 35 white ones. 5.1 oz of seed potatoes went into the last container experiment, giving me a total of nine containers of various types and sizes.

Mike
 
excuse my ignorance but couldn't you just add a little food dye to normal spuds for the same result? do these multicoloured tubers taste any different to the 'garden variety' taters?
 
chilliman,

Yeah, one could do that, but I'm hoping the novelty side of them will be a selling point. Tasting great and being a large producer won't be bad either!

Mike
 
An update:

Every Thursday, at least starting with April 10 (17th for all but one), I've been able to add about four inches of soil/mulch/straw to the plants. The tallest one is about 16 inches high with the other three about a foot tall. I can only hope they maintain 16 inches of growth per month.

Mike
 
An update: these plants are growing outside.

Potato on May 4 before adding potting soil
1before.jpg

Same potato, after potting soil was added
1after.jpg

The same plant today before adding a mixture of peat withe cow manure and dirt.
week2b4.jpg

And after:
week2after.jpg


The caging is 1/4 inch, 32 gauge wire. I wanted to use tires, but couldn't find the right sizes. I'll probably wrap the cage with white plastic, mainly to deflect sunlight.

Mike
 
Two chilly, damp weeks have passed. High temps have been in the upper 50s-mid60, with a couple of days in the low 70s. We've had close to four inches of rain - weather potatoes love. It is now 24" tall and may have three more months to grow. I'm using dirt from the part of the garden that won't grow plants and adding in peat with cow manure plus a little fertilizer.

may25potato.jpg


Mike
 
If anyone knows????

The plants are sarting to produce flowers. In my experience, once they do, the plants don't last for more than about six weeks, they die, and the tubers are produced. I don't want my plants to die in six weeks - I want them to keep growing until laste August, then bloom.

I have four plants so my thoughts are to pluck the buds off two of them and let the other two grow, adding dirt if they get taller than eight inches.

Any guidance on this?

Mike
 
An update on the potatoes. This is the tallest, but the others are not far behind. 42" and still not flowering. Another eight inches or so of growth and I'll have to use a step ladder to add dirt.

june10potato.jpg


Mike
 
that's simply amazing Mike...I am going to have to try that next year...keep a good log...
 
AJ,

I was keeping a really good log, but as very early spring has turned to almost summer, I have not updated it weekly. But I have kept it simple. Take a tire and but a couple of inches of dirt in the bottom. Take a seed potato - it doesn't need to be big as long as it has a couple of eyes in it, and plant it in the middle of the tire. Cover it with dirt that is loose, such as potting or top soil. Once the plant has eight inches of stalk/leaves showing, add another layer of dirt, being careful to pull the leaves up towards the center (don't cover them). I add an ounce or two of 12-12-12 fertilizer each time I add dirt, plus a pound or so of peat with cow manure (simnply because the dirt I'm using doesn't hold moisture.

Once the plant reaches the top of the cage, but before I add more dirt, I put another circle of mesh in it. I try to keep the dirt very moist - potatoes don't love drowning, but like staying wet.

I have no idea how many pounds (or ounces!) of potatoes I will get from each cage. Ideally, it will be 3-5 pounds per layer, with a layer forming every six inches or so. Once the plants die, be it next week, next month or in September, I'll empty the cages (and pile the dirt someplace where I can use it in another part of the garden next year) and weigh the spuds. I will be thrilled if I can get 30 pounds from each one, since I planted a 5 ounce seed potato to start.

Mike
 
WOW! That looks awesome!!!! Ok, I may just have to go out and start one of those myself....should aI start a plant from a potato eye or just from seed?
 
IGG,

I've never seen a potato seed, though I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to collect some.

The best way is to find a certified seed potato and use it. It doesn't have to be very large - that one came from a 5-ounce potato. Just be sure it has a couple of eyes or sprouts showing.

Mike
 
Dug into mine today to see if theres signs of life and the shoots are ...well, shooting up :cool:

built mine out of chicken wire around 3 star pegs and doing layers of compost & sugar cane mulch (very cheap here & looks much like straw)I put it next to the compost pile because it gets the best winter sun, and i can just shovel the next layer in.

Big surprise while digging through....its full of earth worms. WoooHoo added bonus.

:cheers:
 
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