Potatoes

Bent,

The ones I was trying to grow upstairs died - I thnk it was from using some potting soil the cats urinated in. When I dug through the dirt/mulch/potting soil, not a single spud. I was slightly disappointed, but these take 110-135 days to mature. The plants were at about the 50-70 day stage. (An optimistic outlook!). I'm going to let two of the plants, that are now about four foot tall, run their course. The onther two, I'll keep adding dirt to, at least through August.

Mike
 
What are the advantages of planting potatoes so they grow in such tall cage things instead of just in the ground?
 
Supposedly, they form tubers at every level so that instead of one set of potatoes, you can get 5-7 sets. I'll find out in maybe a month if this is true.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
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
Click to expand...

worldwiz erm was going to grow in bags but now im going to try your method..thank you great thread ;)
 
Good luck Talas. I almost wish a couple of the plants would die (they should later this month or in early August) so I can see how they turned out. It would be neat to have 100 pounds each of red and blue ptotatoes to eat/sell/give to friends. Besides two cages of each, I have about eight linear feet of garden space for normal growing per type, plus 54 feet for regular potatoes.

I wish there was a simple way of preserving them for a variety of uses. My son showed my how to save them for French Fries and such, and I suppose I could can them for mashed potatoes (put it's simply cheaper and easier to buy flakes at the store). I really would love to find a way I could use them for baked potatoes in March.

Mike
 
My cage experiment may be drawing to a close. The plants are starting to turn yellow, some more so than others. This is normal, at least for taters grown in the ground without a cage. It happens from the middle of July to the middle of August every year. I do not know if they have a biological clock that says once they are dug, in X number of days they will die, if it a heat/length of day thing or other factors. I tend to believe how long they are in the ground may not make that much difference. The ones in the cages were planted St. Pat's day while some others were planted a full month later; and they are from the same bag of seed potatoes.

If this is so, it bodes no good for our contest, as these seeds were harvested about the same time as the ones I planted in the garden - and they are dying.

Something odd about the cages - there is a hole - about three inches wide - that circles the stem. It extends down about three feet. Two plants show this hole, the other two do not. I can't wait until I open the cage and see what's in the dirt in those two.

The cage that is closest to giving up the ghost may be ready to open by this time next week, if not before. The leaves are completely yellow and a few are brown. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and batteries for the camera charged up.

Mike
 
my cage is made of chicken wire...& going to be very interesting ...got plants growing out the sides as well as the top.
Still a long way from filling it up. Will keep you posted.
 
Well, my potato dig turned into an Easter Potato hunt. Hunt as in "I can't ind any potatoes."

I did manage to snag six of them, with the largest weighing in at about the weight of an obese goldfish - 1.6 ounces. This was a blue potato, I have one more of those, two red and a white to go yet. But they are still alive and growing.

Though somewhat disappointed, I'm not distraught. For one thing, I think I have learned I need to keep something around the edges to keep the soil moist. It was all bone dry, which was not surprising.

Secondly, I have about 1/2 a cubic yard of dirt that has had potting soil, peat with cow manure, and potting soil that includes vermiculite added to it. I also have a nice spot where all this dirt came from that I can massage for next year - dig out another six inches and sow it in wheat this fall, plus apply a generous amount of straw with horse manure. Next spring, mix the dirt with compost, humus and some clay and I'll have at least a 6'x20' area of great soil.

And of course, I have Plan B - I sowed about 80 seed potatoes in the regular manner. Last year, even with a late start, my 30 plants fed us until February and they were no where near as tall as this year's plants. But I still would like to see 30 pounds of spuds come rolling out of one of the remaining cages!

Mike
 
Awwwww man that sucks, that huge cage looked as though it would've been packed with taters! I'm sorry to hear the news and hopefully it was just a fluke and your others will be packed with spuds!
 
*bump*

Heres my crop from 1st attempt with the cage - about half a bucket full.



next time as I add a layer I'll be adding more eyes too - should then be able to get 4 or 5 crops in the cage.
 
Impressive! My plant died, but not sure from what. We'll try this again in the spring when I can grow them outside. I like the idea of adding another couple of eyes - that should really bump up the number of taters.

Mike
 
Hey I'm growing potatoes this year
Royal blues
Kipfleirs (spelling)
Dutch cream

just from plants from the shop
will see how it goes.
 
stillmanz said:
Hey I'm growing potatoes this year
Royal blues
Kipfleirs (spelling)
Dutch cream

just from plants from the shop
will see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Mick you grown the Royal Blues before was wondering about the taste as i have just been offered some :)
 
Its sort of a hybrid cage system Bent.
the blues are pretty good pretty versatile potatoe and sposed to be easy to grow. They growing pretty good for me.
 
Cheers mick growing the right variety as its my first time is going be crucial was thinking of k.edwards or these thx :)
 
Heres a pic of my set up
its fed water on the auto pot system.
from left to right.
the varieties are Dutch cream, Kipflers and Royal blue

DSCF2068.jpg
 
I dug the rest of the first row, one that was not in quite as good of soil and one that was part red, part blue and part white spuds. I have also been digging on it all year so at least half of it was missing. But I still managed to get 20 pounds of taters. I'll probably can all but the big ones, skins and all.

Mike
 
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