Russet Potatoes vs Red Pontiac. How to grow Kennebec?

[Gary350]

We bought a bag of Red Pontiac potatoes to eat because we have never liked these potatoes and have not eaten any in years, we wanted to test them again to see if we still dislike them. We cooked them in a skillet with onions, cooked them in stew, in soup, french fries, mashed potatoes, and baked potatoes. Red Pontiac potatoes are ok but something about them is different and not as good as Russet potatoes.

Russet vs Red Pontiac potatoes. I spent most of yesterday reading formation online about Russet potatoes vs Red Pontiac potatoes. Russet potato sales is 90% of all total potato sales in the USA. Russet has higher starch, lower in sugar and thicker skin than Pontiac. Russet is lighter & fluffy baked than Pontiac. Pontiac has less flavor and sticky texture baked & boiled. Russet is better mashed, better fried, better roasted, better in stew & soup, better french fries according to everything I read online.

Russet vs Idaho potatoes. Only thing I can find about Idaho potatoes is, By Law only potatoes grown in State of Idaho are allowed to be called Idaho potatoes. Several places said basically the same thing. One place suggested Idaho potatoes could be a generic Russet potato. No information about Russet flavor vs Idaho flavor.

Kennebec vs Russet. I have found no information yet that compares flavor of these 2 potatoes but I did find this. Kennebec potatoes are by far the best potatoes, they are extremely hard to find for sale in any store. Kennebec potatoes make the very best french fries of any potato, french fry companies have contracts to buy all the potatoes they can get from Kennebec potato growers. All frozen french fry potatoes sold in all stores and restaurants are Kennebec. IN-N-OUT Burger has exclusively Kennebec potatoes.

About 90% of the potatoes sold at OUR local farmers market are Kennebec the other 10% are Red Pontiac. I ask questions and never get the same answers from people that sell Kennebec seed potatoes. Some people claim Kennebec seed potatoes will grow small potatoes and other people claim they are large baking potatoes. I know IN-N-OUT Burger has very large potatoes I have eaten there many times. Videos on line show home grown small potatoes and some people grow large potatoes. Some gardeners add lots of fertilizer and some add none.

This research has sent me off into left field now I want to plant Kennebec potatoes next year. I watched several YouTube videos how to grow Kennebec potatoes. People that have the best harvest plant lots of eyes. Some people plant 25 eyes in a small spot about 2 ft apart. People that plant in rows plant whole potatoes with 8 to 11 eyes planted 10" apart. Looks to me like a high concentration of potatoes eyes makes a big crop of potatoes. Potato growers plant 500 acres fields of whole potatoes planted 10" apart in hills.

Everyone on YouTube that grows big potatoes has very soft soil, they tilled in a lot of organic material into their soil. Some people buy wood chips by the truck load let it age 3 years before tilling it into the garden soil. Some people till in compose or cow manure. Very soft soil seems to work best to grow large size potatoes Kennebec is a 120 day crop.

Is anyone growing Kennebec potatoes?

What do you think about Kennebec potatoes?

[jal_ut]

Planting potatoes? First you need a plot. Till it up, then you get the potatoes and cut them to one or two eyes per piece. Plant the pieces about a foot apart in rows spaced 30 inches. When the potatoe plants are about a foot tall hill them up. This is to prevent the developing tubers from seeing the sunlight. If they see the sun they turn green and get a strong flavor. You can grab a few for eating just by pushing your finger in the ground and lifting out a tuber. When the taters are done, the plant just lays down. You can go get your digging fork and dig them up. Have fun!

[jal_ut]

As you see in the picture, I grow the red ones. They seem to do better in my soil. I suggest you try a few of several varieties and see what does well in your soil.

[PaulF]

We have switched over to store-bought red potatoes for the same reason you like russets...they seem to have more flavor, easier to cook with and a better all around potato. Yukon Gold is another good choice for us. I wonder if the flavor has been hybridized out of the store russets?

I have not grown potatoes for some time but I remember Kennebec was my choice for flavor and production. I agree that whatever grows best in your soil is the one to plant. How about a few hills (or rows) of several just to see.

A couple miles from us, on the Missouri River bottom, there are a couple of potato farms that supply Frito Lay with potatoes for their chips. After they run the potato harvesters the general public can walk the fields and pick up the leftovers. Not bad potatoes and the price is right---free.

[jal_ut]

Free is a good price. Interesting that the land owners will let the public come in and glean.

[Gary350]

Yesterday I learned the truck load of mushroom compost I bought last year for growing potatoes was loaded with nitrogen. That is why the plants were 5 and 6 feet long sprawled out all over the garden like vines. That is probably why I had large plants with few potatoes. Potato plants need a lot of K and not much N. The free mulch I got a few weeks ago is still hot I hope its not too hot for potatoes 4 months from now if plants turn yellow I will know then it will be too late to save them. This is a good reason why you should never broadcast the same fertilizer over your entire garden some plants may like high nitrogen while others plants do worse. That mushroom compost would have been good for the corn crop.

[jal_ut]

" 50 years of gardening experience."

and still can't grow a potato? Hmmmmmmm

[digitS']

I live between the two major potato growing regions in the US. However, the one in Idaho is hundreds of miles away and the one in Washington State is about an even 100. This glacial soil here is less than ideal for commercial production but they can do okay.

Kennebec, I don't think I have ever grown. In fact, I didn't grow potatoes for about 30 years. They have been in my garden for the last 10, or so.

You see, I could hardly justify growing what was so readily and cheaply available at the soopermarket. Then, I became curious about the varieties that were not in those bins and I'd never even heard of. I probably got the idea and those names off the internet ... I tried some. Fun! And, good tasting.

What I usually do is buy seed from the garden centers. That limits selection but shipping costs aren't a big part of the price.

The last 2 years, I have grown potatoes in a different garden. This taught me that soil is real important for production. The gardens are about 15 miles apart but in the same valley and about the same elevation. One variety that I'd just about given up on, Yukon Gold, did just fine in its new location. Another that had been a #1 performer, Viking Purple, had splitting problems. It had never split before!

Try some from the advice of the neighbors but it still makes sense to grow what isn't brought down the highway by the ton. There are more varieties in the produce aisles these days and that makes things a little challenging for me . I don't have anything very creative to do with them in the kitchen; it's nice if they have unique flavors but I also want the plants to do well.

There are some potato choices in a place like Irish Eyes Garden Seeds (about 200 miles from my home) that just about make spuds exciting!

Steve

[Gary350]

I live between the two major potato growing regions in the US. However, the one in Idaho is hundreds of miles away and the one in Washington State is about an even 100. This glacial soil here is less than ideal for commercial production but they can do okay.

Kennebec, I don't think I have ever grown. In fact, I didn't grow potatoes for about 30 years. They have been in my garden for the last 10, or so.

You see, I could hardly justify growing what was so readily and cheaply available at the soopermarket. Then, I became curious about the varieties that were not in those bins and I'd never even heard of. I probably got the idea and those names off the internet ... I tried some. Fun! And, good tasting.

What I usually do is buy seed from the garden centers. That limits selection but shipping costs aren't a big part of the price.

The last 2 years, I have grown potatoes in a different garden. This taught me that soil is real important for production. The gardens are about 15 miles apart but in the same valley and about the same elevation. One variety that I'd just about given up on, Yukon Gold, did just fine in its new location. Another that had been a #1 performer, Viking Purple, had splitting problems. It had never split before!

Try some from the advice of the neighbors but it still makes sense to grow what isn't brought down the highway by the ton. There are more varieties in the produce aisles these days and that makes things a little challenging for me . I don't have anything very creative to do with them in the kitchen; it's nice if they have unique flavors but I also want the plants to do well.

Steve

You are right about several things, potatoes are 5 lb for $3 it hardly seems worth growing potatoes. If I grow 50 lbs of potatoes some will go bad or grow eyes before we can eat them. I grew 28 lbs of potatoes this year I forgot how much better they taste than grocery store potatoes that makes them worth growing. I have no trouble growing Red Pontiac potatoes in TN they do good in 100 degree weather. TN we have 3 months of spring rain until 2nd week of May then 3 months of 95 to 99 degree weather. Everyone in TN grows Kennebec & Red Pontiac, I need to start growing Kennebec too. I talked to people at Farmers market 1 guy grows on the side of a hill 3 months of rain does not hurt his potatoes water runs off. Another guy shoveled soil up in a mound & plants potatoes on it 3 months of rain is not a problem for his potatoes either. Combination of, correct geographical location, correct soil, correct potatoes, correct technique, seems to be the trick to growing potatoes in TN.