I've been reading posts on potatoes and read some grow on vines, some on plants, some being hilled, some being simply placed in a hole....
Can you guys post some photos on how you plant your potatoes?
How much space do you think I'll need?
might need a little clarification on this...
potatoes are tubers that form underground - think of it as a really big wart on the potato plant root . . .
absolute min would be one square foot per plant, two is better spacing.
holes / rows / hills . . . yup, they all work. I used to just plunk down the seed potato cuts on the soil then cover up with leaf mulch.
potatoes are pretty sturdy - there's not a lot of "magic" to them. the seed potato will produce a "plant" - the plant may/may not flower; the flowers may/may not produce a "berry" - but in the end as the foliage dies back - or before (sooner is the "new potato" description) - you dig up around the margins of the plant - start at least a foot from the stem - and unearth the spud.
potatoes are tubers that form underground - think of it as a really big wart on the potato plant root . . .
absolute min would be one square foot per plant, two is better spacing.
holes / rows / hills . . . yup, they all work. I used to just plunk down the seed potato cuts on the soil then cover up with leaf mulch.
potatoes are pretty sturdy - there's not a lot of "magic" to them. the seed potato will produce a "plant" - the plant may/may not flower; the flowers may/may not produce a "berry" - but in the end as the foliage dies back - or before (sooner is the "new potato" description) - you dig up around the margins of the plant - start at least a foot from the stem - and unearth the spud.
There were lots of photos posted in 2008 and 2009. Many of those posters are no longer (or at least not currently) active, so won't see your request. I do not have the time today 
to perform the necessary search (just received a Do It Now email), but do remember that there were many such photos in '08 and '09.
I only hope the photos are still hosted! Members have tried many, many, Many approaches to growing potatoes, and almost all of them have been successful.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
to perform the necessary search (just received a Do It Now email), but do remember that there were many such photos in '08 and '09.I only hope the photos are still hosted! Members have tried many, many, Many approaches to growing potatoes, and almost all of them have been successful.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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Zapatay
- Senior Member
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:10 pm
- Location: 5a - Northern IL, WI border
Thanks cynthia - I'm pretty confident I came across many of those older postings of photos and the link returns an error or the image simply does not appear.
As usual - I'll keep digging for some images.
Don't spend your time searching - I'm doing it as well - thank you for considering it, though
Thanks Dill - I tried to plant some last year, considering it's a wart on a root - perhaps the ground wasn't worked down well enough.... I read an older post of someone planting a potato in a old tire - the plant go taller - the person added another tire w/ soil - the plant continued to grow ... It appears I wasn't thinking depth last year
As usual - I'll keep digging for some images.
Don't spend your time searching - I'm doing it as well - thank you for considering it, though
Thanks Dill - I tried to plant some last year, considering it's a wart on a root - perhaps the ground wasn't worked down well enough.... I read an older post of someone planting a potato in a old tire - the plant go taller - the person added another tire w/ soil - the plant continued to grow ... It appears I wasn't thinking depth last year
>>in an old tire....
yes - that works. but depending on your own personal degree of phobias, keep in mind rubber tires have compounds/chemicals, etc. you may not want in your potatoes. basically, any "heap" will do. I always liked the mulch idea because you could just push in and around by hand and find the potatoes - a "no dig" routine. the kids were particularly fond of hand fishing for spuds.
"plant size" is misleading... I dug buckets of spuds from scrawny looking plants and 2-3 spuds from "huge" plants. it's always a bit of a surprise.
yes - that works. but depending on your own personal degree of phobias, keep in mind rubber tires have compounds/chemicals, etc. you may not want in your potatoes. basically, any "heap" will do. I always liked the mulch idea because you could just push in and around by hand and find the potatoes - a "no dig" routine. the kids were particularly fond of hand fishing for spuds.
"plant size" is misleading... I dug buckets of spuds from scrawny looking plants and 2-3 spuds from "huge" plants. it's always a bit of a surprise.
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DoubleDogFarm
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 6113
- Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm
Depth is very important or hilling up. The new potatoes are produced above the seed potato. I hill up about three times a growing season. Some people do the trench technique. Dig a trench and slowly fill it in as the plant grows.
Don't go digging under your plants until after flowering. You maybe lower your harvest by breaking of the stolons.
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potato002.jpg[/img]
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potato004.jpg[/img]
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potatoes2007006.jpg[/img]
This Years 2010 raised beds. Potato plants just showing
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02101.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02103.jpg[/img]
Don't go digging under your plants until after flowering. You maybe lower your harvest by breaking of the stolons.
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potato002.jpg[/img]
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potato004.jpg[/img]
2007 Yukon Gold
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potatoes2007006.jpg[/img]
This Years 2010 raised beds. Potato plants just showing
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02101.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02103.jpg[/img]