I decided to make some homemade cheesesteaks for tonight's dinner. I looked in the fridge and the taters were scarred and sad looking. There was no way I was making any oven fries out of them.
My potatoes have flowered, but are still green and standing. I knew I could get at least some small new potatoes and that was better than I had.
It just got done raining the first real rain we'd had in weeks. I grabbed the first plant and yanked it straight up. All of the potatoes clung to the roots. There were about ten of them, from golf ball sized to the size of a medium peach. Not really oven fry material but they'd work.
I decided to pull one more. When I pulled this vine, no potatoes came up at all, but I was amazed to see bigger taters than I harvested last year after die-off, partially exposed.
Both plants were started by the same sized seed, and both plants were similarly fertilized. They were growing side by side in the row. It always amazes me how one plant will outproduce another treated the exact same way.
How big do Yukon Golds get anyway? I've only been growing them for a few years, but these dwarf anything I've ever grown. I still have a few more weeks of growing season until normal harvest time.
[img]https://i769.photobucket.com/albums/xx337/Flatfeesh/DSCN0812.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i769.photobucket.com/albums/xx337/Flatfeesh/DSCN0811.jpg[/img]
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30514
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
NICE! It sounds like you could just harvest some every week for a while.
How come you uprooted your plants? I thought the usual practice is to feel around the base of the plants and "rob" goodly sized ones.
I did that and got a handful of walnut-sized taters (Red Gold) -- it just finished flowering last week so I wasn't expecting anything huge. Just enough for a taste for the kids and they loved them! Most of my other varieties All Blue and Adirondack Blue are still in flower so it's going to be a while before Potato Time.
How come you uprooted your plants? I thought the usual practice is to feel around the base of the plants and "rob" goodly sized ones.
I did that and got a handful of walnut-sized taters (Red Gold) -- it just finished flowering last week so I wasn't expecting anything huge. Just enough for a taste for the kids and they loved them! Most of my other varieties All Blue and Adirondack Blue are still in flower so it's going to be a while before Potato Time.
-
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 6113
- Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm
Those are nice lookin spuds.
If you are satisfied with the size, you could cut all the plants off and leave the tubers in the ground for two weeks. This toughens the skins. They will keep longer. Also do not wash if your are storing. Just let the soil dry and brush off.
Yukons can get large.
2007 Yukon Gold harvest
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/totalharvest.jpg[/img]
Did you finish all your weed wacking and spraying.
If you are satisfied with the size, you could cut all the plants off and leave the tubers in the ground for two weeks. This toughens the skins. They will keep longer. Also do not wash if your are storing. Just let the soil dry and brush off.
Yukons can get large.
2007 Yukon Gold harvest
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/totalharvest.jpg[/img]
Did you finish all your weed wacking and spraying.
- gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30514
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
TZ, I was instantly intrigued, ... then deflated, because the Red Gold in the main bed flowered way ahead of All Blue. But then I remembered that the potatoes in the Potato Silos out in the front yard are blooming together, and that's where I saw the bumble bees frantically rubbing their legs while hanging on to potato flowers (I assumed they were gathering pollen), so there may yet be some hope!
I'll let you know if we get any, and will be happy to send you the seeds as I expect you'll have more success with this than I will. I expect seed POTATOES in return at a later date.
I'll let you know if we get any, and will be happy to send you the seeds as I expect you'll have more success with this than I will. I expect seed POTATOES in return at a later date.
I can send back seed tubers in two years or trade different colored varieties sooner, barring crop failure this year.
Most potato varieties have sterile pollen so berries are rare.
Your blue potatoes should produce a few berries from selfing, and the seed will segregate out into different colors as well (I have those growing now).
Growing from true seed is not difficult, it is just different timing from other plants. You can grow out the seed in small containers in late winter and get a lot of micro tubers for planting in the summer, or you can start the seed about the same time as tomatoes and put out plants in the garden. Seed started garden plants just need a bit of pampering to produce well the first year.
Its a lot of trouble for cheap standard white and yellow varieties, but with something like you have you would get the added flavor from the yellow flesh in with the different colors and end up with your own personal lines from just a little extra fiddling about.
Most potato varieties have sterile pollen so berries are rare.
Your blue potatoes should produce a few berries from selfing, and the seed will segregate out into different colors as well (I have those growing now).
Growing from true seed is not difficult, it is just different timing from other plants. You can grow out the seed in small containers in late winter and get a lot of micro tubers for planting in the summer, or you can start the seed about the same time as tomatoes and put out plants in the garden. Seed started garden plants just need a bit of pampering to produce well the first year.
Its a lot of trouble for cheap standard white and yellow varieties, but with something like you have you would get the added flavor from the yellow flesh in with the different colors and end up with your own personal lines from just a little extra fiddling about.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
I have about 150 plants this year. They are just starting to lay over but are still green. I have been blessed with 2 feet of sandy loam over about 8 feet of coarse to medium sand. I normally keep my spuds in the ground until mid August. I harvest my spuds as I need them then I dig the remainder for fall storage. They keep very well right in the ground and seem to last longer into the fall.
I'll be having fresh caught fried flounder from the Delaware Bay, cole slaw and another big batch of fries tonight. If only I'd had a fresh tomato....... I be in heaven.
I can't imagine anyone not liking Yukon Gold either... What's up with that?
Ron
I have about 150 plants this year. They are just starting to lay over but are still green. I have been blessed with 2 feet of sandy loam over about 8 feet of coarse to medium sand. I normally keep my spuds in the ground until mid August. I harvest my spuds as I need them then I dig the remainder for fall storage. They keep very well right in the ground and seem to last longer into the fall.
I'll be having fresh caught fried flounder from the Delaware Bay, cole slaw and another big batch of fries tonight. If only I'd had a fresh tomato....... I be in heaven.
I can't imagine anyone not liking Yukon Gold either... What's up with that?
Ron
- cherishedtiger
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:10 pm
- Location: Sacramento, California
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:46 pm
- Location: Rangley, CO