Fall planted potatoes for spring harvest -a NEW PROJ!?

[applestar]

http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/artic ... potato.htm

I've posted about this article before, but for some reason I can't find the thread now so I guess I'll start a new one.

I was cleaning out my pantry and found some seed potato sized taters from this year's harvest that started to sprout. I can never seem to keep them until next spring. I was noodling about what to do with them, including planting some in 5gal buckets and keeping them in the garage to grow without freezing solid, and remembered the above article. The timing is exactly right for fall planting outside. I may try this.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I've thought about this many times, especially in the Spring when all the volunteers come up.

I'm thinking, if they are to spoil anyway, why not put them in the grown to rot or grow. You may get a few weeks jump in the Spring.


Eric

[digitS']

You don't have much to lose!

I don't quite understand the linked article author talking about creamed peas and new potatoes. First, I need to say that I have only grown early varieties in recent years. One can sneak a few potatoes out from under the plants just a few months after planting - in cold spring soil. That was true this year even tho' the emerging plants were blackened by a couple of late frosts. Certainly, if you have enuf plants anyway, you may as well just pull a plant and make use of all the tiny new potatoes. I always have new potatoes when the shell peas are ready.

Secondly, ordering seed potatoes now isn't possible from some companies, altho' that is what the author suggests. Online sources: Wood Prairie may have seed potatoes but Fedco doesn't even ship their "Moose Tubers" until April. Potato Garden said in September, "We have a few pounds of naturally grown seed potatoes available for fall planting . . . Please note that we only give fall planted potatoes a 50% chance of growing." I don't know if you could still get them.

Finally, I can't figure out what the author means about spring rainfall. If you have the seed in the ground by the 1st day of spring, as many gardeners in zone 6 or even 5 do, wouldn't those be just as exposed to spring rain as those that were planted in the fall?

I am usually fairly reluctant to allow volunteers to grow. They are always somewhere I don't want them. Having spuds regrow in the same ground seems to be discouraged by all sources because of disease problems.

Once, I thought that re-planting an early variety in July might work for a fall crop. Even having a potato farmer tell me that he didn't think it would work, didn't discourage me. They didn't come up until the next year . . .

Those were Caribe and I really liked them but that year's crop was much, much smaller than they had been the year before and much smaller than from seed potatoes that were planted in April. It was kind of a double fail !

On another thread you have Jal telling us that in-ground storage is very successful with potatoes. But, he isn't really talking about putting them at what would be a customary planting depth for storage. Still, if you have the potatoes, the garden space, garden where the soil doesn't freeze deeply and you have a desire to find out how it would work for you -- giving it a go may work and it seems worth a try.

Steve

[applestar]

This spring, rainbowgardener and I were comparing weather conditions, referencing gixxerific's as well. We came to the conclusion that, overall, my area's spring is harsher longer with a shorter period of cool spring weather and sudden jump into hot summer. The peas are done by late June while the taters are still around marble sized, even with the early varieties.

So when I read the article it did make sense to me.

I agree about difficulty in BUYing seed potatoes now, but the ones I have now that are already sprouting might as well be planted. They're too small to be salvaged for eating.

I too usually grow the early to mid season varieties. I'm going to try at least one late season variety next year.

If this method yields earlier new potatoes, it may be worth a try. I just don't have the storage facility to store the earlier harvested potatoes so this maybe a good way to use them up. I did have a few potatoes that survived in the ground that I dug up just before frost and freeze but wireworms and some kind of burrowing animal -- chipmunks? field mice? -- are raiding them too.

My future potato projects will involve early, mid, and late season potatoes, in-ground storage methods through the season and in winter, possibly fall-planted/spring harvested new potatoes. I would love to work out a way to eliminate dependency on store-bought potatoes.

Oh! And TPS seed-grown potatoes. I have some seeds from most likely All-blue and Adirondak Blue potatoes this year.

... as USUAL, I've lots of project ideas, but not enough of me to go around implementing them all

[jal_ut]

In my locality, you never know if the ground will get frozen or not. Some years I get volunteer potatoes and some years not. If the ground freezes to the depth the potatoes are they will die. If we get a good deep early snow and it sticks, the ground may not freeze very deep and I get volunteer potatoes. Otherwise, forget it.

What I am suggesting is that fall planted spuds may make it, or not. Depends on your climate. If you get volunteers every year it will most likely work.

[Gary350]

Potato plants have the ability to recover if the tops get frost bit or freeze and die. As long as the potato that was planted in the ground does not freeze and die it will grow a new top over and over and over many times.

I have a friend that lives in the mountains of NC they have pretty bad winter weather with usually several feet of snow. He plants potatoes in the fall as the plant comes up he covers it with straw. As the plant grows taller and taller he keeps covering it with straw. He sent me a pic last years crop looked like it was covered in 2 ft of straw. I guess the potato keeps trying to grow when spring comes it has a head start it already has roots and soon the plant makes flowers turns brown and dies. He has a good crop of potatoes every year.

I have not seens this first hand only the photos. I have a 5 lb bag of potatoes in my pantry that has sprouted it needs to be planted. I am considering planting then like my friend does but so far I am just thinking about it. I have lots of tree leaves I could cover the pototoes with 2 ft of leaves. When leaves get wet it turns into a wet carpet I'm not sure the plants can grow up through that. I might experement with a few plants and cover them with about 18" of soil and pine needles.

[applestar]

I think you're both right that the seed potatoes and root zone need to be protected from freezing. I suspect it's borderline around here and I'd need to choose my planting location carefully. There's one spot that would have been perfect but I planted asparagus there this spring.

Gary, I think if you mix leaves with pine needles, it would create a looser, less compacting mulch. you might even mix in twiggy branches. the goal here I think, is to diminish the leaves tendency to mat down without creating too much air pocket to lose the insulation. That's where the hollow stems of straw have the advantage, that and the small gaps that let in just enough light and provide seeking shoots to grow.

Anyone else thinking of trying this? I want to but I'm not sure if I'll manage to get it done and the days are flying by.

[jal_ut]

I don't know if there is much to be gained by fall planting potatoes. You can plant early in the spring and they will come up then the leaves will get forzen. They really won't get going good until after it stops freezing. The roots will be well developed by then and they will grow fast as soon as it quits freezing the leaves. As has been mentioned, they will recover if the leaves get frozen. You would have the same with the fall planted potatoes, they will come up early and get frozen. At least that is what happens in this coutry. One advantage is that you could plant the seed you now have sprouting, which may not last until spring. I think it will work if you protect the seed with a mulch. Worth a try.

BTW, you don't need sprouted potatoes to plant. You can use any potato. It will sprout in the ground when its time. I usually cut them with two eyes on a piece. If I have small walnut sized potatoes, I will plant the whole potato.

I won't be trying this as my garden is under 5 inches of snow and its still snowing. Good luck.

[Gary350]

I love to try new things so I can't resist trying this. I placed the red potato eyes on the surface of the soil about 6" or 7" apart the row is about 18 ft long. I shoveled a ditch on both sides and put all the soil from each ditch on top of the pototoe eyes. There is about 10" to 12" of soil covering the pototoe eyes. After it rains a few times the soil will probably settle down to about 8" to 10". I covered it with about 8" of pine needles. I hope the pine needle help to make the soil acid I'm not sure they will provide much insulation. Later I will get some straw for better insulation. I tried to make it look the same as my friends potato garden. Water should drain away in the 2 ditches.

I am never able to get potatoes planted in early spring we have rain about every day all winter mud is 6" deep until mid April. A shovel full of mud gets hard as cement when it dries and potatoes never come up. We have very hot summers it will be in the 90s by mid June. I think that is the reason I can not grow good pototoes. Our last frost is about April 20 then it is 90 degrees 2 months later.

[garden5]

That's an interesting article and this looks like an awesome experiment. I'm not going to be able to try it this year, but perhaps next year I will.

I first thought about the plants sprouting in the spring and then getting killed by a late frost, but Gary seems to have cleared this up, saying the tubers will re-grow sprouts.

If you can keep your seed-potatoes from freezing, I see no reason why this wouldn't work.

Give an update in the spring and let us know how things turn out.