In the past I have had very bad luck growing potatoes in TN. Potatoes grow but they are very small marble size up to pink pong ball size when grown in rows. I am going to try 1 more time.
My best potato crops have been grown in old tires. I keep adding soil as the plants grow taller. I can add another tire and more soil when plants are taller. I can dump in 5 gallon of water and the tire holds all the water like a pond. Potatoes are larger but it is rare to get one larger than 2" diameter.
I have noticed the RED potatos grow best 2" diameter with lots of small marble size potatoes. Russet potatoes are golf ball size plus marble size potatoes. Kennybecks grow golf ball and marble size. Idaho potatos grow all marble size potatoes.
We typically have 3+ months of none stop rain in the spring. Last frost is about April 1st. I try to plant potatoes by April 1st if I can sometimes I poke potatos down in the mud if it won't stop raining for 1 day. In 2 or 3 weeks climate changed from 50 deg at night, 75 in the day, and rain to 80 at night, 100 in the day and no rain. It stops raining about first week of June then we have about 7 weeks of 100 degree weather starting last week of June with no rain and desert like conditions until 3rd week of August. My potato plants get full sun from sun up to about 5 pm.
I have tried mixing in compost, peat moss, and fertilizer in the soil but that never seems to help. What I read says, NO Lime and very little nitrogen.
My 6" of soil has lots of organic material. Below the soil 6" down is solid clay. The garden and yard holds water like a swamp every time it rains there is 2" of water standing on the surface but it will be gone 8 hours after it stops raining.
I want to plant 1 row of potatoes this spring. Maybe I should buy a variety of potatoes and likes this crazy climate. RED potatoes are my favorite.
I can dig up a 20 ft row and get a gallon of marble size potatoes and a dozen 2" potatoes. If all those marbles would grow 2" I would have a bushel basket of potatoes. I even plant North South rows research shows that will produce better crops. When I lived in Michigan and Illinois I had NO trouble growing potatoes summers were much cooler and spring was not a flash flood every day.
One year I planted potatoes late fall. I covered a 20 ft row with 8" of soil and about 6" to 8" of pine needles. No plants every grew it turned cold with 3 weeks of 17 deg weather before Christmas. I dug up about 2 gallons of pink pong ball size potatoes 7 months later. There was not many marble size potatoes.
I am trying to decide what I am doing wrong?
Why do I get so many marble size potatoes?