What do I do with this potato plant?

[luvthesnapper]

So I went away for two weeks, and when I came home, this plant had grown well over a foot. I'm wondering what to do now. I have another container I can stack on top, but what do I do with all the big leaves? Should I trim them off so the other bucket fits on top?



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[img]https://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/Garden%20Pics/SN852123.jpg[/img]

[jnunez918]

Pics are not working

[luvthesnapper]

I just pasted them here instead of linking.

[SPierce]

the leaves need to stay on and in the sunlight to make tubers--- at this point youll either want to leave it as is, or hill it up some more so they can keep growing

[luvthesnapper]

Can I cut some of the leaves down, so I can fit a new bucket on top, or will this hurt it too much?

[jal_ut]

The best thing you could do for it is to plant it in the ground. If that is not possible maybe a bigger bucket? It needs more root room. If you plant it in a larger bucket only plant it two inches deeper than it is now. Do not clip leaves.

[luvthesnapper]

How high should I hill up the dirt around the plant? I've never grown potatoes. I didn't know they grew so fast. How would you move it into a new container? I have a 55 gallon rain barrel I can put it in, but I'm not sure how to move it. I can put it in the ground too, but how am I going to get it out of the container, without cutting the container off.......

[jal_ut]

Half a 55 gal barrel would be good. I would not put it in a whole barrel. That green tapered bucket should slip off the root ball easily. Just like transplanting any nursery stock.

You only need to hill the soil up about 2 or 3 inches. The sole purpose for doing this is to make sure the developing tubers do not see the sun and turn green. I could never see covering the plant more than that. It needs its leaves in the sunshine to make food to store in the tubers.

It looks like you may have planted a whole potato? Lots of shoots. You could possibly get larger taters if you cut your seed tuber to one or two eyes per piece, if you try this again.

[cynthia_h]

Dear luvthesnapper:

It's not necessary to wait for further advice; what jal_ut said is 100% what to do. So, as soon as you can, get that half-barrel container and then, later this season, enjoy the spuds!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[luvthesnapper]

It looks like you may have planted a whole potato?

3 pieces actually, in a triangle type placement. They had probably 2-3 eyes each. That's too much for this bucket, but I had no idea. I didn't think it would get so leafy, so fast.

I've decided to just put it in the ground. I'm going to dig a giant hole, and just move it into compost.

Thanks guys.

[luvthesnapper]

Changed my mind about the ground, because of the bugs around here this year. I'm already having problems with my tomatoes, and these little black caterpillars chewing on the leaves. Couldn't find a barrel, but I found this potato bag for 3 dollars. This is about 3 times the size of the bucket it was in. It's about 2 feet high, and about 15 inches wide. Pretty big. What do you guys think.


Velcro "Potato Access" Hole At Bottom
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[img]https://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/SN852138.jpg[/img]

Handles
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