Tomato and Potato Question

[Gary350]

I learned something from a seller at the Farmers Market. He said, Red Pontiac potatoes produce about 2 times more potatoes than white potatoes. He planted 18 white potato plants and got 86 lbs of potatoes. He planted 22 Red Pontiac potatoes and got 188 lbs of potatoes. I already knew Red Pontiac grows very well in TN hot weather I grew them many years ago but we like white potatoes better so I don't grow Red Pontiac anymore. Do not remove flowers, shovel soil on the plants as they grow to keep the sun off new potatoes, let plants grow until they die then dig potatoes.

UPDATE. I talked to this farmer again today to ask how many eyes he has on each potato cutting. He said, "I look for potatoes with 6 or 7 eyes they are better than potatoes with 3 or 4 eyes." He said that he cuts each potato so each cutting has 2 or 3 eyes then he put about 10 cuttings in each hole about 2" deep and 2" apart. He said his holes are 2 ft apart with about 22 eyes per hole.

That is now not how we did it when I lived in Illinois.

[jal_ut]

"Here's a follow up question. Does anyone remove the branches below the fruits on the vine? In other words do those branches suck nutrients from the fruits? "

Do not prune the plant. The plant needs its leaves to collect sunlight to make food to produce fruit. Just plant the tomato plants, water and weed as needed, then as you get some red tomatoes, enjoy! I like to put down some newspaper around the plants then cover the paper with grass clippings. Other than that no pruning, no staking, just let them grow and sprawl out.

[jal_ut]

I like the Red Pontiac potatoes. About cutting potatoes for planting, it seems that the tubers have 6 to 12 eyes and they are concentrated on one end. I like to try to cut them to one or two eyes per piece, but sometimes a piece will have 3 or 4 eyes close together. Any way once the taters are cut plant them about 2 inches deep, spaced one foot apart, in rows spaced 30 inches. Weed and water as needed and when the plants are about ten inches tall, hill up the plant. You only hill it one time. Just scrape up some soil from around it and drag it in to the plant to hill it up a bit. This is to keep the developing tubers from seeing the sun. If they see sunlight they turn green and develop a strong flavor. Have fun!

[Taiji]

Jal, I am going to dig up the bulk of my potatoes near the end of my stay here in mid October and then take them back to AZ. When you dig up your potatoes and you want them to last the longest period of time in storage do you wash off all the dirt, or is it best to leave a layer of dirt on there? Thx!

[jal_ut]

" YES my understanding is that it is best to remove all suckers/branches from below the first fruit truss BECAUSE they will divert /steal nutrients from the fruits and delay maturing/ripening."

I won't buy this. Any leaf, branch, sucker, or whatever name you may give it has leaves which catch sunshine and can provide for the plant what is necessary to make fruit. Like I said earlier, Just plant the tomatoes and stand back and let them do their thing. I may put some newspaper around them and cover it with grass clippings, but I never prune nor trellis tomatoes.

[jal_ut]

Never wash the potatoes. A potato pit or cellar is the best way to keep them.

[Taiji]

Thx. I kind of suspected that it might be best to leave unwashed to get the longest storage time.

[jal_ut]

Gary350: " An even better test assuming you have 10 plants, remove suckers from 5 plants, leave suckers on the other 5 plants, see which plants do best."

I like this. We learn to do by doing.