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Gary350
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Potatoes

I learned a few things from the first video potato plant grow potatoes all the up the stem where soil touches he stem. The more soil that covers your potatoes the more potatoes you get..



These people have a very good potato crop with about 10 varieties. They plants wide rows in very soft fertile soil. Straw shades the soil and keeps it cool so it holds moisture this seems to be the key for many people to have a large potato crop.



These people grew 337 lbs of potatoes from 34 lbs of seed potatoes in 7 small rows. No mention of fertilizer. No till method potatoes were laid on the soil surface then covered with 12" of straw.



This guy plants potatoes covered with straw, another good crop.



Many people plant potatoes like this 25 potato eyes in each hole then cover potatoes with 8" of soil. Most people that plant like this plant groups of potatoes about 2 ft apart covered with straw. Here again we see Red Pontiac is a very large producer.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxxCY59Kts&t=1244s[/youtube]

This guy grew about 15 lbs of potatoes from potato 1 eye. None of the videos say much about fertilizer. Good crop of potatoes.



Pontiac Reds out produce white potatoes 4 to 1. I have seen this before in other videos and also in my garden.



Irish plant potatoes in winter deep enough so they will not freeze then they come up in spring and make a better crop of potatoes than spring planting. I have done those before myself but never knew Irish plant potatoes like this.



I have been thinking about doing this and here is a video someone is growing cuttings in cups in the house to get an early start. I was hoping to get plants started inside my house then transplant them to the garden in May after rainy season is gone. I have to plant potato above water level to keep them from rotting then when 98 degree weather comes plants are too high up with rain only once a month soil is too dry. I could start potatoes in plastic cups, 10 rows, 10 per row, 100 plants.



I have learned to buy seed potatoes soon as they are available at the store, put them in several cardboard boxes in a dark place inside the house at 74 degrees. Eyes start growing in 3 weeks and sprouts are 1" to 2" long in a month. This guy leaned this too but he keeps potatoes in pots of soil it appears he not only gets sprouts but roots too. Good idea.



University of Maryland. Potatoes do best in 6.0 to 6.5ph soil but if they have scab problems you need 5.5ph soil. They say potato plants need 10-10-10 fertilizer but another university study says 15-15-15 fertilizer is best 25 lbs in a 35 ft row poured on the soil surface is a straight line and not tilled into the soil. Cover fertilizer with 1" of soil then place potato cuttings on top of the soil directly over the fertilizer with 7 potatoes in each group and each 7 eye group 9" apart it rows covered with 12" of straw.

[youtube]https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/potatoes[/youtube]

I found several videos people planting 20 to 25 eyes in a group side by side then cover with 8" of soil. Harvest is 25 to 45 potatoes per hill.

I like videos that show how to plant potatoes and what they harvest too. I want to see proof of what they grew.

This guy is canning potatoes in mason jars. I did this last year and learned not to cut potatoes small, larger pieces work best. You need 2 gallons of boiling water to fill quart jars, another 2 gallons of boiling water to finish filling the 7 quart canner, 3 gallons of boiling water to boil potatoes 2 minutes, 2 gallons of boiling water inside the canner. I learned the quicker you can 7 jars the better this works, you don't over cook potatoes soft & mushy. Boil cut potatoes 2 minutes drain water then fill jars with hot cut potatoes 1" from top. Fill quart jars with boiling water 1" from top add 1 tsp salt, screw on seals & rings. Place jars in hot canner already 1/2 full of boiling water. Pour in enough boiling water to cover jars 1/2". Attach canner lid, canner will come to a boil very quick because everything is already hot. Boil quarts 40 minutes. Remove from heat cool naturally until canner lid can be removed. Remove jars cool naturally on a towel.


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The only thing I find with growing potatoes is they try to take over your whole garden if you aren't careful! They are my easiest plant to grow ever! It's getting them to stop taking over the rest of my garden that has been a problem!

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Gary350
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ElizabethA wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 9:12 pm
The only thing I find with growing potatoes is they try to take over your whole garden if you aren't careful! They are my easiest plant to grow ever! It's getting them to stop taking over the rest of my garden that has been a problem!
Potatoes are a tricky crop to grow. When I lived in Illinois I helped my grandfather plant potatoes we had a good crop without trying but I can not do that in TN. Weather in IL is much different than TN we had a 15 minutes rain every evening in IL all summer but TN rain stops June to Nov. It seldom got hotter than 90°F in IL & TN is 100° all summer with no rain. Grandfather was very stingy with fertilizer he gave potatoes only a hand full in a 50 ft row and we often got 7 wheel barrel loads of potatoes. I wish I could do that in TN.

Too much nitrogen makes plants long as vines they take over the whole garden. 5-30-30 fertilizer is good for potatoes & tomatoes. Plants can only use a certain amount of P & K if you over feed your plants too much P & K they can get too much nitrogen when using 5-30-30.

This years I will buy 0-20-20 fertilizer in 50 lbs bag $20 at Farm Supply store.

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On a different note I learned today that there is voilet-blue French potato that is noted to be a good antioxidant.

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TomatoNut95
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I've seen the blue potato, and think it's very interesting! I wonder what blue French fries or mashed potatoes would be like! 😂

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Seriously! I'd love to try some! 😊

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Try checking Baker Creek. They're have some. If not, Burgess might. Give it a shot, and tell us how they do. 😉

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After watching several YouTube videos of commercial potato growers I leaned potatoes in 10 lb bags are larger than potatoes in 5 lb bags because it is easier for machines to sort potatoes to a more accurate weight per bag to plus or minus 1 ounce each bag.

We have always bought potatoes in 5 lb bags so I started buying 10 lb bags to get larger potatoes they are much easier to peal than little potatoes. Potatoes in our 10 lb bag are loaded with potato eye sprouts and there are about 6 lbs of potatoes left in this bag. For the past several days I cut off all the eyes each time we eat potatoes. Today 1 potato had 11 sprouts & another potato had 10 sprouts. I am lucky to get 4 eyes with sprouts per seed potato.

I did not want to plant Russet potatoes this year but I can not pass up 34 more free potato eyes with sprouts today.
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This year I planted Russet, Norland, Yukon Gold and Sieglinde - not many, just for comparison. I've harvested & sampled a couple of Yukon and Sieglinde but now I know I wouldn't trade them for our usual (Grocery store) russet types. The Norland & Russet I planted aren't ready to sample yet.

Oh, and there are also some fingerlings in a tub, almost ready to dig up. I already know I really like those.

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:59 pm
This year I planted Russet, Norland, Yukon Gold and Sieglinde - not many, just for comparison. I've harvested & sampled a couple of Yukon and Sieglinde but now I know I wouldn't trade them for our usual (Grocery store) russet types. The Norland & Russet I planted aren't ready to sample yet.

Oh, and there are also some fingerlings in a tub, almost ready to dig up. I already know I really like those.
We like grocery store Russet potatoes too but I can not grow them in spring our weather gets too hot too soon for a 4 month crop. Our spring russets are very small with thick skin.

I can grow Russet the IRISH way, plant them in fall Nov is hills, cover them with enough soil so they can not freeze. There are NO above ground plants but there is a very good crop of big potatoes May 15.

We don't like grocery store Yukon potatoes so I have never tried to grow them.

RED potatoes grow very well in TN hot dry weather but we don't like red potatoes. Wife says, Red is good in potato salad but not good, bakes, fried or mashed. Red has 1/2 the carbs as white skin potatoes & red will out grow white 4 to 1.

I would like to grow potatoes the above ground covered with the straw method but TN straw is $30 per bale. 240 miles north in southern Illinois where I use to live straw is $4 per bale. Lowe's sells 1/2 bales $15.

I never seen Kennebec potatoes sold in the grocery store they are a hybrid all the factories that make frozen potato products buy up all the potatoes. Kennebec claims to be a 3½ month crop, hot weather potato they grow good in TN but seed potatoes are expensive & hard to find. I will save my own seed potatoes again this year & plant a fall & spring crop. My spring crop is had to plant with rain every day and garden under water & temperatures near freezing March 1.
Last edited by Gary350 on Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Gary when you say a '3-1/2 crop' what does that mean? Are Kennebec specially good, and for what?

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:13 am
Gary when you say a '3-1/2 crop' what does that mean? Are Kennebec specially good, and for what?
Months. I'm glad you caught my typo so I can fix it before times expires so it can't be fixed. Some times I type things then read it over and over several times to fix mistakes, then next day read it again & read it the day after that and still find mistakes. Kennebec is good for everything especially fast food restaurant French fries. Wife uses Kennebec in everything, potato salad, baked, boiled, soup, stew, hash browns, fried. We bought an air fryer, fried is not fried in oil but tastes like it really was. Air fryer will fry anything you can fry in oil. Onion rings do not turn out well in the air flyer batter falls off before it cooks. Our cholesterol has dropped 80 points using the air fryer. Factory made oil is the worse thing a person can eat, lard or butter is much better for cholesterol.
Last edited by Gary350 on Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Gary, I'm the same: I edit, re-edit twice more, and still have errors.

SO ..... 'Factor oil' - is that another one? :).

I don't think Kennebec seed is too hard to find here. Maybe I'll look for it next spring if there's none still around right now. Your fall planting is something I did once in the past and keep 'meaning to' again. I even know someone who says he just puts one spud back in the hole at harvest time and leaves it to do its thing.

I'm the founder & sole member of UAUAUAA - 'United Against the Use of Absurd, Unnecessary Abbreviations & Acronyms.' (LOL)

PS: I'm a butter fan myself, right after bacon fat.

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:57 am
Gary, I'm the same: I edit, re-edit twice more, and still have errors.

SO ..... 'Factor oil' - is that another one? :).

I don't think Kennebec seed is too hard to find here. Maybe I'll look for it next spring if there's none still around right now. Your fall planting is something I did once in the past and keep 'meaning to' again. I even know someone who says he just puts one spud back in the hole at harvest time and leaves it to do its thing.

I'm the founder & sole member of UAUAUAA - 'United Against the Use of Absurd, Unnecessary Abbreviations & Acronyms.' (LOL)

PS: I'm a butter fan myself, right after bacon fat.
Factory made oil.

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This man has an amazing crop of new potatoes in 7 large pots. Not much information to go on but the first thing I see is the man cutting off the dead plants, I count 16 dead stems. 16 stems must have been 16 cutting with 1 eye each. I see he grew red potatoes they typically out grow white potatoes 4 to 1 but he got 12 lbs of potatoes = ¾ lb of new potatoes per plant. I see soft soil & man is dressed warm it must be a slightly cold day. No information about fertilizer but a different video shows low N and lots of P & K. This is a very good example that proves crowding many plants into a small area works. I have seen other videos where people plant 15 to 18 cuttings 1 eye each in the garden in a 24" circle to get a very large harvest sometimes 25 lbs of new potatoes.

There is more information we don't see in the video, what date were potato eyes planted and what are his weather conditions? If I plant cuttings March 1st TN weather is too cold nothing grows until end of April then harvest is August in 98° hot weather. This man must have mild winter weather or mild summer weather to grow potatoes all winter or all summer then harvest in cool weather. Either way his weather is much cooler than my TN summer weather. My plants are in competition for moisture in 98° weather I can't crowded plants very close together but maybe you can.

Watch the video.

Last edited by Gary350 on Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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This is the first year in I-don't-know-how-long since I have waited for natural die-back to harvest the potatoes. DW and I like new potatoes so there has been a few coming out for months. About a third of those remaining came home earlier this week and I will try to harvest the others, today.

Not wanting to pay shipping, I am dependent on what the farm stores and garden centers bring in for seed. This was somewhat of a problem with early varieties although Yukon Gold is always available. The Russet Burbanks are huge this year but somewhat limited. Purple Majesty has done well and I have finally learned to like the taste of a purple flesh potato (without closing my eyes to eat it)! Red Norland is by far the most productive in the 3 seasons that I have grown potatoes in the big veggie garden.

The previous spud patch garden was miles away in different soil. Purple Viking was the champion there - year after year. White flesh variety that I really liked. In the big veggie garden, it not only had production problems but tended to split!

Should have quite an afternoon of digging and carrying buckets to the pickup. I waited out yesterday's wind and will wait out this morning's 40°, after the 1/3" of rain. Hope to have more rain but it's definitely "seasonally cool" and time to bring home the spuds.

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digitS' wrote:
Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:39 am

Not wanting to pay shipping, I am dependent on what the farm stores and garden centers bring in for seed.
Steve
Organic grocery store potatoes grow very well for me. Buy some 1 or 2 months before planting so eyes have time to sprout 1" long inside the house before planting them outside.

40 years ago I had very good luck growing potatoes in a stack of 3 car tires. I never understood why 3 tires in a stack full of potting soil will grow 2 times more new potatoes than planting the same crop in the garden??? For several years I planted in tires and in the garden too and tires were always the winner. Tires were black dirty heavy they made me look like a coal miner so I trashed the tires.

The next best way for me to grow potatoes is plant them before soil freezes in fall then dig them up in spring. There are never any above ground plants. 25 cuttings each with 1 eye would grow about 25 to 28 lbs of potatoes.

This next video is interesting, this man shows that pots will grow more potatoes than the garden soil just like my stack of tires did. He suggested black pots get warm in the sun maybe they is why potatoes grow better. He grows Red potatoes they are not much of a challenge to grow. Red potatoes grow to easy they are no fun. I have not given up on white potatoes yet.


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How to dry can potatoes. I like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2IjVgtt0Uc

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These people grew almost 300 lbs of potatoes with a few bags of grocery store organic potatoes.

I have had very good luck growing grocery store organic potatoes too, plus they cost much less than seed potatoes. Buy organic potatoes 2 months before planting so eyes have time to sprouts inside the house in a dark place at 74 degrees ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbcITu_Q1-Q

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This lady in Canada has an amazing potato crop. She said, large seed potatoes grow more new potatoes than small seed potatoes, I have never heard that before. Potato crop grown in soil is 2 times larger than potato crop covered with straw. Check out the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l02SjyHG-Ns

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That's an interesting video Gary. By the end of it I still couldn't 'get' a phrase she used over and over: something about roots?. Had to look at the comments section to find out she was saying "Ruth Stout method". Duh!

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Sat Nov 27, 2021 8:07 pm
That's an interesting video Gary. By the end of it I still couldn't 'get' a phrase she used over and over: something about roots?. Had to look at the comments section to find out she was saying "Ruth Stout method". Duh!
I played that 10 seconds of video over & over several times, I have heard that phrase before but was never sure what people are saying. "Ruth Stout method". is when you lay seed potatoes on the soil surface then cover them with old compost straw. Lots of people claim the "Ruth Stout method" works, it has not worked for me so far our summers are too hot & dry, if I could plant early enough to harvest potatoes May 20 it might work in TN.. The last 2 months of the 4 month crop is when new potatoes grow BIG if weather is cool, soil stays moist, soil is soft so new potatoes are not restricted from growing larger in hard soil.

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I find a lot of conflicting information online about how many days potato crops are everyone has their own opinion. 3 months, 3½ months, 4 month. I learned if I plant potatoes April 1st harvest is 4 months later. If I plant potatoes March 1st harvest is 5 months later. March is too cold potatoes set in cold soil for a month waiting for warmer weather to grow. Our summer 98°F weather is too hot & too dry for a good summer potato crop.

I'm finding new information online that was not there a year ago. Most people plant potatoes early spring but now there are several videos where people say to plant seed potatoes 1 month before first frost. Potatoes I planted 1 month before frost grew plants that got frost bit Nov 4th. We are having a lot of 60° & 70° day time weather & 30° every night Nov & Dec tops keep freezing off. Harvest has always been about May 15 to 20 when planted in Fall. Harvest about Aug 1st when planted April 1st.

I had very good luck this year keeping potatoes inside the house in low humidity air 74° they were not sprouting until Oct 1st. Small potatoes often only have 1 eye that is perfect seed potatoes for us. We eat all the larger potatoes then replant all the small potatoes.

Here is a video how to dry can potatoes in mason jars. I need to try this to see how well it works for us. We have good potatoes until about Nov 1 then eyes start to sprout & potatoes get soft like rubber. If we don't can potatoes in jars to eat Dec to May then we will need to buy grocery store potatoes for 6 months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2IjVgtt0Uc
Last edited by Gary350 on Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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My potato crops in the 1970's were late-season varieties. One crop was under rain-spoiled alfalfa hay - the voles destroyed it. That was probably the end of the spud growing for awhile. I told myself for years that it didn't make sense for me to grow them because they were so cheap in the stores. Then, interesting new varieties became available. Still, I wasn't quite willing to leave much of my garden to them for a full season. I found that I could follow potatoes with a cool-season crop of greens if I grew early maturing varieties.

Of course, I had some storage problems with planting the first week of April and harvesting beginning in mid-July. It was certainly worth it and I'd harvest over about a 3-week period and sow seed for Asian greens in bed thru that time. Harvest about 100# total out of 100 sq ft. 200# if I planted 2 beds. It was quite warm in the basement but no where else to put them by August! By October, I would carry them back upstairs (ugh!) and put them in the garage for a few weeks. Danger of freezing in there - back downstairs to a cooler basement!

Last year, the local seed potato selection was such that I didn't have much choice but to buy some late-season types. Besides, that carrying them down/back/down stairs gets old! But, I wasn't used to having the plants do more that begin to turn yellow - usually, I'd cut the plants off at that point. However, before a late-arriving frost, some plants in 2021 appeared dead! I was waiting for after a frost to harvest and thought there might be something wrong! (To show you how naive I was about late-season potatoes until 2021, Ha!) Hadn't waited that late in 40 years!

The harvested potatoes is doing well in the basement and should last until March (fingers crossed)!

Steve

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I talked to someone at Summertown TN FARM last night about growing potatoes and learned something I had already noticed with my potato crops but never put 2 + 2 together to make use of it.

I already know not to wash new potatoes it washes away enzymes that keep eyes from sprouting. When I dig up new potatoes a few small potatoes get lost in the soil and are often growing new plants 3 weeks or 2 months. If we have a wet summer lost new potatoes are growing plants in 3 weeks.

People at The Farm plant potatoes year round and dig up new potatoes if frozen soil middle of winter. They grow enough new potatoes to feed 350 people. Our soil never freezes very hard and never freezes more than 1" deep for more that a week or so each time.

When potato plants turn yellow and start to die potatoes are ready to dig up. But wait until plants are completely dead & dry before digging up new potatoes the skin will be tougher and new potatoes are not so easily damaged. Eat large potatoes & save all the small potatoes for seed potatoes. Tiny marble size potatoes are eaten is soup & stem. Plant a crop of potatoes ever 2 to 4 weeks year round.

Instead of planting 120 seed potatoes all at the same time, plant 10 seed potatoes every month for 12 months so you can harvest new potato every month for 12 months.

LOL, how logical is that. I don't think this will work for everyone, Michigan soil freezes 8" deep hard as cement for 6 months. This will work in Phoenix AZ but 114° summer might be too hot for potatoes but maybe not soil is moist & 68°F about 10" deep.

I suddenly have a new idea. Buy several 1 gallon plastic bowls at Dollar store, cover each seed potato with a plastic bowl then cover bowls with soil. Bowls will prevent new potatoes from being compacted tight heavy soil, new potatoes should grow big inside upside down of empty bowls.

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This video in interesting because this grower plants Alfalfa hay in the potato fields then after harvesting alfalfa they till the hay into the soil. The hay will compost into the soil and make soil softer to grow potatoes next spring.

This is an interesting idea I need to check farmers co-op to see if I can buy alfalfa seeds. I could buy straw but is cost $30 per bale in TN and straw cost $2 per bale in IL. I wonder how much it cost to grow my own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQ3VzVK-Bc

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Everything I read online says, company no longer soak potatoes in chemicals to prevent eyes from sprouting. They control eye sprouts with temperature & humidity.

Every bag of grocery store potatoes we buy starts growing eyes in 2 weeks.
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I have noticed that store-bought potatoes are more likely to sprout than in the past. I just put it down to a consequence of Covid, affecting supply sources or such.

Gary, you say sprouting can be suppressed by controlling temp & humidity - do you have any details? I'd like to be able to do this myself!

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:42 pm
I have noticed that store-bought potatoes are more likely to sprout than in the past. I just put it down to a consequence of Covid, affecting supply sources or such.

Gary, you say sprouting can be suppressed by controlling temp & humidity - do you have any details? I'd like to be able to do this myself!
One of the videos I watch gave the temperature and humidity, I think it was 40°F and 23% humidity.

I have been trying to find the name of the chemical that was used to prevent potato eye sprouts but can no longer find it.

I have found several videos of people that plant, organic grocery store potatoes & regular grocery store potatoes. They have good luck growing them and I do too.

Allowing potatoes to sprout could be a new market strategy, maybe companies expect people to eat all their potatoes sooner once eyes start to grow. The quicker you eat your potatoes the sooner you will buy more. Wife loves potatoes she cooks them almost every day. I like potatoes too but I am about to over dose on potatoes. LOL.

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I'm not very knowledgeable about growing and storing potatoes, despite the fact that I live between 2 major potato production areas. And, I emphasize "between" as in, many miles distant.

Commonly, Chlorpropham (CIPC) is used during storage or on processing lines to inhibit sprouting. In the field before harvest, Maleic Hydrazide is used as a foliar spray so that sprouting is inhibited later. This information is on government and university websites. You can also look up those chemicals names on Wikipedia for a quick overview.

Here is information from the University of Idaho on home storage: LINK "the ideal storage temperatures for a potato (42°F to 50°F)." "In commercial storage facilities, potatoes are stored at 90%–95% relative humidity (RH), but home environments are typically not this humid."

Steve

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:13 am
Gary when you say a '3-1/2 crop' what does that mean? Are Kennebec specially good, and for what?
Plant seed potatoes that already have eyes growing, plant when soil is warm 65°F, 3½ months later it should be harvest time. Most videos say, when plants turn brown and start to die it is harvest time. But most people also say, wait 1 more month before digging potatoes so skins get tougher so potatoes do not get easy damage.

When my plants start looking dead not all plants look dead at the same time. I sometimes dig up a few of the dying plants so we have potatoes to eat while other plants continue to grow.

Kennebec are hybrids 3½ crop, most other potatoes are a 4 month crop.

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Gary, I take you don't have a chipmunk or squirrel problem in your area? That's my big worry about doing a garden this year, but I have other work cut out for me on the new property. I have severely neglected blueberries, muscadine's, and something else to content with? Let alone trees that need tending and removal. I'm in far South Fayetteville. The 4 C's are the big Ag thing around here, Corn, Cotton, Cow's, and Chickens.

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WHAT is an all purpose potato?

I found an online recipe that says, Sliced an all-purpose potato.

https://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/ ... ean-pizza/

An 8 pm cooking show said, use all purpose potatoes.

2 am TV show said, use all-purpose potatoes.

3 YouTube videos say, use an all purpose potatoes.

A saw a bag of all-purpose potatoes at the grocery store last weeks, I had to look twice. Looks like potatoes to me???

Is this a new fad or new sales gamic?

Online definition of all-purpose potato.

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is ... e&ie=UTF-8

Vanisle_BC
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@gary here's something I didn't know about planting potatoes

"Potatoes have a dormant period of four to eight weeks after harvest before they will sprout, so if you plan to dig up an early crop and immediately replant some of the potatoes for a later crop, it won’t work. Get around this problem by refrigerating them for sixteen days, then pre-sprouting them in the light for two weeks. Apples, bananas or onions will help them sprout by emitting ethylene."

I'm quoting from this web page which has more good info about potatoes:
https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.co ... -potatoes/

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Gary350
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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:35 pm
@gary here's something I didn't know about planting potatoes

"Potatoes have a dormant period of four to eight weeks after harvest before they will sprout, so if you plan to dig up an early crop and immediately replant some of the potatoes for a later crop, it won’t work. Get around this problem by refrigerating them for sixteen days, then pre-sprouting them in the light for two weeks. Apples, bananas or onions will help them sprout by emitting ethylene."

I'm quoting from this web page which has more good info about potatoes:
https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.co ... -potatoes/
In the past potatoes plants do not all die on the same day, they die a few at a time for about 3 to 4 weeks, probably because seed potatoes do not all start growing on the same day. I can harvest new potatoes a few each time as we need them but potatoes can not stay in the soil more than 30 days or they sometimes start to grow roots. I bring new potatoes inside the house keep them cool & dry in, AC, dark, 72°F, until Oct 1st then plant them in the garden. Any remaining potatoes do best kept out side in the garage all winter. I did water bottle tests all winter, water bottles inside vehicles, inside garage, inside storage shed, inside work shop, inside camper, none of these locations were heated, none of the water froze, not even when it was 12°F to 15°F temperature more than a month. I used a few potatoes as ginny pigs setting next to water bottles none of the potatoes froze. I was very surprised nothing froze. All of my potatoes rows are doing good nothing froze. From what I am seeing I think it does potato plants good to have the tops freeze off several times. In the past large potato plants produce fewer & smaller new potatoes. In the past feed plants no nitrogen to keep plants small there is a larger harvest of new potatoes. We had frost again last night there seems to be no frost damage to plants. Plants seem to be somewhat frost & freeze resistant. Wait and see when plants decide they are finished growing.

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Gary350
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There is a potato called, Sarpo Mira that is becoming popular in UK it is a hybrid for hot dry weather. Information claims UK is zone 9.

Another potato called 'Jazzy'. Guaranteed 35 lbs of potatoes per plant.

I don't think I can ever hope to grow more than 1 lb of new potatoes in TN with Russet of Kennebec our weather changes from swamp to desert & 98° temperatures first week of June. Maybe plant shade & irrigation might help plants grow more & larger potatoes in TN.

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Gary350
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Wikipedia says, there are over 4000 varieties of potatoes world wide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_potato_cultivars
Last edited by Gary350 on Thu Oct 13, 2022 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Gary350
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Another good potato growing video. He grew a lot of potatoes in how soft soil. He grew potatoes in the same location 4 years in a row.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXO_j0vriwk

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Gary350
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I got some very good information from a potato expert today.

1. Potatoes are like onions, plant a variety that will grow good in your area or you won't get a good crop of potatoes. Determinate potatoes are best they grow a larger crop in shorter time. Grow potatoes in full sun.

2. Keep seed potatoes in your kitchen refrigerator. Remove potatoes from refrigerator about 6 weeks before planting so they grow chits before planting. Keep potatoes at 65°F in sunlight but not direct sunlight so sprouts grow short and stubby. 1 or 2 eyes for each 2" diameter seed potato.

3. Plant seed potatoes or cuttings with only 1 or 2 eyes for large size new potatoes. 4 seed potatoes per 8 gallon pot grows 2 times more potatoes than in garden soil. Cover up 2 seed potatoes then plant 2 more seed potatoes above those.

4. Place seed potatoes or cuttings on the soil surface 8" apart then cover them with 2" of something that blocks sunlight so new potatoes are not green. Sandy soil is good, mulch is good, composted straw is good but not new straw its too dry.

5. Plants that don't get enough water will not blossom. If plants do not blossom there will be a very few new potatoes maybe no new potatoes.

6. Cut blossoms off they use up energy that can be used to grow larger size potatoes and larger quantity of potatoes.

7. Plants need 1" of water twice a week. Plants need a lot of water but don't like to stay wet.

8. After plants blossom new potatoes need water every day irrigation is best.

9. The best fertilizer is 5-20-20 tubers need a lot of P&K once a week the last 2 months. Too must nitrogen there won't be any new potatoes. You should get 15 lbs of new potatoes per plant.

10. When plants start turning yellow and dying potatoes are finished growing. Stop irrigation. When plants are completely dead and dry pull up the plants then dig up the new potatoes. Skin will get tougher and potatoes will not bruise easy if new potatoes stay in the soil until plants are dead & dry. Dry potatoes in the sun 2 hours before storage.



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