Potatoes. An Interesting Experiment.

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by Durgan, Apr 11, 2007.

  1. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    30 June 2006 One plant produced this number of potatoes almost all the same size. This was the first dig and normally there should be potoatoes of various sizes. The plant has just shed its flowers. Zone 5. (Superior White). The potatoes were put in the ground on 15 April 2007.

    11 April 2007. Why all the same size? The potatoes were sprouted in full light for two weeks prior to planting. The sprouts were green in colour and about 1.5 cm long. I attribute the uniform size to this practice. To confirm,the potatoes will be pre-sprouted this year 2007. Here is the method.
    http://Spotatoes.notlong.com

    Obviously this cannot be practiced on a commercial basis, but for my less than 100 plants the method is acceptable.

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    Durgan.
     
  2. Anne58

    Anne58 Active Member

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    I have not found a lot of variability in the size of the potatoes I get from any particular plant. Most are what I would call 'full sized' tubers and there are often a few little marble sized ones. Where I tend to find the variation is between the plants themselves where one plant will have 2 - 3 really large potatoes and another (planted in the same soil) will have a 1/2 dozen of smaller potatoes.
     
  3. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Do either of you plant potatos in car tyre towers or a drum? By this I mean you place compost in the bottom then place potatoes evenly spaced and cover with some more compost soil. As the shoots come through build up more soil and eventualy add a tyre if doing it that way more soil eachtime as the shoots come through till you have it to the height needed 2 maybe 3 tyres high. The reason I use this method is that I can no longer dig and hoe (hip) and I find this a great way to confine the spud (potato) and get a really good crop.

    Liz
     
  4. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    I have the space and good soil and ambition so it is not necessary to confine too much. The method you describe certainly has some merit for a small garden; in fact, it may be the only viable method. I would dislike having the tires around.

    Another method touted is using straw, but I found doing anything with straw is usually a pain. But if the soil is poor it may have advantages. I shudder at the having too much straw around except in exceptonal circumstances.

    This year I am going to try cloth covered with a bit of soil around the plants and compare to free style growing for about 12 plants.

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  5. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    What is the problem with straw??? It is a great mulch and breaks down in one year makes clays friable and often you get green manure as well :) I am actualy in EX potato farm land and it grows great spuds. Problem is me, not soil :) I have the ambition but the body refuses to co-operate so I am using devious other methods for weeding growing and manuring. Geese are great lawn mowers for example. The Tyres I usually have nasturtum (sp) around them. I suppose if one wanted to get really clever you could put a painted shroud around them or even paint the tyres a neutral colour or on the other hand bright red.

    Liz
     
  6. Anne58

    Anne58 Active Member

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    I have heard of the tire method but I don't have any old tires lying around! I did try the straw method and then had one heck of a time getting rid of all the weeds that had seeded themselves into the straw then into the garden (or perhaps it was hay I got) so that ended that idea pretty quick.

    Strange as it might seem, I plant my potatoes in the compost that I dig out of the compost box on a yearly basis. I have much more compost than I need for the garden and it keeps the potatoes in a nicely contained area, not popping up all over the garden as I rotate my crops.

    Anne
     
  7. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Anne that is roughly the same method it is just I contain mine in something. Straw should only give you oats or possibly wheat which can be dug in as green manure. I suspect you may have had hay :(. I thought I would be very clever and collect the Alpaca dung. They are very tidy animals and do it in a nice long row. Big mistake. Collected every paddock weed in creation one of them being sorrel. Once this gets going in good composty soil it really takes off around here.

    Liz
     
  8. Anne58

    Anne58 Active Member

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    Liz,
    Don't you just hate those animals that can't digest weed seeds! My manure of choice is chicken although it can take a while to mellow out and comes with lots of wood chips at least the seeds don't make it through intact.
     
  9. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    http://Tate4s.notlong.com

    An informative article on sprouting or chitting potatoes from the UK.

    >By chitting we may select the eyes and encourage good sturdy sprouts before planting to produce earlier, improved crops. Look closely at the potatoes and you
    should see more eyes at the crown - often there are three or four, sometimes five, in a cluster. On some tubers, particularly the roundish shaped types, they may be placed off centre. If these are allowed to grow they will produce mainly small tubers. Using a potato peeler or a small pointed knife remove all the eyes in the cluster by scooping approximately one eighth of an inch (3mm) deep, which should eliminate any regrowth. Without the crown cluster eyes the tuber's food reserves will be directed to shoulder and side eyes. Set treated tubers, crown up, on egg trays, thus allowing space for the sprouts to develop. They do not require high temperatures, but should be kept in full tight and free from extreme cold or frost. <



    Appareently Superior potatoes generally have the same size spuds. It is a characteristic of the particular plant, so I was informed by a person who grows potatoes for a living in Wisconsin, USA

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