Not Adaptable

[digitS']

Is there a plant variety that you could enjoy in one garden location but it failed to thrive when you tried to grow it in another location? Climate conditions are about the same. It may have been a reliable favorite but you are left wondering: Why did it have good seasons there but not here?

Purple Viking potatoes may be that variety for me.

I didn't really grow it that many years; first mentioned them in 2011. There was one year that I bought Red Viking by mistake and wasn't happy with their yield. It must mean that, I have now grown Purple Vikings 4 years in location A and 2 years in Location B.

In location A, they were wonderful. Location B, it looks like nearly 100% of them split. Whine ... I don't remember any splitting in the earlier spud patch and their production was great! Besides all that, I like them for cooking!

A big thing in most seed catalogs is "widely adaptable." Shoot. I couldn't carry this variety a dozen miles and have it perform well. I'm disappointed but would be doubly so if other potato varieties weren't filling the baskets with really, really nice spuds. But, what happened to my Purple Vikings!?

Stephen

 

[flowerbug]

Is there a plant variety that you could enjoy in one garden location but it failed to thrive when you tried to grow it in another location? Climate conditions are about the same. It may have been a reliable favorite but you are left wondering: Why did it have good seasons there but not here?

Purple Viking potatoes may be that variety for me.

I didn't really grow it that many years; first mentioned them in 2011. There was one year that I bought Red Viking by mistake and wasn't happy with their yield. It must mean that, I have now grown Purple Vikings 4 years in location A and 2 years in Location B.

In location A, they were wonderful. Location B, it looks like nearly 100% of them split. Whine ... I don't remember any splitting in the earlier spud patch and their production was great! Besides all that, I like them for cooking!

A big thing in most seed catalogs is "widely adaptable." Shoot. I couldn't carry this variety a dozen miles and have it perform well. I'm disappointed but would be doubly so if other potato varieties weren't filling the baskets with really, really nice spuds. But, what happened to my Purple Vikings!?

Stephen

i'm not a spud, but i'll keep eyes on this thread if anyone else replies because i'm a curious tater...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can't think of any variety of anything off the top of my head that mattered where I planted it, it was more of the year. I have had plenty of varieties that do well one year and horrible the next, even in the same spot. I attribute that to temperatures, rainfall, and occasionally pests. Some years are just better than others.

Where in the garden can make a big difference too. In my Arkansas garden, a 50' x 75', the stuff on the west side usually did better than any other spot. My rows ran east-west, not north south. The soil on the western side was just better, especially better tilth which I relate to drainage. The center section was the worst. It was heavier and did not drain as well. The east side wasn't too bad but not as good as the west. If a row ran all the way across with the same variety, you could see where the soil type changed by the lushness and productivity. That's even with similar mulching. By the tine I left I'd corrected that to a great extend with compost but there was still some difference.

Some other factors that can affect how certain plants do are shade and tree roots. Tree roots can suck a lot of moisture out of the ground plus compete for nutrients. Some tree roots extend a lot further than the canopy. My Amur maples for example. Each location gas its own micro-climate too. A high spot where cold drains away or a low spot more subject to front. A southern or northern facing slope. Windier. More or less rain, the terrain can deflect rain away from some areas or attract rainfall. So while the overall climate may be similar there can be a local differences.

Did you fertilize and water all those different varieties of potatoes similarly? Did you have other varieties of potatoes that grew with your Purple Vikings with the same timing and treatment that did not split? Just guessing, but I'd attribute splitting to a growth spurt after they had grown some. That could be caused by nutrition, I guess, but I'd think more about water.

 

[digitS']

Soil is what I suspect.

If a row ran all the way across with the same variety, you could see where the soil type changed by the lushness and productivity

Each year, I have had about 4 varieties growing in a spud patch. Usually, I give a variety a couple of years before giving up on it. Ya know, that is 24 months! I'm not sure that I had that patience at a younger age but I've learned.

Learned that something like a melon variety will do just fine 4 years in a row; then it will fail almost completely the 5th year. Learned that all the cucumbers can perform poorly in like 1 year out of a dozen. Weather through the growing season is the likely cause.

Soil difference: location B has very gravelly soil and the rocks are mostly about an inch in size; location A has very gravelly soil but it's pea gravel. Most everything else is about the same. Wind exposure is different, perhaps adding to moisture uptake issues.

Purple Vikings have a crispness, different than the others that I've grown lately. That might set them up for splitting - brittle. The tubers must split fairly early in their development. Even now, those splits have healed fairly well, however, the production is certainly off from what it was in the other garden. They kept well in the basement last winter despite the scars.

Meanwhile, the other varieties are doing just fine. I'm pleased with them. Except ...

Stephen
sniff

 

[thistlebloom]

Steve, I had the same splitting issues last year with my PV. Same garden, just about a 10' difference in location. I figured it was a watering issue, at least partially.

This year the kids potted up all the volunteers that sprouted. I dumped a pot out yesterday (the foliage had died down) and I got a double handful of small Yukons and a red variety I grew and don't remember the name. They were all feed store varieties.

I really miss my big potato patches. Maybe next year I can get back into the garden groove and have a garden I can take pictures of.

 

[AMKuska]

I can grow squash type plants in my backyard, but not my front. Does that count?

 

[digitS']

Maybe so, @AMKuska .

I'd hate to be cut off from all squash varieties so being stuck in the front yard would be a problem. What do you suppose is the difference, soil, sunlight, the evil stares of neighbors, their nasty dogs trampling the vines ..?

Yeah, pests can make a difference. Potato beetles were just not a problem in location A, they can be a big problem in location B. Still, spinosad knocked them down better than hoped so that those pests were only taking over for a few days in the spuds (and eggplants).

Steve

 

[Collector]

@digitS' , do you think it could be a problem with the seed potatoes themselves. I planted three rows of potatoes this year
Row#1 red Viking, a total of 4 plants came up in 24’ of row.
Row#2 Burbank russets I think every one I planted grew into a plant.
Row#3 a mixture of the RV and BRs that we’re left over from rows 1&2 this row is patchy at best, I’m guessing the Burbank’s are the only ones that came up in the row.

My theory is the Viking seed potatoes were bad. Both types came from North 40 outfitters ,from the same supplier.
I’m curios how the Vikings that actually came up produced, not time for harvest yet.

 

[Nyboy]

I had planted red bee balm never really did anything then died out. A friend took a small section before plant died. Grew and spread great in her garden right next door

 

[digitS']

I have lemon bergamot this year, @Nyboy . It's a bee balm relative. Hoping it's good as a tea .

Seed, @Collector ? I suppose only if it's introducing a disease, with splitting as a symptom. Scab occurs but it was more of a problem in location A, if my limited experience in B is any indication.

Steve