Potato's & What To Hill Them With?

[stano40]

I decided to try planting potato's this year and have watched a couple of video's on you tube but the advise was varied from deep trench planting to the tire method of planting.

I bought certified seed potato's of Yukon gold and red Pontiac potato's.

My question is when I plant what is better to have 2 sprouted eye's on a potato or just 1 sprouted eye?

I've also seen on a video how one person would just cut 2 sprouted eye's out of a potato and then plant that part. I thought once the potato was cut you had to let that part dry and scab over before planting?

I read to use mulch when you hill the plants, but I was wondering if I used the wasted hay from the goat pen's to hill each plant would work also.

bob/Southern Maine

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

usually it is best if there are at least 2 sprouting eyes on the section of potato you are planting.

there are a lot of different methods of planting potatoes i have found and it all depends on how much work you plan on putting into getting them to grow well! i've always done the trench and hill method just because i have lots of good soil to use and i can till it quite deep, even though i do have to weed it often. if you are using something to keep the plant in check and are filling in the soil as it gets taller that can require some lifting of heavy soil. if you are using containers you do need to make sure there are plenty of drainage holes or else they may drown in the water we have been getting. i chose to get Purple Viking for my potatoes this year since they aren't as fickle about water requirements as some common New England varieties, and they are supposed to store well!

someone here posted a great article i think from Mother Earth News about potatoes and the various methods of planting. you may want to check on there to see if they have it in their archives.

oh, btw, it is better to use straw than the hay as a mulch. the hay will have too many weed seeds in it.

 

[aussieheelr]

I'm growing mine in old tires this year. I put 3 eyes per tire and as they grow out the top of the dirt I'll add another tire and more dirt. I'll keep doing this through the summer until it's harvest time then tip the tire stack over and pick out my 'taters.
Granted I've never done this before but have heard from fellow gardeners about this working very well for them. So we'll see. Good luck with you 'taters as well.

 

[wifezilla]

This year is my first time growing taters. I bought organic yukon gold and purple potatoes form a health food store. Since the taters were small I just put the whole potato in. Mine are growing like mad. I planted mine in garbage cans with mesh bottoms. I am already adding more compost.

 

[AnnaK]

I'm So confused!! I want to try potatoes (atleast I think I do), but being the newbie I am, I was just going todug a hole and put them in....obviously not the way to go? Can you all give me some step by step instructions? As though you were teaching a kindergartner....
thank you!

 

[stano40]

I wasn't worrying about getting weeds from the hay I was just trying to use up what was available to me.

But I did find an article on growing potato's with straw which I might try to do instead of hilling with dirt or compost.

Here is the article. http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/VegFruit/potatoes.htm

The article says to trench about 4" then add 7" of straw. I can see the benefit of using straw vs hay. The potato plant won't have to compete for soil nutrients from the weeds.

Doe's anyone use fish blood/meal for their crops?

What safe pesticide's do you use to keep potato beetle's & mold away from the potato crop?

bob

 

[Smiles Jr.]

AnnaK, please try to not make potato growing more complicated than necessary. Relax and have fun with it. You will have folks telling many different ways to do it. All are fine methods and people mean well but it CAN be overwhelming if you try to listen to everyone.

My advise is to just get out there and do it. Don't feel pressured to succeed. Have fun. Dig a hole (or trench) and plop your seed-potato pieces in. (well-amended soil with LOTS of organic material helps.) When the plants grow up and out of the soil place more soil, mulch, compost, or straw ("hilling" material) around the main stalk up to the top of the plant. Soon the plant will grow up and out again. Repeat the mulching and growing process over and over again for about two months. Your plants and piles of mulch will be 18" to 24" tall by now. Sit back and relax till your plants have matured for two more months.

If your "hilling" material is light and fluffy you can just stick your hand into the hill and feel around for the new potatoes. Start this kind of harvesting at the bottom of the hill and slowly work your way up as the weeks go by.

If you want to wait until the growing season is finished and harvest all your new potatoes at once, then just carefully dig into your hills and collect your crop.

You may not be a professional your first year - you may not be a professional after ten years but who cares . . . just have fun and learn as you go.

 

[bills]

I'm growing mine in old tires this year.
Granted I've never done this before but have heard from fellow gardeners about this working very well for them.

This tire method, (or even a very large pot) works pretty darn good, but don't forget to water them well. The black tires can really absorb the summer heat, and dries out the soil. You can get hollow heart problems, if you don't keep them watered.

I don't recall if the question about letting the cut seed potato's scabbing, before planting was answered or not..?
Some years I let them dry in the sun for a day before planting, other times I just stuck them in the trench immediately. I couldn't really see any difference as far as production went. When possible, I stick in the whole seed spud, and don't bother to cut it. (I grow my own seed potato's so I have plenty to be able to do this..)

 

[stano40]

I'm growing mine in old tires this year.
Granted I've never done this before but have heard from fellow gardeners about this working very well for them.

This tire method, (or even a very large pot) works pretty darn good, but don't forget to water them well. The black tires can really absorb the summer heat, and dries out the soil. You can get hollow heart problems, if you don't keep them watered.

I don't recall if the question about letting the cut seed potato's scabbing, before planting was answered or not..?
Some years I let them dry in the sun for a day before planting, other times I just stuck them in the trench immediately. I couldn't really see any difference as far as production went. When possible, I stick in the whole seed spud, and don't bother to cut it. (I grow my own seed potato's so I have plenty to be able to do this..)

A lot of good advise from everyone who grows potato's. I just found some information about cutting and letting the potato scab over before planting on a local garden club radio show. On their site they also say about cutting to let the potato heal for 2 days or you can use limestone on the cut end so you can plant the spud right away.

bob

 

[lesa]

I have always cut and let dry, before planting. This year, on the Victory Garden (PBS), they recommended not cutting the seed potatoes, at all. They claimed it was just a way for bugs, worms, etc to enter the potato. So, this year I have planted the entire potato... I'll let you know how it works out!