Potatoes 2019
 

Time to order potato sets now or they'll be out!
New ones I'm trying this year:
Papa Cacho
Natascha
Pinto Gold
I saved plenty of Rose Finn,banana,magic molly,French fingerling...

How long will the sets keep before planting? I was thinking of trying a small amount this year but I've heard planting time here is not until the end of April.

I'm in zone 6a and plant around St. Patrick's Day (March 17). If you order sets from The Maine Potato Lady or Gran Teton Organics, they won't ship till they are about ready to plant. I save fingerling potatoes over the winter to replant, they maybe a little wrinkled and sprouted eyes are starting to get long, and have had no problems.

PLANT OUT TIME DOWN HERE.
I ,planted mine on Feb 21. No sprouting yet.
I usually plant store bought. To make sure that they will grow, i do cheeting ahead of time. But this year i went and bought organic potatoes that were already trying to sprout.
VARIETIES.
I have tried few varieties n the past. I have found out that red ones do best. So that is what i have, plus few white variety.

All i have is under 20 hills, not a whole lot.

March is running colder than normal here ( it's currently 12 degrees) it may be April before I get any planted, plus they haven't shipped my potatoes yet.

The potatoes were planted Feb 22 and not up yet. Last year we grew (don't laugh; ok, you can giggle) 11' of Red Pontiac and 11' of Yukon Gold and they made enough that we were able eat fresh and can up 14 pints before they got too old. There's no cellar here for decent storage long term. This year it will be just one 18' row, half Pontiacs and half Yukons. Got the seed potatoes from the local feed 'n' weed store, $1.47 total.

The fall planted potato experiment fell through as all that rain in January flooded where they were planted and they rotted. Will try again this fall in a raised bed and away from possible flooding.

I buy certified seed potatoes at a local store and I just bought mine yesterday. I picked up 5 lbs of Kennebec for nice baking potatoes and then I saw Lehigh yellow so I bought 5 lbs of them. I have tried Yukon Gold twice and had bad luck with them both times.

I will not plant mine until May because if it is too cold they will not grow.

Our local Rural King has 6 different seed potatoes all are 39 cents a pound, never seen them that cheap.

where you get them from brownrexx ?

I shop at a great local store called Rohrer's seed. They also have an online catalog if you are interested. Here is a picture of the potato section of the store and also one showing just one aisle of their seeds. It is like being inside of a seed catalog!

how big are the bags ? 10 or 25lbs ? you remeber how much they charge per 10-25lb bag? they are not to far away 40mile . local farm stores here only stock red pontiac / yukon gold / kennebecs

I only buy 5 lb bags and I think they were $4 but they also sell 10 lb bags. You can go online at Rohrerseeds.com and see everything they sell in the store.

Nice! A one stop seed shop!

It's fabulous and about 12 miles from my house. I get all my seed starting supplies and soilless starting mix there too.

the local feed and seed here only sells about a half dozen or so different varieties of
potatoes. the most popular ones are norlund, lasoda, kennebec, yukon gold, a russet, and maybe a potato chip or large white variety. price is about 50 cents/lb. later in season they are free just to get rid of them.
i should see if tractor supply sells any thing different.
i have a fingerling, and a variety called pinto from a local seed saver. pinto has light brown skin with deep pink patches on it. texture is flaky/floury. tastes good. seems to be productive. i will plant them again this year.
i will be planting true potato seed for the first time. seeds are from the same seed saver.
she got them from a guy named joseph lofthouse from utah. the potatoes she grew from seed were a mixture of reds, and purples. it will be interesting to see what i get.
i wouldn't mind trying some of tom wagners creations at some point.

late night musings



keith