Potato planting kick-off

[owiebrain]

Originally Posted by wmontanez

Owiebrian,

TPS seedlings I set outdoors at the same time as my tomatoes. I followed last year Tom's intructions scattering around the web/forums. Basically by digging a trench that is about 6" deep and burying almost all the plant but the ttop 4 or so leaves at the growing tip. The trench protects the little plant from the wind. I do bury my tomatoes also but not in trenches.

Thanks! That's what I've ended up doing. As of tonight, I have 80' of Yungay TPS planted out and 60-70' of various pulls planted out. Only a million more to go...

[wingnut]

Just got done planting 91 potato varieties with Tom Wagner at my home, along with a dozen azul Toro starts! I am so excited, can't wait to see all the diversity, as well as produceing some TPS to work from at well. THANKS AGAIN TOM FOR THE GREAT START!

[wmontanez]

Hi Doug! Well ...where are the pictures?
I think this potato season is going to be excellent with so many people getting the hands dirty planting different varieties. I started to look at recipes for what to do with so many different kinds. I probably host a potato tasting

[Jeannine Anne]

Originally Posted by salix

Jeannine - I am in the same situation with some of my potatoes (!!TYVM!!) so am planning to treat them like tomatoes - ie labelling each one with a sturdy sun-resistant marker. It will be a bit of a pain, especially while hilling etc., but one must do what one must do... They are definitely going to get individual attention, lol. They probably won't go into the ground for a couple of weeks, they are sleeping/sprouting soundly in their little pots in the meanwhile.

An old timer potato farmer hereabouts claims that it is better to delay planting until the soil warms up, even well into June if necessary, than to plant in cold soil earlier which will just delay growth. What say all of you, any thoughts?

Hi salix, I shall follow your lead the as we have similar varieties.They are just stsrting ti show a little green. I lost cut one, it seems to have rotted.


Montanez, we seem be a threesome with Salix si Will follow your ideas too.

Thank you both

Salix I have dwarfs germinated now.

XX Jeannine

[wingnut]

Sorry Wendy no pics. We were doing it while keeping an eye on my almost 3 year old. He watched us mess with potatoes for 6 hours without a complaint! I was very proud of him to say the least. I will have plenty of patch/harvest pics up soon enough.

[tuk50]

I've grown potatoes for many years, but this is the first year to grow Tom's seeds... I have about a dozen that sprouted so far and I need to know how to handle them..
Do I treat them like tomatoes? Repot them with true leaves into compost and peat mixture and at what point do I plant them into the garden? Thanks for any help ...

[TZ-OH6]

Get as much stem and leaves under the mix as possible, and because the seedlings are wimpy and fall over while still pretty small (so need to be transplanted while still pretty small) I plant them deep in drinking cups and back fill as they grow larger. They seem to beef up quickly after transplant. They go into the garden when about the same size as tomato plants and get planted fairly deep (or trenched).

[tuk50]

Thanks TZ, I have never tried it before and didn't know what to expect....

[owiebrain]

Done! 560 row feet of potatoes planted. 90% are TPS, plus a few tubers and several pulled shoots. Was going to take pics but got rained out. Already had to hill up a couple of rows.

[wingnut]

And I thought my 320' was alot! Now I am just planting rooted sprout pulls, all over in my landscapeing.I'm even planting them in some little clearings out in the woods.

[wmontanez]

That's a lot of potatoes! You are not backyard gardeners are you? Or do you guys have a CSA? If I were to transform my raise bed plantings plus TPS to rows probably will end up with 80ft row and having an average of 2lb/plant gives me 160lbs and it is beyond my imagination what to do with all that. I am dusting off cookbooks to learn potato recipes this fall
I am still wanting to see pictures of all that in bloom.

Right now after all the rain I got 15 about half of all the plants above the soil line from the seed potatoes. A line of TPS seedlings waiting transplanting...too many

[TZ-OH6]

Nearly all of my tuber sprouts are up and I did a bit of hilling (trench filling?) yesterday to keep ahead of the weeds. I have a long handled three prong claw thing that lets me work in tight. My few sizable TPS seedlings are outside hardening off and will probably go into big containers. The germination inhibitors in the seed is so uneven (first year) that rewetting the initial pot set off a new round of seed sprouting.

[owiebrain]

Originally Posted by wingnut

Now I am just planting rooted sprout pulls, all over in my landscapeing.I'm even planting them in some little clearings out in the woods.

I spent the afternoon removing sod from my front yard and planting cherry tomatoes in its place. Lawns are highly overrated.

Originally Posted by wmontanez

You are not backyard gardeners are you? Or do you guys have a CSA?

Just backyard gardeners, yes. We have six kids, though -- with bottomless pits for stomachs. I want to make sure that we get to eat some (a lot!) and save some for next year's garden.

[wingnut]

I try to produce all of my families food needs and potatoes are just a start! We have tomatoes,beets,onions,carrots,peas, salsify, squash, radishes,and yacon going. Beans will be planted here next week (pre-germinated and inoculated) as well as cabbage and a few other things. We freeze,dry, and can alot....I am also growing a little plot of grain, and will try to feed all our animals as well. We raise rabbits and chickens for meat/eggs/fur/feathers as well as venison and a couple beaver a year. Maybe get an elk down this year if I get the time. I plan to can alot of potatoes this year as well as regular cellar storage.

[cortona]

hi vignut can you explain me the way to cann potatoes? realy news to this way of preserve it!