Some potato questions (culture)

**nctomatoman** · May 23, 2010

So this is my first big effort with potatoes.

I dug two trenchs 12 inches wide, 6 inches deep, 30 feet long - I set out 8 varieties of potatoes, 12 inches apart. I covered the tubers with soil and spread some leaf and grass clipping mulch on top as well.

Well, I've got just gorgeous growth coming on everything I planted. Last week I returned the soil removed from the trench digging to "hill" around the shoots. So the potato rows are now at or slightly higher than the rows in between.

A few questions:

How much more should/can I keep hilling up around the plants?

I assume that the potatoes will form somewhere in that 12 inch trench width, up to the top of the mulch/soil level - so building up/hilling up more provides more space for tubers to form. So if I keep hilling, I will get a bigger yield?

What is a typical yield of spuds in pounds per piece of tuber/plant? My varieties are Nikola, Romanze, Mountain Rose, Red Gold, Adirondack Blue and French Fingerling (and a few others that I can't recall at the moment).

thanks for any input folks!

kath · May 23, 2010

Not an "expert", but have grown potatoes for many years. Like you, I dig down first and set the tubers in, covering with only a couple inches of soil. I tend to hill up several times and my finished mounds are 12-15" high; you can continue to hill as much as you like, depending on how far apart your rows are and how much soil you have to work with and more hilling should = more potatoes. After the final hilling, I immediately mulch with shredded leaves to prevent weeds and soil contact with the leaves, and also to keep the soil mound in place to prevent greening of the tubers. With some varieties, you'll find all the tubers in a nice little 'nest'; others will have tubers quite a distance from the original seed piece so could exceed your 12" trench width; just take care when digging up your harvest-start digging farther out than you think they could be! Since people grow lots of potatoes in a small area by growing in tires, or other systems in which they keep adding height to the container and filling with dirt as the vines grow, I assume that the vine produces more potatoes the longer the vine. Nothing bothers me more than losing a potato to greening and so I probably over-hill; my MIL uses a trowel to make a little hole 4" deep, drops in a whole potato, covers it up again, and hills only once making a mound ~ 6" high. By the time she harvests, there are green potatoes in every hill; the tubers tend to form on top of the original seed piece. Some people lay the seed on level ground and just keep adding deep mulch; tried it, but all kinds of critters nibbled and the yield was very poor. In a good year when disease doesn't strike too early and kill the plants, I've seen 8 huge potatoes and several smaller ones in a hill from some varieties. A lot depends on whether the plant gets enough moisture and remains healthy long enough to fulfill its potential. I've only tried Red Gold from your list; a delicious potato, which didn't do well for me, but the humidity and heat makes it hard to grow healthy potatoes here. You will have potatoes once flowering starts and can steal some new potatoes from each hill by reaching in carefully to remove them. If you want to increase storage life, let the vines die back completely or mow them down and wait 2 weeks for the skins to toughen up before you dig them.
Best of luck-it's always exciting for me to grow a new veggie or fruit!

**nctomatoman** · May 23, 2010

Great info, Kath - thanks! One thing I noticed - no white fleshed potatoes in my list - pink, yellow or purple. Then again, what else would you expect!

kath · May 23, 2010

I think they've got the best taste, too. All Red did well for me; All Blue not so much. Agway carried the Adirondaks this year, so I'm trying the red for the 1st time. Yukon Gold does fairly well here - best of all the yellows I've tried. Every year I'll try new ones if Agway carries them, but I don't mail order any more - it's too expensive, as they rarely do well for me. YG, Kennebec, Green Mountain, Red Norland are the tried and true varieties in my area and the ones sold locally, for good reason.
Hope your harvest is bountiful!

jwr6404 · June 4, 2010

We are as usual growing several rows of Blue Potatoes. We have also planted for the 1st time a couple varieties of all Red types as well. My Korean wife has obtained some potatoes called Tae-ji Gam-ja(my spelling) It is Korean for Pig Potatoes. It is a rather Tall plant and not viney. Was thinking of e-mailing Tom Wagner since he lives not far from me to see if he could further identify them and/or be interested in giving them a try.

**Tom Wagner** · June 4, 2010

Quote:

potatoes called Tae-ji Gam-ja(my spelling) It is Korean for Pig Potatoes

Don't know that one.....I am growing quite a series of Korean potato varieties...all of them in the Valley Series...Juice Valley, Gogu Valley, Purple Valley, Gui Valley..etc. http://www.potatovalley.com/english/eng_main.php

I received a call from a graduate student at Rutgers wanting Gogu and Juice for some research....and I know exactly what for too! I will have to step up my hybrid crosses with those for the reason I have not given yet.

Jwr, if you want to see these potatoes and/or your Korean wife, just ask and I will give you a tour of the lines.

Tom Wagner

May 23, 2010	#1
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Some potato questions (culture) So this is my first big effort with potatoes. I dug two trenchs 12 inches wide, 6 inches deep, 30 feet long - I set out 8 varieties of potatoes, 12 inches apart. I covered the tubers with soil and spread some leaf and grass clipping mulch on top as well. Well, I've got just gorgeous growth coming on everything I planted. Last week I returned the soil removed from the trench digging to "hill" around the shoots. So the potato rows are now at or slightly higher than the rows in between. A few questions: How much more should/can I keep hilling up around the plants? I assume that the potatoes will form somewhere in that 12 inch trench width, up to the top of the mulch/soil level - so building up/hilling up more provides more space for tubers to form. So if I keep hilling, I will get a bigger yield? What is a typical yield of spuds in pounds per piece of tuber/plant? My varieties are Nikola, Romanze, Mountain Rose, Red Gold, Adirondack Blue and French Fingerling (and a few others that I can't recall at the moment). thanks for any input folks! __________________ Craig

May 23, 2010	#3
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Great info, Kath - thanks! One thing I noticed - no white fleshed potatoes in my list - pink, yellow or purple. Then again, what else would you expect! __________________ Craig

June 4, 2010	#5
jwr6404 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: University Place, WA Posts: 481	We are as usual growing several rows of Blue Potatoes. We have also planted for the 1st time a couple varieties of all Red types as well. My Korean wife has obtained some potatoes called Tae-ji Gam-ja(my spelling) It is Korean for Pig Potatoes. It is a rather Tall plant and not viney. Was thinking of e-mailing Tom Wagner since he lives not far from me to see if he could further identify them and/or be interested in giving them a try. __________________ Jim

May 23, 2010	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Not an "expert", but have grown potatoes for many years. Like you, I dig down first and set the tubers in, covering with only a couple inches of soil. I tend to hill up several times and my finished mounds are 12-15" high; you can continue to hill as much as you like, depending on how far apart your rows are and how much soil you have to work with and more hilling should = more potatoes. After the final hilling, I immediately mulch with shredded leaves to prevent weeds and soil contact with the leaves, and also to keep the soil mound in place to prevent greening of the tubers. With some varieties, you'll find all the tubers in a nice little 'nest'; others will have tubers quite a distance from the original seed piece so could exceed your 12" trench width; just take care when digging up your harvest-start digging farther out than you think they could be! Since people grow lots of potatoes in a small area by growing in tires, or other systems in which they keep adding height to the container and filling with dirt as the vines grow, I assume that the vine produces more potatoes the longer the vine. Nothing bothers me more than losing a potato to greening and so I probably over-hill; my MIL uses a trowel to make a little hole 4" deep, drops in a whole potato, covers it up again, and hills only once making a mound ~ 6" high. By the time she harvests, there are green potatoes in every hill; the tubers tend to form on top of the original seed piece. Some people lay the seed on level ground and just keep adding deep mulch; tried it, but all kinds of critters nibbled and the yield was very poor. In a good year when disease doesn't strike too early and kill the plants, I've seen 8 huge potatoes and several smaller ones in a hill from some varieties. A lot depends on whether the plant gets enough moisture and remains healthy long enough to fulfill its potential. I've only tried Red Gold from your list; a delicious potato, which didn't do well for me, but the humidity and heat makes it hard to grow healthy potatoes here. You will have potatoes once flowering starts and can steal some new potatoes from each hill by reaching in carefully to remove them. If you want to increase storage life, let the vines die back completely or mow them down and wait 2 weeks for the skins to toughen up before you dig them. Best of luck-it's always exciting for me to grow a new veggie or fruit!