Potatoe Advice please

[arto98607]

Potato plow works very well for getting potato's out of ground.

I have used it also for furrowing during planting.






Middle buster option:

 

[scaredychicken]

I used to always grow a few potatoes using the stacked tire method... 4-5 tires deep. It was great for smaller spaces, the yield was good, and it was a great way to re-purpose old tires, and the stacks could easily be relocated the following year

not very tractor friendly, in fact an almost useless method for that ... other than putting the harvest in the loader

internet image

 

[Rockbadchild]

Old post but the only one I can find relating to harvesting potatoes with the bucket teeth. Seems like it should work. Does anyone have any tips on what to do or not do?

Thanks, Craig

We always use a cultivator, start high and pick up what you can and repeat until they stop popping up.

 

[oosik]

The first two years we grew fantastic spuds. Third year the potato beetles found them. Forth year the pocket gophers ate every damn spud.

 

[Oaktree]

The first two years we grew fantastic spuds. Third year the potato beetles found them. Forth year the pocket gophers ate every damn spud.

Never heard of pocket gophers, but one way I've found to minimize problems with potato bugs is to wait until mid-June to plant them. By the time the plants are of a size the beetles like, it's past the time where the bugs are active. Doesn't seem to affect yield, harvest maybe a couple weeks later than it would have been otherwise. Your timing will likely vary by the length of the growing season where you live.
Never found any pesticide that worked on them that wasn't nasty in other ways or more trouble than it was worth.

I dig mine by hand, if I use any tools other than a trowel I seem to spear/damage as many potatoes as I harvest. Obviously, this won't work if you have a large patch.

 

[jyoutz]

Never heard of pocket gophers, but one way I've found to minimize problems with potato bugs is to wait until mid-June to plant them. By the time the plants are of a size the beetles like, it's past the time where the bugs are active. Doesn't seem to affect yield, harvest maybe a couple weeks later than it would have been otherwise. Your timing will likely vary by the length of the growing season where you live.
Never found any pesticide that worked on them that wasn't nasty in other ways or more trouble than it was worth.

I dig mine by hand, if I use any tools other than a trowel I seem to spear/damage as many potatoes as I harvest. Obviously, this won't work if you have a large patch.

Pocket gophers can be a menace in many parts of the country. The only solution is to poison or trap them.

 

[5030]

If I had a gopher in my 'pocket', don't believe I'd like to one bit. Been growing spuds for years. Very easy to grow always with good yields, You have to have the soil at the correct PH and fertilize it and I spray my spuds for potato leaf hoppers every year as well Always prep the rows and make a furrow and set the spuds in the furrow and cover and as they 'peep' keep adding dirt around the stems as the potatoes will come from stringers off the stems. Always plant certified seed potatoes sliced and calloused and I always hand dig them. Last season I fall harvested over 500 pounds from 2 rows. Let them dry in the barn in the dark and hang them in the root cellar in mesh bags for the winter to consume.

I never use any mechanical means to harvest them. If you prep the rows properly and mulch, the ground stays soft and manageable and that is what you want because potatoes grow best in loose, fertile soil. When the tops yellow and dry up, the tubers come out of the ground.