Potato farmer advice

[dj1701]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of planting some potatoes next year. I was wondering if a 5' x 10' raised bed would give me a fair number of potatoes. It's just me and the misses but would like to preserve some as well.

I tilled and hilled in the garden one year with little success.

Thanks
Dave

 

[oldnslo]

You should be able to get two rows and 5 or 6 plants per row in that area. Decent crop should yield 30 lbs maybe more.

 

[bigtiller]

When I was a kid, we planted potatoes under straw and harvesting them was never easier.

Prepare the ground
place potatoes on the surface about 10" apart with eyes up
cover with 4" to 6" of straw
water
if you're in a windy area, cover with a wire mesh to retain the straw.
after they sprout, cover again with 4" of straw
When harvesting, just remove the straw and pickup the potatoes.
No shovel or spade was used

 

[Jstpssng]

Yield should be around 10 lbs for every pound which you plant. I've wanted to try the straw method described above, as I never seem to get mine hilled as soon as I should.

 

[5030]

I've planted them in the ground and in straw bales above ground as well. Both work for me.

 

[ponytug]

We have used composted straw, and I think that both the yield and the ease of harvesting are big improvements on traditional methods.

 

[dj1701]

I might have to give that straw idea a go. Any recommendations on kinds of potatoes and fertilizer to use?

 

[ponytug]

I might have to give that straw idea a go. Any recommendations on kinds of potatoes and fertilizer to use?

I think potato choice is a personal one. There are so many options. Did you have some that you were considering?

In my experience potatoes don't need much fertilizer, but if your soil is poor, and you know that the soil is deficient in something, then of course supplement that. Otherwise, I would use something balanced (e.g. 12-12-12), or something like composted chicken/steer manure, depending on what is available locally. I'd steer away from the recycled sewage fertilizers. Search for what Maine is battling and attempting to ban, if you haven't been following that.

All the best,

Peter

 

[5030]

When I plant the in the ground, I produce my 'hills' with a Ardisam hiller-furrower attachment that attaches to the dept stake mount on my rear tine rototiller and it will fit just about every make of rear tine tiller. They are on the 'Eaethquake' website.

The attachment makes it super easy and substantially less manual labor.

Far as spuds go, I buy seed potatoes both locally and from mail order seed houses like Jung's I like to plant 'Heirloom' potatoes as well as the standard Idaho spuds. I DO NOT plant grocery store potatoes simply because most commercially available for consumption spuds have been treated to not sprout in storage, they they will if stored for a long time, however, store bought spuds if sprouted, won't produce many tubers.

Been planting and harvesting spuds for decades now. Everything from Kennebeck to Kathadin to Idaho to purple ones.

I cut the seed potatoes so each section has at least 2 eyes and then I coat the cut part with powdered lime and let them sit and dry. A wet cut section if planted immediately will rot in the ground or in the straw and I fertilize them with ordinary nitrogen granulated fertilizer I use on my entire garden.

 

[Oaktree]

I cut the seed potatoes so each section has at least 2 eyes and then I coat the cut part with powdered lime and let them sit and dry. A wet cut section if planted immediately will rot in the ground or in the straw

Never heard of that before. I always just cut 'em just before planting and have never had an issue with them rotting. Once in a while I'll buy seed potatoes, but more often just use some of last year's crop.

Been meaning to try the straw thing. Soil here is mostly silt, and has a tendency to compact just from rainfall or weather exposure. Might get better yield and/or larger potatoes with straw. Should help discourage weeds too.

I've mentioned this before, but I generally won't plant potatoes much before mid-June to discourage potato bugs. Seems to work...have very few problems with them.