Most of the potatoes were a medium sized potato and a few large ones I would have used for baking should I have been cooking them.
There was only six of this size that I left whole.
The remainder of the potatoes I cut into chunks leaving 3 or more eyes. Some web sites I visited said to cut them into at least 2 ounce pieces. I'm not weighing potato seeds. Some web sites said to cut them into at least the size of a large ice cube and some said to cut them the size of a large egg. I cut some of mine larger than this and a few smaller. I looked at the potato and simply cut chunks that left several eyes on each piece.
I have all different sizes.
Some web sites says to cut them a few days before planting to let them scar over. Some web sites did not do this at all. I don't know if there is a right or wrong way of doing this. I cut mine so I could get an idea of how many rows I need as I plan to plant mine about a foot apart in rows spaced about three feet apart. If it warms enough today I will start laying out my rows and plant. If not they will wait another day. I have a few days to work with root crops by the Almanac.
As you see everyone has an opinion on planting potatoes. You need to find what works for you in your area. Web sites said the more eyes, the more stems produced and more potatoes but they would be small. Some said the seed potatoes with fewer eyes yields fewer but larger potatoes.
Stay tuned!
I forget where you live but our ground is frozen solid and the earliest we plant is mid march. It would be wonderful to be able to plant something, I am ready for it.
ReplyDeleteI am storing some potatoes in our root cellar, in old coolers, it is kind of like a cold refrigerator in there at night so any place cool might work. The thing is to keep the mice out of them and don't store any damaged ones.
We are in NW Florida. Ideally we can plant potatoes from mid January through February, I have waited as long as late March to plant but the ants and grubs start snacking on them if waiting to late to plant so I am wanting to get them in earlier. We are experiencing colder than normal temps but our ground never freezes. I am chomping at the bit for spring! I have cabbage, collards, broccoli and onions growing. Had to replant those due to rabbits getting into my fenced area so they are not as far along as they should be.
DeleteHere in West Virginia, a lot of the old folks used to plant on St. Patrick's day, rain or shine. I'm guessing they were mostly the people of Irish descent.
ReplyDeleteGS...I think Pap (my granddaddy) planted his "Irish" potatoes then as well. He lived in Georgia. I read a blog last year where someone either in Kentucky or West Virginia planted their potatoes in the fall and grew them all winter long. I wanted to try that here but never did. He swears by it. He digs trenches I think 9 inches and then plants them with lots of hay on top. If I find the link again I'll post it. Makes for interesting reading.
DeleteMamma Bear,
ReplyDeleteI truly hope you have a extremely large harvest of potatoes in your garden this year.
Are you planning on planting them in the dirt, or going the straw route?
Me too Sandy. I found a way to dehydrate potatoes for hash browns, scalloped potatoes and Au gratins. If it works I will blog it!
DeleteI have had no problem raising potatoes in my soil using a little compost and keeping them hilled up. I have just never kept up with how much I actually grew. I didn't grow any last year . Some years have been better than others. I do use the hay the goats used to waste but I sure do have to deal with a lot of spouting seeds. I was hoping for enough wood chips but due to other projects I have fallen behind on my wood chipping.
I can't wait to see how you do w/spuds. I've not had much luck here in Central FL. We're going to try the tire method in the next couple of weeks. The last time I planted them, they basically rotted in the ground. I got greens to shoot up, but the potatoes were really small and rotted. A disappointment.
ReplyDeleteI wish you lots of luck Izzy. I have never tried the tire method but a lot of people do and have great harvests. I guess I could start collecting tires and try it sometimes! Since you are in central Florida do try to get them planted real soon.. I always have a problem with mine if the weather gets hot too quickly but with this crazy cold weather we're experiencing only God knows what our spring and summer will bring.
DeleteNever had much luck with potatoes up here until I made them their own raised beds. The clay is just too thick and the rainy period too damp otherwise and they rot in the ground. Last year we had some good luck with em though. Sadly we won't get ours in the ground until late April at the earliest.
ReplyDeletePreppy...My Pap (granddaddy) had the reddest clay you could imagine. When it was dry it cracked like concrete and when it was wet it was like pottery stuff. That man was the most amazing farmer and fed his 9 kids off of the land. Only natural fertilizer and relied on God's rain for watering. I hope the weather cooperates for you and you grow you some good taters this year!
DeleteThank you so much for the info..I have raised beds, and think this year I will try potatoes. We eat tons of them around here so it would be a big plus.
ReplyDeleteGlock Mom...get those taters in the ground. Raised beds should work wonders for you. Here I haven't had any problems putting them in my little 4 inch trenches and keeping them hilled up but I am constantly trying to improve my little sand hill! Every once in a while I can get a load of horse manure but mostly it is my old chicken and fresh goat poop. When I want quick results for an area I break down and by me a load of mushroom compost but I don't like doing that when so much stuff is already here if I take the time to use it. As soon as we enlarge the pig pen I plan on letting the pip poop compost and see how that does on the garden. Good luck!
DeleteMamma - back in the city (1,000miles away from the Manor), we planted all of our potatoes in tires. and they thrived. we moved here to a completely different climate, couldn't grow a beet to save my life...have only had one successful zucchini plant (though i planted 20!!! arghghghgh!) , but we have done our potatoes here in tires and they thrive! last year we planted about 3-4lbs of 3 different varieties and our harvest this year was about 160lbs for eating and saving about 30lbs for seed this year. i have read that in colder climates it's best to hill your potatoes with dirt/manure, but in warmer climates it's best to use grass clippings/hay to hill them. another thing that i have read is that if you live in a dry/hot climate then you need to water the potatoes very regularly. as we live in a very wet climate, we might water the potatoes once a season. lastly, i cut and cure my potatoes before planting. we save all of our small potatoes of the three varieties and then set them out in the sun for a full day to help the eyes grow a little before planting them. back in the city i used the cut (2 eyes minimum) and cure method. any other questions - just yell. you know how to find me - teehee! good luck with your potatoes. we will be planting ours, weather-dependent, either in late march or early april. oh, one last thing - we loooooooove potatoes!
ReplyDeletesending much love to you, Papa and our favourite Marine! your friend,
kymber
kymber...I grow potatoes every other year but have never kept up with what I produced. Some years are better than others. I've never grown in tires before. I would think the black tires would draw way to much heat and I would end up watering more than I want to. Guess I could paint them white and just see what a tater growing tire would do.
DeleteWe love potatoes too! I can't wait to try some of the dehydrating ideas I have researched. I may go buy a bag just to experiment. Potatoes are expensive now. They average around $5.00 for 5 to 8 pounds depending on where you purchase them so a $12.00 investment with the potential of over 200 pounds of food is a pretty good investment. Just a lot of labor of love involved!