Questions about growing potatoes..

[Kittikity]

Went grocery shopping yesterday and they had a rack of discounted fruits and some veggies.. Not sure why they were discounted (slightly damaged? close to expiring?).. But one of the things they had were some small red potatoes.. These are the kinds of potatoes I want to grow so I bought them.. But I have some questions..

We are still having some frosty mornings.. So how long should I wait to plant them? I have some chicken wire that I'm going to use as grow cages.. I get plenty of hay that the goats waste so I'll use that to build up around the plants as they grow..

Also, will the potatoes grow this small or do I have to harvest them by a certain time to get small ones?

That's all the questions I can think of right now.. I'm sure there are more but I've gone blank.. I'll go do something else and let my mind wonder and then I'm sure I'll come back with more questions..

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm73/Kittikity/goats/seedpotatoes.jpg

[Sinfonian]

Plant after the last spring frost (potato plants don't like frost). Harvest mature potatoes when the plants die back for no good reason.
As for size, it depends on the variety, but it's a safe bet you will get the same size or smaller.

My biggest concern would be if they're sprayed with a chemical to stop sprouting. I didn't see if they're organic or not. If not, there are other chemicals too. Most folks say only plant certified disease free seed potatoes. I've heard of folks planting storebought, but normally it's been organic.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[gardengirl72]

I personally think it will work. Using the hay and the chicken wire sounds good as well. I would be concerned if the hay was heavily soiled though. But, I think the wire cage and hay will be super effective, and will probably try it myself.

The good thing about the method your talking about though, is you will be able to stick your hand under the hay and feel the potato's, so you should be able to harvest them when they are the size you want.

The downside of "storebought" is they may not be as hardy as their "parents". But we'll find out!

[shebear]

First of all put them on a windowsill and let them sprout. You want to do it in a sunny site....not in the dark. When they sprout you can decide if they are big enough to cut into pieces. If so cut them so that an eye(sprout) is in each piece. Now find you spot to plant and lay them on the soil and cover with the hay. As they grow, pile on more hay but leave about a third uncovered. You don't need a cage but you use one if you want. Just keep piling on the hay until they start to bloom and then you let them alone (except for watering) until they turn brown. Wait a week or two after they dieback and remove the hay. There should be potatoes.

I've usually planted them in the ground and pulled the dirt around them or mulch them but I know people who do it like the above. I don't have access to hay.

You can pull back the hay and look at one of them to see how it's going. Just be careful. I don't think they actually start making potatoes until they bloom but I've never looked since I don't use hay.

[Kittikity]

Thanks for the responses.. I'd been planning on using the hay and wire method but getting store bought potatoes to start with was a spur of the moment thing when I saw them since I figured that would be a good number of potatoes to start with.. This is mostly just an experiment to see if it would work.. I already have the hay (not heavily soiled) and I already have the chicken wire.. Just saw the potatoes and thought I'd try it.. Good idea about sprouting them in the window sill first.. But I've bought these kind of potatoes in a bag before and they started to sprout when we didn't eat them all right away.. So I have no doubt that they will sprout..

[shebear]

Well I have no doubt they will sprout too but if you start them inside, it just means they grow that much faster and don't run as much risk of rotting. It takes almost 3 weeks for them to show green leaves after planted so I like to do anything to make it come faster. I hate waiting to see my first 'tater leaves show up.

[plantoneonme]

If I recall you live in FL. I tried the hay method before and found I had to water a LOT. You may want to try a couple in the hay method and a couple in the traditional way to see which works best in your area.

The red potatoes can get very large but you can pick them much smaller. You just dig around under the plants during the growing season and steal a few "new potatoes" out from under them. Kim

[Kittikity]

Then I think I'll toss these and wait until summer.. It rains almost every afternoon in the summer here.. Because there is no way I'm digging up this heavy soil we have to get potatoes.. We had a post hole digger when we put up the fence for the goats and we had to take a break between each post because it wore us out..

[plantoneonme]

Then I think I'll toss these and wait until summer.. It rains almost every afternoon in the summer here.. Because there is no way I'm digging up this heavy soil we have to get potatoes.. We had a post hole digger when we put up the fence for the goats and we had to take a break between each post because it wore us out..

Don't give up on planting them. Try the hay method as it might work well in your case...it just didn't in mine. What will it hurt to try other than the time? The hay you will use can still be composted later if the experiment fails. You can also plant the potatoes into 1 gallon and up pots. I saw a utube through one of Patti's other sites that show a woman's experiment over a year with her potatoes. The lady was able to harvest up to 3 pounds of potatoes just from pots. Do you have any pots laying around? As soon as I get one to start sprouting, I'm going to give this method a try...again what have I got to lose? Kim