Howdy,
That sounds wonderful,some people don't use any dirt for hilling, they use shredded paper,shredded plastic,hay or any such thing (just trying to keep the tubers from direct sunlight (solanine poisoning/greening) or over 80 degrees.... (the potatoes don't like to be in soil that is over 80 degrees),I use my own blend of "potting mix" (Pumice, Decomposed Granite,Grass and Leaf Compost,Steer Manure,Clay) to "hill" my potatoes. The roots grow from the seed potato down and the tubers grow from the seed potato up....

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Here is a link that might be useful: Harvesting Early Potatoes 2009

Thanks Jon. I've heard of people growing the potatoes in nothing but straw and I've wondered how the plants got nutrients. But I didn't realize the roots grew below the spud and the tubers above it, so that explains that. With potatoes, then, you want the soil nutrients to be deeper than usual. (I usually incorporate rock powders and compost, etc, only into the top 3" or so.)

BTW, I've seen your pictures of the the container potatoes before. I'm intrigued by this method but don't quite understand how it works. I think I've read that the plants produce more potatoes this way, is that true? The plants grow vertically, sending out new roots as long as the stem -- or root? -- keeps getting buried by soil? (I know tomato stems will send out more roots if you bury it deeply, so I assume it's the same kind of thing.) What I don't get is whether the plant is developing more roots or just a longer stem. If they're roots, they'd need nutrition, right? If not, they'd just need straw or anything to stop light from getting in? What's stopped me from trying this method is imagining the large amount of soil I'd have to come up with to fill the containers. Good soil is a precious commodity!

Do you think you get more yield in containers? Also, are the potatoes smaller than if they were grown underground?

Thanks for your help.

Did you see the video link ??? Click on it and you will see that I grow all kinds of potatoes and all kinds of different ways ...ie.. ground,raised bed,buckets etc etc, They all produce exactly the same ,given the same parameters...ie.. soil,water,heat etc etc,.. I will also post a different link down below showing my impatience ...I only harvest early potatoes...I can't wait ;-) The plant are always still in full bloom and Vigor (look at the video links ;-), and as you can clearly see on the video's ,if I wasn't so impatient I would have gotten substantially more tubers and larger if only I would wait at least two weeks after the plant died and keeled over ;-) Yeah right...like that is going to happen ! ! I only plant whole potatoes with as many sprouts on them as possible ,I average 15 potatoes per plant... most potato growers don't get that many... I think it is because I plant whole tubers with endless sprouts = lots of potatoes... What the heck do I know...I just know what works for me... Watch the video's

Here is a link that might be useful: The other potato video

This was my best harvest last year, 1 seed and lots of potatoes..... Some are Baking size and others are toss in the soup size...

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I know people that win blue ribbons with their tater's grown with straw covering them. There's no stones, etc. to "deform" a tater.

I plant mine in a space large enough to be able to use the dirt from the same area to cover them with. If I use a space 6x10...I make sure I have a space in that same bed left over just FOR covering them.

I've found...the more eyes, the more tater's...but not big tater's. I'm patient enough to wait till Fall to dig them. ;) I always use last years tater's to plant for the new season....2 eyes per piece is what I strive for. 50# of tater's per 20 plants is always my goal. In the rainy growing seasons, I don't get that. Too much moisture equals rotten tater's. :(

I use my tater's sparingly...yet always use them for every holiday dinner. I don't buy any throughout the year, .

I've got raised beds with excellent soil. 1/3 clay, 1/3 turkey manure, 1/3 sand.

I got mine planted on Good Friday.

Potatoes have two parts in the ground:
1) Roots that get the nutrients. They grow down and sideways
from where the seeds were layed.

2) the stems extending from the seed up. On these stems tubers will grow.

Therefore you have to put the seeds on top of good rich soil and cover with the same 2-3"
From there up, whatever it is, may not have any nutrient. But if it dose,
the nutrienst will go down with water , to the roots. That is why IMO to have
some nutrients in the HILLING medium as well. Using good rich composted leaves for hilling is fine if you mix it with soil, hay, straw.
I would NEVER use paper products. They will get just like paste and stay like thick hard paste for long time. So they are as fluffy as one might think.

First of all, Jon, your soil is a lot looser than mine. Is that what the soil in your area is like naturally, or did you build it up a lot? Also, I'm curious: about how deep is your potato patch in the second video you linked -- I mean the distance from the path to the fence. Do you have rows there, that are hilled? It looks like you might have 3 rows. It's interesting to see the different layouts people have.

Forpityssake, I'd love to grow mine in straw, it sounds wonderful. But I tried it and I was overtaken by slugs, it was disgusting! They burrow in it and you can't get them easily, they kind of camouflage themselves. Wow, you get about 25# per plant?? I barely get more than 10# per plant. Do you grow varieties that are particularly heavy yielders? How do you grow them? What kind of soil do you have? What fertilizers or soil amendments do you use? (I'm trying to figure out why your yields are more than twice what mine are.)

I don't usually go for the heavy yielders, I plant Carola, Green Mountain, Red Gold, and a different fourth variety each year.

Hi egganddart49,
Nobody gets 25 lbs per plant, I am way over average with 15 potatoes per plant. Pity said 50 lbs for 20 plants which is a good average. Which is 2.5 lbs per plant

If you plant Sq. Ft Gardening techniques you can have beds at 4 feet wide and however long and paths on either side to walk, don't step on your beds ...Ever, Unless you don't mind weeds...they come with compaction...it helps them ..not you...

I had VERY VERY Heavy Clay to start with, but it is only two feet deep,after that it is lighter clay,so I used my excavator and dug up every bed at least 4' deep and "tilled in" (with excavator) Decomposed granite,Pumice ,Steer Manure, Grass and Leaf Compost. and now every bed I have is absolutely the Garden of Eden Soil, Best of Both Worlds (Sand and Clay) Fully Amended and Kept micorrizally busy all year round..

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Oops -- I failed to move the decimal point in my brain -- I'm losing it! Now I don't feel so bad about my yields!

Lucky you had an excavator. I envy being able to mix it up so deeply. It's rewarding to see it go from heavy clay to beautiful soil. We've just used hand tools, and it's overwhelming sometimes. Worth it in the end though.

I planted potatoes last weekend and some of the shoots were long. I planted the potato 4-6" and left what shoot was left laying out on the ground. Should I had buried the shoots? Guess if I was supposed to I could go back and bury it tomorrow.

I'm guessing everybody is already aware that potatoes require WAY acid soil--like 4.5 to 5 pH. That means acidifying the soil with sulfur nearly everywhere in the country--or whatever else one might use to acidify the soil. In the West, where soils are alkaline, that's a LOT of sulfur, to bring it from about 8 down to 4.5. In the East, where soil MIGHT be a bit acid already--at about 6--it still requires acidifying the soil.

I got in a hurry. The ground was mostly clay but I dug down about 4 inches then piled the excavated soil between making a couple trenches about 8 inches deep. To the side of this I decided not to trench at all. I added a layer of compost over the planting are but only worked it into the first few inches. I planted at 12 inch spacing. Only 2 of my original sprouts leafed out.

Earlier this week,I decided to replant and found some of my first sprouts still alive but not growing. The potato portions were pretty rotted. I'm not sure if any of the new seed potatoes will grow. Some of these I put in whole and some I cut. We did have a rain night before last and I still have water in areas of my trenches so I know drainage is going to be a problem.

If this fails I'll just till it all under and plant something else later in the season.

Hi obrionusa,
You wrote " I planted the potato 4-6" and left what shoot was left laying out on the ground"... it is hard to figure out what you are saying here, but I think you are saying you put the potato seed 5" in the ground..... and only covered the seed with dirt and left the sprouts exposed ???? If so... yes cover the sprouts at least an inch,unless frost is forecast ,then add another inch of dirt,sprinkled over the potato (don't compact)

Hi marylandmojo,
I never heard of that,and I personally don't do that,but I am no potato expert,I just know what works for me,my soil is neutral.

marylandmojo

The sites I see on the internet call for a pH of 5.5-6.5 thereabouts to grow potatoes, a smidgeon different depending on the site.

Hi pjames,
Those seeds will all rot,that is totally fine....leave them if possible,when they are ready ,they will emerge !

Leave them...they are fine ...Smile, we are all soooo blessed !

Maryland mojo, I've heard potatoes need acid soil, but I've never added sulfur. I haven't tested my pH in years (lazy) but haven't had any problems with potatoes, only slugs when I mulched with straw.

maryland mojo; The potatoes may do best in acid soil but some cultivars do grow OK in my western Minnesota Alkaline soil I never add sulfates and don't bother with soil test. As Jon said we are soooo blessed!

Curt~

Soil PH:

Potatoes do not require acid(low ph) to grow good crops.
The reason for acidity of soil is to prevent scabs. If you are not going to
sell your potatoes scabs are not an issue, just peel them when cooking.
I learned this from a fellow Idahoan gardener last year.

Please tell me that my potatoes will be fine. Here what I've done on Good Friday (not knowing that this is a special "potatoes day" - it must be a sign). I made a brick wall, placed cardboard on the grass, water well and put about 10 inches of last year's leaves. In spotes I was planing to plant potatoes I put a "hoop" of cow manure (the staff from Home Depot; I don't think that it is a pure manure). The "hoop" was about 1 feet in diameter and about 8-10 inches high. I placed sprouted seed potatoes (sprouts up) and cover again with the HD manuree. I covered everything with a layer of a last year strow (raked from a lawn seeded last year). Finally, I covered this with a thin layer of fine pine bark. I really hope, I'll get some potatoes. BTW, I planted seed potatoes I bought from Lowes. But I also planted blue potatoes and fingerling potatoes that I bought in Trader Joe.

Now I'm worrying that the manure was to "strong".

adamark,

Well.... First...Gardening totally rocks,it is so much fun,if you make a mistake, you learn from it and you are then able to warn others ;-)

That being said...It might work,,,, who knows, it is probably not something anyone else might do...but if it works...You are the man ! ! !......

Btw...if I could offer a possible cure for the Steer manure... just keep it moist for a week,then it won't be hot,and it won't burn your sprouts....hopefully..let us know how it goes brother ;-)

Thanks Anney and others: I'm sure everyone has the best of intentions for potato growers--including myself--and if your potatoes grow at higher pH without scab, that's great.

Anney--google "what is the best pH to grow potatoes". The first 10 or so posts may vary some, but most will say between 5 and 6. That's high for me. If you research further you'll find that the organism that causes scab doesn't live below 5 to 5.2 pH. That's why I keep my potato soil between 4.5 and 5.5 pH. One has only to get scab once to find that the organism lives in the soil forever at pH between 5.2--5.5. And although cyrus notes that it's just a bit of an inconvenience--anyone growing potatoes for market or to sell as certified seed potatoes (from which to clone and grow future potatoes) cannot use potatoes infected with the scab disease. And make no mistake that scab is a potato disease. Don't take my word, but google "potato scab", and you'll learn what I've written above. You'll also find that the way to avoid it is to grow potatoes at a pH below 5.2. I try and grow them below 5.

This is a deja vu discussion for me, as I made a similar post 5 years ago, or so, and started a discussion that got rather heated (by some involved), and a few claimed scab is not a disease, but just a minor incovenience in potatoes, caused by using manure or too much nitrogen. In fact both those practices can cause scab: in manure, because the organism that causes the disease can pass through the digestive system of farm animals (from which manure is derived) unharmed. And excessive nitrogen (in the absence of acid growing conditions) has also been reported to facilitate and exacerbate scab. No matter. Don't pay any attention to the pH at which I must grow potatoes in my area if you can get by growing them at higher pH successfully where you live. I grow for market and cannot tolerate scab in potatoes. And further, scabby potatoes don't keep well either, for those who wish to keep them into winter. The scabby lesions always initiate rot in storage. I always save only the finest specimens to winter over--and from those remaining in perfect shape in March and April, I plant my next season's crop. Having done that, I give myself the best chance of continued success for the future. Plant the best to grow the best.

Also, the alkaline soils of the west are adjusted with the use of sulfur. (It's also allowed in organic growing.) I used to grow organically and commercially in the west. Just as we use lime in the east to adjust acid and slightly acid soil, so do they use sulfur in the west to adjust alkaline and slightly alkaline soil. In fact I've read numerous complaints by those who cite the amount of sulfur used in the west as being excessive.

thanks jonhhges for your encouragement, I'm taking pictures. Somehow I believe, in a few months I'll post my very successful harvest. BTW, I'm a "sister". Take care, Eva

There was mention of temperature being important, My question is I live in florida and want to grow in containers (home depot buckets) so should I wait till fall to plant mine or will the summer be ok, we get around 100 degrees air temp, dunno how that translates to soil. My dad used to grow them in shredded newspaper in milk crates and would always add more paper as the growth developed, he kept them moist and I guess he fertilized, he always had great looking potatoes at the end.

Here is a link that might be useful: robs urban farm

organicislandfarmer:

My opinion would be very late Winter (January/February) for an early Spring crop, or late Fall (September/October) for a late crop--if you don't get frost. I don't know in what part of Florida you live, but south Florida really has no cool Winters, and I've heard and read all my life that potato tubers form in the cool nights of Spring in the zone 7 climate where I live--thus the recommended early planting on St. Patrick's Day (March 17). Truth is, you can plant potatoes at any time--notwithstanding you must plan their maturity before frost in areas with cold Fall/Winter climates--but you're facing a definite heat factor in Florida in Summer. Maybe there are other potato-growing Floridians on gardenweb who'll comment. It will be interesting to see what size tubers you get with hot days/hot nights.

Adamark, I think the cow manure you get in bags is pretty mild. I'm not an expert, but the only thing I wonder is if your hoops contain enough balanced nutrition for the potatoes. I'm not sure manure or one-year old leaves have enough nutrients. Maybe someone else here will know.

egganddart49 :) I had to go back & read my post to see if I'd made an error. I see someone "set you straight". LOL!

I grow Red's only, but...it's been so long I can't remember what kind of Red.

My garden soil is posted in my previous post.

I've often wanted to try straw, but...was concerned about mice & slugs. THANKS! Saved me from ruining some tater's!

adamark:

Maybe HD "pasteurized" that manure--heated it to a temperature that would kill any scab organisms--since they live through the digestive cycle of farm animals. The organisms also overwinter in leaves, etc., which makes it a good idea not to use leaves, straw, hay, and any debris that's laid around the garden over Winter.

"The organisms also overwinter in leaves, etc., which makes it a good idea not to use leaves, straw, hay, and any debris that's laid around the garden over Winter."

I couldn't agree more. By the time I'm done in my gardens in the Fall...the gardens look like they're ready to plant. LOL! I spend MUCH more time in them after harvest than I do in the spring. Sure makes it a lot easier when plantin' time rolls around.

For the leaves I use as mulch...I gather them from the yard almost as soon as they fall, bag 'em up and store them in the shed. Come spring, they're still as dry as the day I raked 'em.

forpityssake:

A big 10-4 on that! Gardening cleanly means a lot, and keeps down insect and animal pests alike. Mice and voles and chipmunks love it when you leave old broken tillers and piles of wood and other debris lying around that they can nest under in winter. They love it because they can take up residence right at their food supply--your GARDEN.

Potatoes will not grow in florida summer. In central/north best planting time is late january through to early march. Fall plantings can work but are not as productive due to high soil temp at planting and low sun angle at flowering. late winter is much better. South florida does produce new potatoes, they are planted in december/january and harvested mostly in march.

IME, soils in the northeast have a high native acidity. If there are blueberries naturalized then the soil is quite acid. Also IME though potatoes will grow and be healthy at such acid levels, harvest is small because it is difficult to provide sufficient nutrients.

* Posted by pnbrown z6.5 MA (My Page) on
Sun, Apr 11, 10 at 8:48

Potatoes will not grow in florida summer. In central/north best planting time is late january through to early march. Fall plantings can work but are not as productive due to high soil temp at planting and low sun angle at flowering. late winter is much better. South florida does produce new potatoes, they are planted in december/january and harvested mostly in march.
I am thinking I can start them in my garage under grow lights and move them outside when the temps drop. I am gonna use buckets to grow them in. I am gonna try new potatoes because of their size but would like to graduate to sweet potatoes cause thats what I love to eat most.

Here is a link that might be useful: robs urban farm