Quote:Are these just baby potatoes that will grow on to larger size, or are these small potatoes a special variety?

A: It depends on the variety. I have started digging up my potatoes to have new potatoes, and many of them would get larger if left in the ground. Many fingerlings are small when full grown. Just like tomatoes; different varieties will reach a different size when fully mature, its hard to answer the question without knowing what size they were when you bought them, and what kind they were.

Quote:Can I just buy potatoes, cut them up leaving an "eye" on each piece and plant or do I need to buy "seed" potatoes?

A: Yes, but...seed potatoes are certified to be disease free, and in some areas of the country this is a serious concern. I have always bought certified potatoes, the little more you pay for them is worth the peace of mind that you are not introducing disease into your garden plot. Also most potatoes bought in the store are treated with an inhibiter to keep them from sprouting, it doesn't always work, but could cause them not to grow properly.

Quote: When is best to plant (zone 6, just north of Boston) and can you plant a second crop mid-season for fall?

A: Potatoes can go in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked.

Quote: Finally, which ones would you recommend as the best tasting?

A: There are many varieties of spuds. I am growing 13 varieties this year. Yukon Gold has always been my perennial favorite for an all purpose spud. I just dug some Yellow Finn yesterday, and boy were they good boiled and tossed with butter.

The All Blue you talk about is a larger (think baking size) potato and is more purple than blue. It keeps its color when cooked, but I have found that it takes longer to cook than other potatoes, so you can't mix it with other varieties in a roasting pan.

I have Superior, Red Norland, Pontiac, Russett Burbank, Yukon Gold, Kerr's Pink, All Blue, Yellow Finn, Rose Finn Apple, Caribe, German Butter, Kennebec & Purple Peruvian

Check out Moose Tubers (Fedco) or Seed Savers for a list of some of the potato varieties available.

josie23

i just googled the Rose Finn Apple and they just look like the ones i grew in england called pink fur apples are they the same one ??? if so there are very nice and i might try some next year

josie - Wow! That's a lot of potatoes lol!! They all sound wonderful tho. I didn't think there was all that much difference from one to another, but I guess like many veggies they all have their own qualities and taste. I've only had the usual varieties you find in the grocery store and it never occured to me to plant them as I thought a potato is a potato. The posts here, however, have made me think about it more and I decided I want to try some!

The ones I bought were a mix of some about the size of a walnut, some half that size, and round, thru more elongated ones smaller than an egg. I pretty much had to cut them in half or quarters to get bite sized pieces (I made potato salad with them). And as I said, some of each shape had red skin and some were yellow - they were all waxy. So maybe I just got baby red and Yukon Golds?

Unless there's a real difference in taste, it'd probably be best to plant regular ones that way I can harvest some when they're smaller and leave some to grow larger.

I'll look up some of the varieties you listed - thanks for the recommendations!

Do they need special soil conditions or fertilizers or anything like that? I know you plant them kind of in a furrow and then keep bringing in soil from the sides until they're mounded, but that's about all I know about them culture-wise.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Since you are planning this far ahead you may want to get a soil test and plant a cover crop this year.

Potatoes stay healthier ( resist scab ) at pH of about 5.5
then a higher pH. If you added sulfer this year it would have time to adjust the pH by next spring.

There are many types of cover crops that 'hold' your top soil in place over the winter and don't regrow next spring
( and supress other weeds from growing as well ) Take a look
a growing some oats this year for soil enhancment next year.

Good luck
FYI another nice thing to look at when growing your own ..The Purple Peruvian taters have nice looking lavender blooms some other varieties have slight pinkish blooms ( most have white )

If the spuds were the size of a walnut/egg then its pretty safe to say they were a "Baby" version of larger growing potatoes. All the potatoes I've grown (except Purple Peruvian) have gotten larger than that when mature.

It does't matter if you plant "regular" or "special" potatoes to get baby ones, you just dig up the plants earlier. Of course regular ones can be found at a local garden center/box store for less money than the special ones.

While all potatoes have the same basic potato flavor, the texture will differ in varieties. There are subtle differences in flavor between varieties. I can't describe it, but last night I had a mix of Pontiac & Yellow Finn's and the yellow fins were just a little bit better. I'm not sure if they were creamier or if just the color made them a little more appealing.

For a first timer I would recommend planting a couple tried & true varieties and maybe one "special" one to compare it to.

Kennebec, Pontiac, Yukon Gold, & Russet would all be good for your regular ones. For specialty I would recommend Rose Finn Apple.

Some varieties are better for storage than others, when you do your research, the websites should mention how long they store, you should take this into consideration if you are planning on keeping them for winter eating.

I definitely am interested in storing them. I have gone to a few sites and looked thru the different varieties they have and saw that some are noted for long storage compared to others. I'd probably dig some when they're small and leave the rest to mature and to store.

Wish I had thought of them this year. My huge asparagus patch not growing has really screwed me up. I have this large area with nothing in it now, and I feel like it's such a waste growing nothing but weeds! I'd definitely like to grow a cover crop just to keep the weeds down alone! I had some old string bean seeds so I threw those in but it's a crap shoot whether they're still any good. I figured it was better than nothing tho!

It's funny you mentioned the texture - that's what I noticed first about these little potatoes I bought - they were so "creamy" compared to others I've had!

Lisa

It's ironic, I just came on this thread and I'm sitting here waiting to turn my fried potatoes over. They're the first of the season and are well past 'baby size. I grew Kennebecs this year. They're a firm spuds, elongated and excellent fryers. They're also a good one to grow in my soil. Yes, soil is important and I didn't see anyone mention they type of soil they grow potatoes in. It makes a difference, because they are a root crop.

Most of our county has very rich, but very heavy clay soil. The serious commercial potato farmers here are mostly located along the river banks, where they can take advantage of the light, sandy soil. I have been ammending my veggie garden soil for over twenty years now, with the straw and manure off my chicken flock. It's a good soil now, but still think a variety like Kennebec does best for me.

You think the new ones in the store are good? Wait'll you pick one right out of your own garden and get it into a pan to fry. It's right up there with the first tomato. BTW, I just dug around the top with my hands of one plant and harvested 3 and a quarter pounds of them. There were more underneath and I planted sixty plants this year. LOL.

If you are north of Boston, you can't go wrong with Kennebecs. If you have not grown spuds before, you might want to get som 10-10 nitrogen fertilizer to add to the soil, just make sure it does not touch your seed potatoes. You should be able to get the seed fairly cheaply, I paid $.69/lb for mine and planted about 15 pounds worth. Like Calliope said, if you have never had a homegrown potato before, you are in for a treat.

The area I'd plant them in has been a flower garden for 5-6 years and was lawn before that, but I was never happy with the area so decided to pull the plants and enlarge my veggie patch which was next to it. The only problem I have is a large (a good 40 feet tall!) arborvitae that's on my neighbor's property, but a good half of it is on mine. I have it limbed up over the 6 foot wood fence dividing our yards but of course still have the roots to deal with. They're not all that bad where I plan on planting, and I did dig the soil well and dug in lots of peatmoss, composted cow manure, and compost. But I admit it's not as great as the existing veggie area that's been dug and amended for close to 20 years now! That area is a joy to garden in.

I'll have to do some research on what type of soil different potatoes do well in I guess so I get the right kind. I have the typical rocky, NE clay soil. I do pay a lot of attention to the soil, however, so hopefully I'll do well. Thanks for that advice tho - I didn't know about that aspect of their culture. When we dug the area we pretty much did it the depth of a spading fork, however, I did dig two deep trenches to put the asparagus crowns in that never grew so a good part of the area is dug a lot deeper. Is that enough or do I really have to double dig? I'm figuring it doesn't have to be all that deep since you mound potatoes so that should take care of having deep enough soil. I've been reading about people growing potatoes in sacks and pulling the sack up as more and more soil is added. I'll probably plant in the ground, however.

Lisa