Well, Norlands are supposed to be 90 day potatoes, but if the plants are still green, you should let them grow. It's not a problem if they don't flower, but if they're green they should still be growing. Especially if they seem small now. May is late to get started with potatoes, so I'd consider leaving them until your frost.

Potatoes are unpredictable. My Russian Bananas died back early and I got lots of pea-sized tubers. I wish they'd gone on another month or so. On the other hand, my 90 day red potatoes still have a lot of green plants growing away at 5 months, when they ought to be dead and gone by now.

Manure isn't the best fertilizer for potatoes. They need more P and K. I like to use bone meal.

What has your weather been like? I"ll bet it was hot and dry

We have grown potatoes for 35+ years and 1 thing we have found out is that the size of the potatos harvested is determined by how much rain we get and somewhat by the variety.

We have never grown red norland but we do grow a couple of varieties The kenebecs grow slightly better in dry weather than the red chieftan but no potato grows big without rain. Watering does a bit but you need some good rains to get good potatoes.

2 years ago we had lots of rain and we harvested giant potatoes. Last year we had over a month of no rain and our potatoes were small. This year doesn't seem to be much better although we have had a few good rains lately so we can only hope.

We planted around the same time as you. We have been eating those tiny little things for a month now but we are leaving the rest until cooler weather. Potatoes won't keep if it is hot and as long as the tops are green they keep growing

Ok thanks for the information. Yes it has been very dry but not so hot this year, not as hot as it normally gets (this is the first year we have not needed the swamp cooler or AC unit on). The heat has been topping out at about 85'ish where I live and of course to about 95'ish in the lower valleys like Albuquerque. In the past it has routinely gotten over 100, but not even close this year. When I dig down the soil seems cool to touch, and ever so slightly moist to dry. This is after a week of not watering. I plan on watering tonight as I did last Saturday evening. But I think your right, my watering isn't enough to make up for the lack of rain. The plants are still very green, well most of them anyway, id say 95% are green and still growing.

I will forego doing any more digging for another two weeks or so. Maybe by mid September or early October they will be bigger. Thanks again for the sharing of information.

Rod

I am in the East Mountains. We planted our potatoes in late March/early April and they did better than ones planted later. Did you mulch? Deep straw mulch helps tremendously as the intense sun can warm the soil quite a bit. By planting them earlier, having the thick straw, we were able to generally water deeply just once a week. But, early June was quite hot, it definitely broke 100 in Albuquerque so that most likely set yours back. Unfortunately, for some areas of NM, like mine, the monsoon season was also quite a bust. Hopefully next year will be better.

@ tishtoshnm,

Yeah I do not live in ABQ, I live at 7300 feet elevation at the highest point on 337 (old South 14) just a few miles from the Apple Valley Ranch (about 14 miles south of I-40). I watch my outdoor temp sensors daily and my land has not gotten to 100, maybe mid 90's tops. Its usually at least 10-20 degrees cooler here than ABQ. And unfortunately, no I did not mulch and yes it was suggested, darn it. Live and learn, now I know next year to mulch. Thinking about Kennebecs now, lol after reading how much easier they are at growing in harsh dry climates. So potatoes are sensitive to the heat in the ground? Hmm, interesting, my carrots never get mulch and they grow like super carrots on steroids in my soil (guess they don't care about the heat). I wonder if its to late to throw on some mulch now at the base of the plants? Probably so, oh well there's always next year.

Thanks tishtoshnm for the important information. I will definitely mulch next year as I hill up the soil.

Rod

Kennebecs have done really well for me in the past. Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac too. Some of the blue potatoes, not yet but I keep hoping. You are a higher in elevation than where I am so you may want to start yours a little later than late March but as you know, our springs go from cold to hot quickly so I think an earlier than May definitely helps. Sometimes when it looks like we are getting one of those late Spring frosts, we cover the potatoes with row cover fabric and that seems to protect them well, or just covering the greenery with extra straw. Good luck and I do hope to make it out that way soon for some apples. That is a wonderful area to live in!

Potatoes were born in te Andes, probably in conditions a lot like yours.