RpR_, How deep did you plant them? I planted them 8" deep the first year and added soil as the season progressed, sort of to duplicate the potato tower effect. There were no potatoes on any of the stems so I counted the "Potato tower" as ineffective. The second year I planted them 8 or more inches but did not add soil. Surprisingly some of the ones that were forgotten sent up sprouts the next year so they were deep enough not to freeze. These early potatoes were true vectors for the flea beetle, and were consumed before the newly planted ones came up. (I didn't have a problem with the new ones and flea beetles, however) What did you amend with? I amended with B.O.S.S. compost. I also made fertilizer as described by Steve Solomon in Gardening When it Counts. (page 22). How did you care for them after planting? I watered them but not much else. When did you plant? In mid-May There is also The Maine Potato Lady and The Potato Garden if you wish a truly large choice. I ordered from Ronniger, AKA Potato Garden. Here is a link that might be useful: B.O.S.S. Compost

Hmm. Just found this section, all good to know. Sulfur - interesting, grocery vs certified, light or no light, etc. I purchased some seed potatoes this year from WalMart not good results. My solution with reasonable results is buy a bag of potatoes (5lbs more than I can use for cooking) then dump them out of bag into a serving tray I keep in kitchen at end of island. When some start to sprout I use them for cooking but peel thickly, allow peelings to dry for a day then plant-they grow!! Had a fire ant problem this year so I pulled mulch back and spread diatomaceous earth then recovered with mulch, seemed to work ants gone. This continuous planting works for me in Central Florida because of climate, I also replant some of the potatoes that are produced from the plants produced from peelings. Have noticed increase in grubs in my raised beds will be treating them with milky spore powder this year. I don't know where I heard or read that regular grocery stores potatoes may be treated to prevent sprouting so I wash all then dry before spreading on the tray.

We raised potatoes for years. Here is a little I know about seed potatoes. Potatoes (tubors) are "clones" unless you use TPS (true potato seed). (very small seeds produced on the top of the plant in small pods) TPS can produce off spring that are different from the parent. There are a couple of ways of propagating new seed potatoes. Tissue culture is one, and there is a newer one that uses hydroponics. There is pre nuclear, nuclear, G1-G6 (generation) As each year goes by for producing seed stock the offspring have a higher probability for getting disease. Also the yield can start to taper off for each successive generation. After G6 we say the seed is "run out" They use stringent testing to check for disease. Good quality eating potatoes can be as good as seed potatoes but are not tested for certification. For example G3 seed grown for table stock might be as good as G3 grown for seed. However table stock is not tested for disease. G3 grown for seed becomes G4 for the following year. If you cut the seed, make sure the cut side "heals" for several hours to a few days (depending on humidity and temp). Tops mancozeb is a common seed treatment used to prevent disease in cut pieces. Also, eating potatoes can be treated to prevent sprouting so they may not work for seed. One disease that is particularly bad for potatoes is late bight. The newer A2 mating is very aggressive. Humidity plays a big part in this disease. Monitoring stations keep track of humidity and after adding numbers up in a special formula spraying notices are sent out to growers. After you start spraying you have to continue through the season to keep it from getting a toe hold in your field. This winter I took some sprout tips and grew some potatoes in small pots. I am going to try to try them this spring for seed. They look disease free and I am curious how well they might produce. Here is a link for some info on potato growing. http://www.panhandle.unl.edu/peyes.htm Alex Pavlista is well known in potato circles.

We'll probably need to keep the seedlings out of the restaurant (botulism makes restauranteurs nervous - go fig :). I'd save them for the seedling swap at the end of May/beg of June, but they need to be in the ground before then (I ended up very disappointed last year: I was in France when I should have been transplanting, popped them in the garden at the end of May and got a bumper crop ... of green tomatoes). I don't want to trod on any toes, though - please let me know if there are objections to this. If not, the easiest thing would probably be for anyone with/wanting seedlings to park in the covered parking by the library (sheltered, and usually empty/sparsely occupied), and we can hook up there after we're done at the restaurant. The idea isn't to preempt the experimental farm seedling swap - just to get the early stuff in the ground on mother nature's schedule :) Cheers, Sasha