I have my potatoes sprouting on the counter right now. I planned on planting them on Sunday (Saturday is suppose to be rainy). I don't know what the old man is going to do, so I am only going to plant half of my potatoes this weekend and save the other half for the last weekend of the month. I would also like to plant my lettuce, carrots, and onion this weekend, but I don't know if it is too early.

Im down in South Ga but my Dad always said Feb 14 was potato planting day down here..Id think a few weeks later around Atlanta.. at least 2.. Ideas?

I am also greening some potatoes on my kitchen counter. I will plant them when the sprouts are about an inch or so. Before that I will keep them in my cold frame for a few days. Last year my potatoes were up as much as 4-5 inches when we have a sever frost(April 10, 11). But I covered them and they survived. In GA you have to get them in as soon as possible.Because potatoes will not make/grow tubers when soil temperature gets around 70F, thats about early july.

Last year we had a late frost and it zapped potatoes from a friend of mine. It is interesting that covering could help.
With all this rain I have not been able to get my potato bins or much of anything done. It is very frustrating (my back yard is flooding from the amount of rain collecting from other properties...even though we added massive drainage fields, it is just TOO MUCH rain), I have to move soil, and it weighs 100 lbs a shovel load and then I can't run the wheelbarrow as it sinks into the ground! And who wants food grown in flood water. BLECH!

Yes, a lot of rain. I scatter (sow ?) a lot of seeds around; fenugreek, dills, parsley, chives, onions, peas, wild flowers, spinach, etc. What the heck! I don't even have to raise a shovel. There will be better days for shoveling. All my garden patches are terraced, much like raisedbeds, amended with lots of organics, fall leave, leave molds, compost...and are ready. I think, today I will add more gypsum, epson salt all over. Of course, I don't have a big garden to begin with, maybe less than 600sqr.ft all togethers. Back to POTATOES:
This year I am leaning on LESS potatoe and MORE onions instead.Onions are better keepers and easier to grow and store.

I'm planting a 5 pound sac of Red Pontiac on Sunday and 3 pounds of Kennebec. Also going to try beets from seed for the first time in February. Growing onions 'Candy' from seed. I plan to set them out in 4 - 6 weeks.

Cyrus, which onion variety do you grow? I haven't found a good keeper. Most are way too sweet and don't keep long for me.

April

April,
For the first time, last year I planted onions, from stock bought frorm pikes, in DEc 08. I had red, white and yellow.
I did not pay attention to what cultivar they were. But the bottomline is that yellow ones were the keepers. They are also very mild. I still have some in a garden shed. Reds and whites did not last very long. So I am sticking to yellow, generally called SPANISH, WALA-WALA( whatever). Walmart has a good deal going right now; 80 small onion stocks(not sets, real small onions) fo $1.59. I Also bought some sets from HD. They were $3.60/bunch, having less than 90. So walmart deal is a steal to me.

tifbee,

I will hold on to planting potatoes. Putting them out there in freezing weather (for next 2 weeks?) is not going to do any good. I will wait until the nights lows get up to 40F, atleast. In the meantime my seeds are growing sprouts. So I will be actually ahead.

Planting onions from WalMart may be a "steal" if they are the right variety..meaning short day onions such as the Granex/Vidalia family. Long and intermediate day onions will not do well here as our winter days are far shorter than those in the midwest and north. That is why the "keeper" onions are not commercially grown in GA.

mensplace , I think Walmart onions stock are for this region. The origin is somewher in Alabama, I think. Yesterday I was at HD. They had also onion socks, same quantity(80), similar quality selling for $5.50,m vs Walmarts $1.50.
I am all set with onions right now and gearing up to plant potatoes. My seeds have good sprouts and longterm weather forecast looks favorable if not perfect. I want to hurry this so I can harvest before it gets hot around here. Worst scenario would be frosts after they poke out. But that in no problem. I can protect them.

Bagsmom Any time from now to end of month, Plant them 4 in. deep, it will be 2 to 3 weeks before the sprouts break ground. Then a frost will not hurt them. I planted mine today. GOOD LUCK Bill

Thanks to all! I bought a couple of the fabric "pop up" potato growing bags. I'm eager to try this with the kids. Of course, they won't eat any potatoes, but I'm hoping that SOMEDAY all this exposure to vegetables will have a good end result! :)

I planted my potatoes this past Sunday. It is going to get cold next few days AGAIN!. But That is OK. Potatoes can take cold fine, as long as they do not freez.

We planted a few at church today. We'll plant more in 2 weeks. We call it "insurance".

I tried both Wal-Mart and Home Depot for seed potatoes. They didn't have any. I guess maybe Pikes would have them????

Otherwise, I'll try Harry's (Whole Foods) for some organic ones and hope they sprout. Any other ideas?

I was browsing at Pike's this morning & they did have a bag of seed potatoes. There was only one variety (I forget which) & I think it held approx. 5 little potatoes.

I was also wondering who else might carry them so I could try growing them for the first time. I didn't really want to order 5 lbs from online supplier. Anyone get them locally?

Hi,

I was at Hastings Garden Center last week and they had 2-3 kinds of seed potatoes in bulk for around 79 cents per pound.

I bought three little red potatoes so I can try growing them this spring without making a big commitment. :)

I got the bag of "5 little potatoes." They are russet. Do y'all do the whole process recommended on the package? After sprouting -- before planting, cut into pieces and dust with fungicide?

I sort of just planned to plop 'em in the dirt.

Instead of fungicide I use sulfer. It's what we grew up using. Although if I use little potatoes and don't cut them up, I just throw them in the ground without anything at all. I just move them around every year to keep the soil "clean". At church we're going to put in potato bins and then fill them with straw that we can remove every year to keep them disease free.

Thanks! I got the big growing bags - brand new. The potatoes are little, so I think I will just throw them in "as is."

I'm also considering starting them in the garage, since it is so mega cold this week.

The bins have handles and will be easy to move around at the beginning stage, with only the small amount of soil required to start them.

What do you think? Is that a good idea? Or should I just go for it and put them outside?

I don't think you'll get any extra growing on them by starting them in the garage.

Hmm so our soil temperatures are now above 70F and showing no intention of going back down. Does that mean the end of the potato season? No wonder there is no such thing as Georgia potato! :)

http://www.griffin.uga.edu/aemn/cgi-bin/AEMN.pl?site=GAGA&report=30
http://www.griffin.uga.edu/aemn/cgi-bin/AEMN.pl?site=GADU&report=30

Yep. It is now too late to grow potatoes. Mine are flowering and I expect them to waine soon so they can be dug. We never get many but what we do get tastes nice!

It has been almost two and a half mont since I planted my potatoes(Feb 20?).
Then we got lots of cold weather after that. So all that time does not count.
So, effectivelly my potatoes are 2 months old. They need about/less than 2 more months to grow tubers as they have been blooming since the last couple of weeks ago.
It is interesting how potatoes and tomatoes flower at the same time and grow fruits at similar speed.
So I figure when I pick my first ripe tomato, then I can get some young potatoes too.
Then I will make a potato-tomato mash with all kinds of herbs, onions,,
right off the garden.
That is the fruit and the food of labor, tasting very good.

I did two little container crops in those specialty growing bags. The first is just a regular potato -- seed potatoes from Pike's. I planted them in March and they are growing nice and tall! No flowers yet, but a really pretty bunch of foliage.

The second I planted mid-April -- blue potatoes from Green Giant. :) They are a ways behind the others, but growing well. I'm excited to see what they are going to get.

Cyrus - that mash sounds really good right about now. Throw in some scrambled eggs, and I'd have breakfast!!!!!!

Would pot and sweet pot. have same planting rules?

I put in my sweet pots. about 3 weeks ago.

Thx

I read all of this about planting and harvesting potatoes in Georgia.potatoes in Georgia should be planted in Feb.or March'IT is best to raise your rows.buy your potatoes at a hardware store or seed and fertilizer place this way you will get potatoes for your area.cut eyes out of potatoes each eye will make a plant turn eye up as you plant.don,t let your plant flower break off the blossom,if not plant quits producing potatoes. after the potatoe gets some size you can see breaks in the soil dig around and begin eating new potatoes.your older potatoes can be dug after plant dies.