philes and everyone with any doubts I assure all of you that Ron is not a troll. He's been to my house and I've shook hands with the man. I know a troll when I see and especially when I meet one. He's a good guy with a lot to learn and is brave enough to ask all the right questions. Many questions that I wish I'd thought to have asked two years ago. Bestlawn I think you're thinking of Kknight that did the cornmeal test on his lawn. He's got TTTF but powdery mildew is still powdery mildew. Do you still talk to George? I know he's pretty busy right now but I'm sure he's lurking somewhere. Turftoes, your lawn looks FANTASTIC!! ; ) Greenjeans

Ada, Generally I plant whatever I can find locally, which in my part of Oklahoma tends to be Red LaSoda, Kennebec (white) and All-Blue (blue). Some years I can find Caribe or Yukon Gold, and when I find them, I buy them and plant them. Sometimes I have ordered seed potatoes online, but most of the suppliers do not even begin shipping until 2 or 3 weeks AFTER my planting date, so that means an automatic late start, which isn't desirable. Most years you can plant late and still get a good crop, but you normally get a larger harvest if you plant on time. (Barring an exceptionally harsh late freeze which can stunt potatoes that were planted "on-time".) Some of the best potatoes I've ever grown were some of the small, gourmet fingerling types, especially Rose Finn Apple and Russian Banana. The OSU-recommended potato varieties for Oklahoma are: RED: Norland, Red LaSoda, Red Pontiac WHITE: Irish Cobbler, Kennebec, Superior YELLOW: Yellow Finn RUSSETT: Norgold Russett, Norkota If you want to see great descriptions of various potoatoes, including which ones are best baked, boiled, etc., check out the attached link. Ironically, I find the best seed potatoes NOT at seed and feed stores/farm supply stores here in southcentral OK, but at big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Home Depot. For anyone who has not planted potatoes before, you should know that it is preferable to buy Certified Seed Potatoes. The certification is obtained from the USDA and means that the plants which produced the seed potatoes were inspected repeatedly throughout the entire potato-growing system, and that the seed potatoes were inspected post-harvest, and that they are disease-free. Can you purchase potatoes from the grocery store and plant them? Well, of course you can. However, they are not certified and may carry viruses and other diseases that can prevent you from getting a good harvest (or any harvest at all). If you want to use grocery store potatoes, it is best to buy organic ones because they are not sprayed with anti-sprouting chemicals. Even non-organic potatoes that have been sprayed with anti-sprouting chemicals will eventually sprout, but it takes them longer. OSU-recommended planting dates for Oklahoma are February 15th (in the southernmost parts of the state) through March 10th (in the northernmost parts of the state). I have planted later than recommended some years and have gotten a decent, though not huge, crop from that late planting. Since potatoes are prone to the same diseases as tomatoes, it is best to plant them in an area of the garden when tomatoes have not been grown the last couple of years. And, in closing, high humidity tends to lead to more diseases. Since the return of La Nina is expected to bring us hotter, drier weather this year (which tends to be accompanied by lower relative humidity), this ought to be a great year to grow potatoes. A couple of places that offer certified seed potatoes online at good prices are Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Seeds of Change. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Prairie Farm Seed Potato Descriptions

Doku, You're welcome. Sweet potatoes grow very well here but you have to wait for it to get really, really, really warm. There's a great selection of heirloom sweet potatoes available from Sandhill Preservation. We also have a local, Oklahoma grower---Gary at Duck Creek Farms in northeastern OK who raises over 100 heirloom varieties of sweet potatoes. He has posted here occasionally the last few years, but isn't on the forum a lot in the late winter and early spring because he's so busy planting. I believe he sells sweet potato slips but probably not until May. I think that the Duck Creek Farm sweet potatoes probably would be available for purchase earlier than those from Sandhill, plus I think it is important for us to encourage our own local heirloom growers and help them grow their businesses. Sweet potatoes, along with okra and southern (black-eye, purple hull, crowder, cream and zipper) peas, demand hot weather and warm soil, so we normally don't plant sweet potatoes until our soil temperatures are at least 60 degrees at planting depth, and 70 degrees is even better. I usually plant sweet potatoes in May or June, depending on how early it gets really warm and STAYS warm. So, let me go start an heirloom sweet potato thread and let's see if Gary (or any other local growers/sellers of sweet potatoes) answers to tell us if he or they will be selling heirloom sweet potato slips this spring. As far as Sandhill Preservation Center, I can't remember if Glenn publishes his approximate shipping dates in his catalog or website, but it is always sort of late since he's in Iowa. After I start the new thread, give Gary a day or two or three to see it and respond. This is the busy season for everyone involved in horticulture. And, I hope everyone understands I am NOT trying to steer anyone away from ordering from Sandhill, but just think we ought to support local growers too. Dawn

Susan, You're welcome. You hill up potatoes when they're grown in the ground. When I plant in containers, I partially fill a tall container with soil and plant the potatoes. When the initial stolon emerges above the soil level, I add more soil to the container when the stolon is an inch or two tall. As it keeps growing, I keep adding soil until the soil is as high in the container as it is going to go...maybe 2 or 3" below the top of the container. That's one of the advantages to growing potatoes in containers---no hilling up, just adding soil in a container. Some folks on the vegetable forum have experimented with growing potatoes in bottomless 'frames' or 'trays' they stack on top of an existing soil-filled bed. As the potato plant grows taller, they add another frame and fill it with soil. They haven't had quite the results (tons of potatoes) they've hoped for as the potatoes will not form new potatoes endlessly along the stolons forever. I do not know if they had control plants grown in the ground to compare with the boxes or frames they kept stacking and adding vertically. To me, containers seem simpler than adding stacked boxes or frames. Potatoes make their best growth in our climate early in the season while the soil and air temps are cooler and while rain is (hopefully) falling. Research at Texas A&M University when I lived in Texas showed potatoes make their best growth when temperatures range between 60 and 75 degrees during the day and 45 and 55 degrees at night. We don't stay in that temperature range very long, so early potato planting is critical to success and also is key to getting bumper crops of potatoes. We get way too hot too early to expect amazing potato yields in our climate because once soil temps hit 85 degrees, potato initiation ceases. Our weather is really better-suited to sweet potatoes than regular potatoes. You'll notice that Oklahoma is not a hotbed (pun intended) of commercial potato growers. Dawn