A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Potatoes

Hey all (again) I hate to post so many questions.... I just have so many

My tire potatos are doing great... but now I am wishing I had planted more. Is it too late in the season to plant more? I only did two tires full but then I remembered how many potatoes we eat (there are only 2 of us and we demolish a 10 pound bag every 2 weeks or so) and I was hoping to get some baby potatoes too. in fact I love baby potatoes so much I can't wait.... how do you know when there will be baby potatoes to eat.

Also... anyone else ever grow in the tires? How did it turn out? What sort of yield should I expect?

Whew.... that was alot of questions... but here's one more. I found my seed potatoes at Home Depot, i planted pontiac red, where else could I buy them from? How much should I buy?

LOL.... thanks to anyone who got through all that!

Marina-

they look good, and you can try more. the worst than can happen is that you have early potatoes only out of the second batch.

Oh yes they are looking good...

I am not sure what your zone is for VA, but taters here we plant in early March,
Never tried taters in a tire... but they sure look happy!!
I find 2 or 3 taters on each vine, and more smaller ones.

I pick after they have flowered and the green has turned brown.

Did you know you can also buy store bought taters, cut them up like a seed tater and they will also grow just as good as the seed taters?

Up here in canada there are many types of potatoes that you can get for seed. It is all in what YOU like the taste of. Go to the store and buy from markets and test them out. In salade, boiled and in the oven, they all cook up and store differently. Once you get some you like, and you grown and harvest them, SAVE everything, even the iddy bitty ones. They will be great seeds for next year. Store in a cool dark place.
You can help out by putting a huge amount of mulch around them, cover up about half the green and then when the green grows, cover half up again, until any more would spill over the rim. Then you can just push back the mulch and see one you like, and early small one perhaps, cut it off and replace the mulch and the plant will keep growing the others it has started.
Keep the roots Moist though. If the erth dries out though, the plant will not start any more babies, sometimes stops growing the ones it has already budded, and the green gives up too. Even a bit of a dry spell is not good for the perfect yield. Dont soak them though. They hate to be water logged. Just stick your finger in the mulch and see if some sticks. That is good enough. Dont forget, not much will evaporate, but some moisture will be lost via the leaves.
Keep us posted.

One thing you can do to increase your yield, is add another tire ontop of the first one and keep adding soil, compost or straw leaving leaves sticking up, as it grows just keep adding soil...You'll end up with more potates. as far as harvesting the new baby potatoes, I would say it will be alittle hard to do in the tires, But from the looks of your plants you still have a little while yet before you will have the baby sized that you want. They look great! Oh...also I got the stamps you sent Thanks!

Thanks for the answers guys

Do any of you know any reputable places to buy the seed potatoes (online or otherwise).

Home depot has only 1 kind and is basically out at this point.

Comfrey... glad they got to you and thank you very much for the seeds, very generous of you

Marina-

I didn't know you could cut up store potatoes and still grow potatoes.
One garden site I went to said that the store potatoes are sterile or something is done to them gene-wise, so people can't use them as seed potatoes.
Has anyone else heard this?

Thats the same thing I heard Deborah... or that they are sprayed with something to make them not sprout, and also, that that they may be more prone to disease.

Hmm.... using store bought taters would solve my seed potatoe problem though

Marina-

Store bought taters aren't certified disease free, so you may be introducing problems into your soil. If you're growing them in tyres , you could always discard the soil later anyway i guess, if they came up with a disease.
I've not heard of them being sprayed to prevent sprouting, though i know that can happen with garlic, so i wouldn't be surprised..

Makes you wanna grow your own, doesn't it? Knowing that our potatoes are treated somehow. Ugh.
BTW, has anyone ever heard something about a law that states that it's illegal to forbid any American from growing food crops? I heard that years ago, I think.
Like if a complex manager says you can't grow a tomato or something on a patio.
Or, maybe it was that a store cannot refuse to sell seeds or foods to any American. ???

some spuds are sprayed to stop them sprouting!
cant remember the name of it, but i know there is one chemical out there available to farmers that stops sprouting for 11 months!!!
Now whats that all about ?????

So we can't make money off of potato growing, probably.
Or, so we have to keep buying their potatoes.

last year i tried one lot i bought from a supermarket, they didnt sprout at all.
this year i got some from a 56lb bag i had bought, ate the bigguns and kept the small for seed.
had a look at em today and ive got loads of gaps in the rows!
all the proper certified seed ive bought has been fine.

Mark, a 56 pound bag?
You either have a large gang of kids or you really like potatoes !

LOL I think me and steve could go through that in like a month Its why I want to grow more....I realized 2 tires stacked 4 or so high werent going to give us enough

Though... I would like to see the 56 pound bag

Yes, I have alwasy heard that myself, that you cannot plant store taters, but I have done it on some I have bought.
If they will sprout in the bag they will be just as good in the ground..

seed taters I have a hard time finding around here and they are mostly just red taters, and they sell out faster then I can get into the garden in the very early spring time.

there is one chemical out there available to farmers that stops sprouting for 11 months!!!
Now whats that all about ?????
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I'm guessing here,
It keeps them looking good on the shelves in the store for longer. Also, so potatoes harvested and packed can be kept until the season is over for harvest and then sold when they are more expensive later in the year. Marketing strategy.