Planting potatoes

[ncsweetpea]

I checked the garden center today, but they said that they are out of seed potatoes...it's too late for them here in Zone 7. I wanted to know if anyone has had success with chopping up a potato from the grocery store. Do they work better if they are left to make a few sprouts or can I put it in the ground before then?

[canadiyank]

My understanding is that the seed potatoes are screened for diseases and you may risk a soil disease if you plant regular ones. At least, that's what my dad told me. He's had lots of problems with potatoes, even when using seed ones, so I'm pretty conservative about them. Honestly, potatoes take up a lot of room in my garden so I prefer planting other things, since potatoes are relatively cheap to buy and not that much better "homegrown" like a homegrown tomato or beans seem so much better to me than store-bought ones, so I prefer to plant those. That said, I do have a bed of volunteer potatoes this year...apparently I didn't harvest them all last season! :giggle

[Macky]

I wouldn't use grocery store potatoes either for the same reasons. I'm very surprised that the garden centre thinks it's too late for potatoes. I'm zone 2a and I usually plant ours around June 1. We have a much shorter season than zone 7, so I don't get it.

[Johns_Gal]

I have yet to mess with white potatoes, but I *think* the trouble is they need cool weather to get started. I wanted to try them this year too.

[CJ]

I've never had any luck with potatoes here either--seed or sprouting ones from the grocery store. Sad, because I think they are one of the most fun to do with kids--they get to dig for treasure! I used to do them when I taught 1st/2nd grade in California and they were so much fun--when you dig for potatoes, you also find great bugs and lots of earthworms so it's a great adventure. And we would keep digging them up in future years! We did the red, white and blue ones and all kinds of odd colors which was fun too!
Hope you can figure something out!

[ncsweetpea]

Thanks! I'll try to get a jump on the seed potatoes next year! I do love the fun of digging them out and I do think they are so crisp and fresh when they are homegrown. Our garden center did give me a planting guide tailored for our area, so I'm going to post that near my calendar so I won't miss anything! Thanks for all your help!

[Firebird Rising]

Have you ever heard of tire planting potatoes?

My friend lays a tire on the ground, fills the hole with dirt and then plants the potatoes. Once the potatoes come above the ground a few inches, she adds another tire stacked on top and covers them in dirt. She does this for a total of three tires. Supposedly every time they get covered in dirt, the vines grow new potatoes and they don't take up as much room. She swears by it. I don't live near her so I can't physically vouch for how she does, but it's what I'm going to do next year.

Jen D.

[canadiyank]

I usually mound mine but didn't this year (b/c they're all volunteer!). Dig a deep trench and pile the dirt next to the trench. Plant the spuds and put a little dirt over them. When they sprout and have several leaves, mound some dirt over them, but don't completely bury. Keep doing that until you run out of soil. They will then bloom and when they die back it's time to harvest. :)

[CJ]

I usually mound mine but didn't this year (b/c they're all volunteer!). Dig a deep trench and pile the dirt next to the trench. Plant the spuds and put a little dirt over them. When they sprout and have several leaves, mound some dirt over them, but don't completely bury. Keep doing that until you run out of soil. They will then bloom and when they die back it's time to harvest. :)


OOOh! I'm going to try this next year! When do you start them? I'll print this and put it in my garden/seed box for furture reference!

[canadiyank]

I plant them in early spring, at the same time I plant my peas. :)