PotatoWatch 2008, day 23...(dialup warning-pics)

[Richard Steele]

I posted this pic of some seed potatos back on April 4:



I cut them up that evening, and let them sit for 2 days before
I buried them about an inch deep on the 6th.

I used a super special top-secret soil mix made of...
whatever I had lying around. A wheelbarrow full of last years soil,
a bag of new potting soil, a half bag of fine mulch, a bucket of
stuff I dug out of the gutters, some sand, a bunch of styrofoam
packing peanuts, and about a gallon or so of "Black Hen" fertilizer pellets.

The potato on the left there was cut into 4 pieces, which I put
in the same bucket.

By the afternoon of the 11th, they looked like this:



Most of that in the rear came from a single piece, the end
with the huge cluster of eyes. That single shoot circled in red
is a from separate piece which had only 2 eyes.




By the 17th, 2 plants were definitely growing much faster than
their bucketmates:



After taking that pic, I removed the 2 slower-growing plants and replanted
them in a bucket of their own. (They're doing well there, about 7-8
inches high today)




April 24th: giving these 2 more room was definitely a good call:







They must have really liked the rain we had this week, because they
looked like THIS by late afternoon today, the 29th:



It's definitely time to start burying these things a bit, wouldn't you say?
We're getting more dirt & mulch on Thursday, so Friday will start my
potato-burying process.
I have a lot of those buckets that I've cut shorter for other plants.
I saved the tops, and I'll use them to stack onto the buckets to raise
the sides as the plants grow. Each one adds about 4 inches or so. Every
time the plant tops reach 10-12 inches above "ground" level, I'll slide
another top over the potatos and add another 4 inches of fill, and just
keep stacking higher until they flower.

[Inchworm]

1. Thanks for these

I'm bookmarking as you post them. I may try this next year after my compost gets good.

:hi:

[Shoelace]

2. tomorrow, I plant my taters in a couple of containers

thanks to your inspiration. Wow, those spuds are growing like crazy!
I found an old bag of chicken manure under a pile of twigs, etc., that I just cleaned from last year. I will add that to my other soils, and anything else I can find to put in there.

I see that your container isn't that huge either which is a good thing.
I've got a couple of containers that are just sitting around I can use. Not big but big enough. Originally I was thinking I needed to use my plastic garbage can but I see that isn't necessary.

Can hardly wait to see how this works out. Thanks for your post and pics!

[Richard Steele]

6. Yeah, we have 2 cats, and that's the bucket that ScoopAway™ cat litter comes in.

Probably 3 or 3/12 gallons in volume, heavy plastic with a good sturdy handle.

I hate to throw away anything that could someday be useful, so I've saved
about 30 of those over the last few years. Now, I've finally found
a use for ALL of them! (I've used them for brewing my crappy homemade wine,
but 30 buckets of THAT would be a bit much even for me.)

One of these days, I plan to see if the used litter itself will break
down into good compost. I'm sure the cat by-products would be no problem,
but I have concerns about the perfumes and other chemicals in the stuff.
I need to do some research on it, but that's a project for another day!


Good luck with your potato planting tomorrow! :thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup:

[crispini]

7. You may want to try Feline Pine, if you want to compost your litter.

It's expressly for that purpose. However, I think you are supposed to remove the cat solid wastes, since they're carnivores, that shouldn't go in your compost pile.

I was using that for awhile, but my cats didn't like it and they started going all over the place. Back to clay for me. I may try again and make a more gradual switch over and see if it goes better.

[Shoelace]

8. here's the "scoop" on kitty litter in compost

I found it while doing a bit of research to see if, what and how one could use this stuff for compost. It's a long thread on the Gardenweb forum with lots of info on the pros and cons. Probably more than you want to know but it does give some really good tips.


http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lab/msg0810140313296.html

We don't have cats as we are sort of a bird sanctuary here on our little corner lot so I don't know much about kitty poop or litter but I'll use anything I can and have on hand to add to my compost. The birds we feed contribute by all the grains they manage to spill on the ground beneath the feeder. It's packed with earthworms so I add it all to the compost heap every couple of weeks. It really heats things up there.

Can hardly wait to get out there this afternoon, plant those spuds.
I'm going to try to grow some organic "French Fingerling" potatoes that I bought. Also have one purple potato and a few Russets too.

I figure about 3 buckets should do it with some compost, very well aged manure, and whatever else I stumble over, lol.

I'll try to get my dig. camera working, take some pics. It's an oldie with batteries that always die on me so wish me luck and here's to home grown taters!
:bounce: :hi:

[sazemisery]

3. I planted mine in 55 gallon barrels

The cranberry reds are not growing as fast as the yukon gold but the blue potatoes are growing like wildfire. I am adding more soil to the blues today.

[Richard Steele]

5. Blues, eh? The only other bucket I have with plants as large as those in my pics...

...is the one with three blue potatos that were left over
from last year's bucket experiment.

It's amazing to me, because they were the size of small MARBLES.
I hadn't saved them on purpose, just forgotten them. And when I
came across them again, each one had just a single tiny shoot. So I
thought "What the heck" and planted them, really not expecting much...

But each one has put up a single huge stalk that's about 12"
tall now. VERY impressive, those blues!

[hippywife]

4. Those little buggers

really grow, don't they! We planted our sin our boxes and we're covering them with new dirt every single day!

Those look great, Dick! :hi:

[bhikkhu]

9. Wow - those look great!

If only it wasn't still snowing off and on here...I have a bunch of things out (onions, leeks, spinach, and lettuce and tomatoes in a covered-at-night patch) I still have to wait a month to safely plant potatoes.

[Richard Steele]

10. My heart goes out to you folks in the cold states.

I grew up in PA, and I'm NEVER leaving North Carolina!
It's a whole other world down here, weather-wise.

[LiberalEsto]

11. Did you put holes in the buckets?

I was wondering whether you made holes for drainage.

[Richard Steele]

12. Yes- I drilled eight 1/4" holes in the bottom of each bucket. nm

[LiberalEsto]

13. Thanks

I have a surplus of cat litter buckets.

They are also excellent for storing garden materials like lime, potting mix, etc.

[brer cat]

14. Hi Dick,

I've been following your very informative posts on growing potatoes. You may have already answered this, and if so I apologize for asking again.

How do you store your crop for winter use? I remember in my grandparents' time, people had nice cool root cellars. I think that space is now devoted to hot tubs. I have never been successful keeping potatoes for very long, and therefore don't put much stock in growing them because my sister and I concentrate our small garden on food we can enjoy fresh AND can or freeze for winter consumption.

I don't know about NC, but further down south in GA, some folks grow their 'taters in tars (tires, for those unaccustomed to the accent). Plant the eyes in a single tar, painted white of course. When the plants reach the top, just throw another tar on the first, fill with compost or mulch of choice, and continue adding tars until harvesting time. I have, for many reasons, never tried this particular medium, but I hear it does conserve water. Whether tars are classier than cat litter tubs, I will leave to the wisdom of folks who constantly post on DU-P. :silly:

Thanks for your contributions to the forum.

Rose

[Richard Steele]

15. Well, we don't have a root cellar (yet)...

But we have the next best thing.

One room at the back of our house was a later addition,
and it's not connected to our heating system. By keeping
the door closed, it only gets heat when we go in or out,
so it stays around 45-50 degrees in there during the winter
months.

It's definitely not as ideal as a nice dark root cellar would be,
but it's much better than nothing.

[brer cat]

16. Thanks,

I don't have either, so I guess I will still have to find a way to keep them for a reasonable amount of time.

Rose

[Richard Steele]

17. An idea that I've seen mentioned a few times over the decades...

...for a quick & cheap (and SMALL) variation on the 'root cellar' idea
is to simply get a garbage can with a tight-fitting lid, then bury
and cover it:




That drawing seems a bit out-of-date; it looks like
a STEEL can, doesn't it? Nowadays, a nice plastic can
is cheaper and will probably be a better candidate for
burying in the ground.

In either case, you just bury the can with a few inches
sticking out of the ground, use the dirt from the hole
to build a wall around it, then cover it with straw for
insulation and a sheet of plastic to divert rain.

Then store your produce in it in layers, with thick layers
of good clean dry straw in between.

CREDIT to the nice folks at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/diy_root_cellar.php
for the drawing. Their WebSite is worth a look if you have any interest
in being more "Green", or even just more FRUGAL.