Potato varieties?

[nao57]

So... have another potato question.

Is there a particular variety... or certain varieties that are better for compact soil, or hard soil, such that they can still expand and grow in it without a lot of trouble? This seemed interesting to ask because most people when they grow them they grow based on taste.

Where I'm at we get hard clay soil that does work for gardening. With fertilizer I've done some really cool things. But... the clay soil in the past, I'd have a hard time getting the potato plants to have their tubers expand very big. I thought maybe some varieties might be good for this?

So far I've just been using the normal ones.

Are certain kinds more suited for this?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Have you considered the Ruth Stout method?
Basically you don't bury them you cover them in straw and some compost.

I am growing Kenebec (sp?) In a raised bed this year. So far the plants are enormous and blooming. I have high hopes this will work.

 

[nao57]

Have you considered the Ruth Stout method?
Basically you don't bury them you cover them in straw and some compost.

I am growing Kenebec (sp?) In a raised bed this year. So far the plants are enormous and blooming. I have high hopes this will work.

Thanks for posting. Kenebecs sound interesting if they grow big.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The plants are certainly huge. No way of knowing until harvest on what is in the dirt.

 

[nao57]

The plants are certainly huge. No way of knowing until harvest on what is in the dirt.

Ooh that sounds exciting! Good job!

 

[Birdsonghill]

Since I have piles of planting soilless mixes for ornamentals and herbs with compost added, I have grown a lot of potatoes in 15 and 20 gallon grow bags near my raised beds and back porch and if watered every day here, they produce a bag full of potatoes, up to a little over 7 lbs. per bag for me. Some do less but all will make a few pounds at least and they harvest so easy. There are a lot of ways to grow potatoes! A paralyzed friend of my dad in a wheel chair grew his potatoes under straw for ease of harvest successfully. Sorry , I don't remember details he may have passed on about his techniques. I plan on likely, not planting vegetables in the open gardens as age and health overtake me and more will be similarly grown in bags and the smaller raised beds.

 

[nao57]

Since I have piles of planting soilless mixes for ornamentals and herbs with compost added, I have grown a lot of potatoes in 15 and 20 gallon grow bags near my raised beds and back porch and if watered every day here, they produce a bag full of potatoes, up to a little over 7 lbs. per bag for me. Some do less but all will make a few pounds at least and they harvest so easy. There are a lot of ways to grow potatoes! A paralyzed friend of my dad in a wheel chair grew his potatoes under straw for ease of harvest successfully. Sorry , I don't remember details he may have passed on about his techniques. I plan on likely, not planting vegetables in the open gardens as age and health overtake me and more will be similarly grown in bags and the smaller raised beds.

Do you need to chit them before they go into bags or raised beds, or boxes? I was looking through some of what I had and some failed to chit. But still many of them did. Thanks for your comment.

Also! 7 lbs per bag is amazing! That's the kind of yield you'd need to make it work. You did good.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Do you need to chit them before they go into bags or raised beds, or boxes? I was looking through some of what I had and some failed to chit. But still many of them did. Thanks for your comment.

Also! 7 lbs per bag is amazing! That's the kind of yield you'd need to make it work. You did good.

20 gallon bag with good compost and plenty of attention will sometimes amaze me. I had two old dried up shriveled sweet potatoes that I threw onto a compost pile this spring and now the vines cascade down the sides and across the ground in a huge circle about fifteen plus feet in diameter. I bet I find a lot of sweet potatoes or a couple giants! With regular potatoes , I usually use good quality seed potatoes and plant small ones whole and cut the large ones up and cure two days, then plant without further care. When I try to start store bought potatoes I attempt to pre sprout them whole for best results but it is iffy with treated potatoes. They usually disappoint me. Are there any other good tricks for using treated potatoes?

 

[nao57]

20 gallon bag with good compost and plenty of attention will sometimes amaze me. I had two old dried up shriveled sweet potatoes that I threw onto a compost pile this spring and now the vines cascade down the sides and across the ground in a huge circle about fifteen plus feet in diameter. I bet I find a lot of sweet potatoes or a couple giants! With regular potatoes , I usually use good quality seed potatoes and plant small ones whole and cut the large ones up and cure two days, then plant without further care. When I try to start store bought potatoes I attempt to pre sprout them whole for best results but it is iffy with treated potatoes. They usually disappoint me. Are there any other good tricks for using treated potatoes?

Wow. That's very cool!

OK, I learned a few things since posting this. It seems when using treated potatoes that you HAVE to chit them before they go in. I didn't do this and so a lot of the potatoes growing in boxes just didn't chit. Also, in boxes or sacks, it seems like the temperatures are slightly higher than the ground would normally be, due to being raised. So it seems like throwing them in without chitting inside first can make it slightly harder for them to chit naturally.

I've also found that, before this year it was MUCH easier to chit(sprout) store potatoes. I think they increased the sprout inhibitor spray. It used to be that, if you left them alone just inside your kitchen that they'd sprout normally just like that, and the spray wouldn't do worth a darn. I also think the chit/sprout is easier and higher rate inside, because in your house its (usually) under 75 degrees. But if you put them outside to chit, the temperatures can be so much higher. And that increases chances for them to go bad, IF they haven't chatted.

Although I haven't gotten the amazing results that you have. Your results are very inspiring me to want to go try again.

Also side note; it would be very good to put away some potatoes on the side right now. The store potatoes right now are terrible! Last week, half the bag I bought was going bad before I'd even had them a week. The time before that, 1/3 of them were bad. WHen I was in the store yesterday looking at potatoes, every bag in the store bin had signs of ... you know when they are about to go bad, and they have that water spot on the skin...? They were showing that, which shows they are going bad, but its not really noticeable yet until you take a close look.

 

[nao57]

20 gallon bag with good compost and plenty of attention will sometimes amaze me. I had two old dried up shriveled sweet potatoes that I threw onto a compost pile this spring and now the vines cascade down the sides and across the ground in a huge circle about fifteen plus feet in diameter. I bet I find a lot of sweet potatoes or a couple giants! With regular potatoes , I usually use good quality seed potatoes and plant small ones whole and cut the large ones up and cure two days, then plant without further care. When I try to start store bought potatoes I attempt to pre sprout them whole for best results but it is iffy with treated potatoes. They usually disappoint me. Are there any other good tricks for using treated potatoes?

Do you get a better result, with 100% pure compost without other things in there? Or is it better to mix it with other things?