They were sooooo good!

Hi MileHigh,

I donÂt really know anything about potato gardening, so I probably shouldnÂt be the one giving advice around hereÂand I hope somebody else will be along with some info!

When I grew potatoes the first time in Â08Âafter finding ones that were growing in my compost pile all by themselvesÂI was asking the same question about when to harvest them. I got some mixed answers, and somebody told me to wait till after they bloomed. Well, I still donÂt know what a potato flower looks like, and that first year when the foliage was almost completely yellow and it became obvious that they were not gonna bloom, I dug them up and ate them! Since then, IÂve sorta been using the same criteria! I plant them, watch them grow big and green and then slowly start to flop over and eventually turn yellow. Somewhere between the flopping over and completely yellow foliage, I dig them up! HowÂs that for a very technical and proper way to decide when to dig them? Actually, if you want very tiny or small ones, I think you can "test dig" a few to see what size they are, and dig them up anytime you want to when they get big enough for you. I seem to wind up with lots and lots of really tiny ones, and I think itÂs because of my growing conditions and the lack of adequate direct sun. But I do get a few "full size" ones, so I donÂt really know why I get all the tiny onesÂbut theyÂre delicious!

HereÂs a pic of the foliage on my first batch on June 30th when the foliage had completely flopped over, but wasnÂt yellow yet. This is the batch I finally dug up on August 6th after the foliage had yellowed. Next year I donÂt think IÂll wait quite that long so I can get the second (or third?) batch in as early as possible.

This year IÂm planning to plant the first batch when itÂs still COLD out! They seemed to do just fine in the cold when they were growing in the compost pile, so I figure they should do ok in the cold when theyÂre "officially" planted too. And since I just plant the store bought ones I have growing in the kitchen cabinet, IÂm not really losing anything if it doesnÂt work! One think IÂm a big believer in is to plant them whole, rather than cutting them up into "individual eyes." They grow just fine that way, and I heard or read somewhere that theyÂre more likely to rot or not do well when they have a lot of cut surface exposed to the soil.

I donÂt have any info at all on storing themÂsince mine are always gone long before IÂd need to worry about them going bad. I do store the ones (not very many) I get in a plastic bag in the fridge, but theyÂre so good, once I get them dug up I just keep eating and eating them till theyÂre gone!

Ok! Now MileHighGirl needs some REAL advice!

Gonna go to bed and dream yummy, home grown potatoes!
Skybird

Skybird figgered it out.

I'm the new guy to Colo so some of this comes from the west coast experiences as well.

The spuds are harvested after the tops start to die down. Some say to crop the tops and come back in a week or more and harvest, to drain any photosynthate or other plant chemicals out of the skin. I can't say yea or nay, but I leave them in the ground for at least a week after tops start dying, no cutting.

This year everything isn't set yet as we are still...um...'negotiating' what to plant, but I'll do two different spuds, one early-season and one mid-late season. Just received the 'Abundant Life' catalogue and their potatoes look best to us, so something out of there or from Potato Garden. This is done to extend the season, as it is hard to have enough space to grow enough to put away for a long time. Sure, they last a couple weeks but that's about it. We'll plant probably mid-March-ish depending upon soil, weather, all that, but no later than mid-April. But the garden is very warm and in a wonderful position, so YMMV.

Early-season IME is when it is hot. Mid-late season is after the worst heat goes away and you might be able to extend it to late Sept if you are lucky. Definitely separate your seasons in the garden so you are not impinging upon the late-seasons when you harvest the earlies.

I expect maybe 10x the yield of what I plant, so a 1lb order should get me 10lb of spuds. I can't seem to get higher yields in this place, but I seem to grow the heck out of other stuff that others can't, so I guess I'm even. You may want to think about an insect barrier row cover to make it easy on you. I use black 3/4 poly pipe for hoop support, and I cut some off in 1-2" pieces and take out a portion lengthwise (about 1/6 of diameter - you have to play with them to get it right) for clips to hold the fabric to hoops. Cut the hoop ends at an angle to push into the soil about 8-10" or use 1/2 rebar. Remove the fabric when flowering so critters can pollinate, then replace when all done.

My potatoes are best in lighter soil not too much N and enough water early and not too much later.

HTH.

Dan

I think you are getting some good advice here, 'Girl. And, I can't add too much, partly because I'm not in Colorado.

I also didn't grow potatoes for years and years. They didn't seem to make any sense for my garden since the seed varieties that were available were the same as what was in the supermarkets at a reasonable price. Well, let me tell you . . . about 15 years ago, or so, all these wonderful varieties became available. About 5 years ago, typical of my cautious nature, I began growing some potatoes again.

The 1st mistake I made was not buying enuf seed (see cautious nature comment above). It takes about 12 pounds of seed to plant a 100-foot row! And, that's not using Skybird's method of 1 potato, 2 potato, 3 . . . but, cutting them up, at least a little.

Your Milk Ranch Potatoes there in Austin, looks like a wonderful resource - so many choices!! I buy at a garden center and they've got a fair selection. Where I don't buy is at a catalog outfit that sells spuds for $11.45/pound and then charges shipping! I planted a 25ft double-row last year and 6 pounds was fine but NOT at $11.45/pound!

I had 2 "early" varieties and 2 "very early" varieties last year. When it came close to time to dig the potatoes, I cut off the foliage at least a week before. I've found that the skins are very tender on the spuds if you do not do that.

A problem I had with storage was that I dug one of the earlies first because I was anxious to get something planted in that ground for the fall. That works fairly well, by the way, HOWEVER - the storage life on that variety (Gold Rush) was quite short, probably just because I harvested it too early.

I should have started with the very earlies: Yukon Golds and Caribe (but they were on the "other" end of the bed ;o). Yukon Golds keep very well. Another variety I grew was Sangre - a very nice red and a good keeper.

I've had a couple of the fingerlings and was surprised how late the Purple Peruvian was. I thought . . . small potato = short season . . . Well, of course that didn't necessarily follow. Many years ago, I grew Russet Burbanks - another late maturing type.

My advice is to wait until you are fairly sure that the tops are dying. If, for that variety, this occurs during mid-summer, you can hurry things along by cutting them back. If the tops are dying back as freezing weather is approaching, that's fine and just wait for the frost to kill them.

Wonderful choices, wonderful flavors . . . here's wishing You the Best of Luck!

Steve

Thanks everyone for all your input. I'm glad to know that all I have to do is let nature take it's course. We grew potatoes when I was growing up, but they must have all been the late season variety because I never remember anyone saying, "Well, looks like it's time to dig potatoes." I remember it always being done around the first frost.

So, just to clarify: Short-season varieties can be planted in succession, one set right after the other in the same bed?

Short-season varieties can be planted in succession, one set right after the other in the same bed?

Likely only if you extend the season with structures. The growing season is too short here to ensure avoiding frost damage in the fall. I might do it this spring with plastic greenhouse film, depends upon how frozen the ground is and if I have the time to build something with a vent on it so I don't cook them, and strong enough to withstand the 45+ kt winds we get here in the spring.

Maybe I can build an extra sun box with greenhouse film just for the potatoes...hmmm...hmmm...thanks for the germ!

Dan

K, I really don't know much about growing potatoes, except I did learn a few things by trial and error.

1. Watch out for Colorado Potato Beetles: don't know why this one just went right over my radar since we live in Colorado, duh
2. Old timers in my part plant pototoes and peas on St Paddy's (or Patty's) day.
3. To avoid potato beetle and row covers plant in May and wait for your harvest or pick, pick and pick potato beeltes (chickens won't eat them by the way, dang it)
4. Potato flowers are really tiny blue flowers (at least mine were) and they are very pretty.
5. Straw on top of the soil makes an excellent mulch and I unually find my biggest potatoes right under it.
6. Digging the rest of the potatoes is tough labor and expect your back to be sore if you plan to grow more than one or two for the novilty of it.
7. No matter how careful you are, you will always wind up stabbing your biggest potato with the pitchfork!! (Is this a Murphy's law thing or what)
8. I wait until all the other harvesting is done to gather my potatoes, its just less pressure that way and the tops are always dead then.
9. It does not matter how careful you are, you will always miss one potato.

10. I have ordered from Maine Potato and Henry Fields with no noticable difference, Sorry guys.

This year trying the little guys from last years crop as my seed potatoes and I put together the leaf mold bins in the last few weeks to see if I have a better harvest in that rather than in compost.

B

Lots of very good advice. I will add a link to a Colorado potato company that has a growing, harvesting and storage guide. I've found the information at some of the compaiies very good whether I buy from them or not. Hope you have a great tater crop this year. Jay

Oops forgot to attach the link this morning. Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Ronnigers

elkwc,

Too funny, Ronnigers and Potato Garden have the same address!

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Garden

Has anyone tried those "potato bags" shown in the Gardener Supply Catalog? I don't have a lot of room in my garden but I want to try potatoes so I thought I'd give one a whirl and see how it goes..... lots of helpful information here, thanks.

Just a couple of add ons to this post. I grew up in potato country... (North Dakota, not Idaho). You can harvest at anytime after the plant has bloomed. The tiny ones are great, just wash and boil.. add butter and garden peas... yum.

As for cutting them, yes you can cut, but make sure you have one to two 'eyes' on your potato piece as that is where the potato sends out sprouts for the new plant, the potato shrivels up and rots away once the sprouts are started, using the potato as it's source of food until it starts to absorb it from the soil.

At Tagawa's (and other garden centers in the area, I would think) offers a class on how to grow potatoes in a garbage can... they are very helpful and imformative on the process. They recommend that you plant only early's or lates in seperate cans so you don't have a harvesting issue later in the season.

Grocery potatoes are adequate, just as grocery garlic is also... the advantage to garden center potatoes (and garlic) is that they offer varieties that you don't find in the grocery store.. such as yukon gold potatoes.

Later all, Kristi

Here is a link that might be useful: Tagawas Garden Center

We did not commercially grow potatoes on our farm but we planted enough to feed our family of six for most of the year. We would always dig around them after blooming and gently remove a couple of "baby" potatoes from each plant. The red ones are absolutely delicious at that stage.

Last year, I planted my patch in mid May and sure enough, along came a killing frost in mid June when the plants were 6 " or so tall. Killed all of the leaves so I debated whether or not I should dig them out and replant. I couldn't get a clear answer from the Extension Service either. I opted to leave them and within 2 weeks all were reestablishing their foliage. Yield was reasonable- three 5 gallon buckets full from a 9'x10' patch.

Mark