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| Hi all,
Neophyte potato gardener back with more questions! How do you know when it’s time to dig up potatoes??? Mine were growing tall and green until a couple weeks ago, and now they’ve all flopped over and some are starting to look pretty peaked! Will the potatoes keep getting bigger if I leave them a while longer, or should I dig up whatever I’ve gotten now? If they’re "done growing" and I leave them in the soil, will something bad happen to them—like they’ll start growing a second time and won’t be edible anymore? Here’s the progression of my compost pile potato garden! 05.18.09
05.27.09
06.13.09
06.30.09
HELP! Skybird |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I am definitely not a potato expert but my plants always get hit with a virus/bacteria of some sort that curls up their leaves about this time of year. At some point of boredom in the winter months I attempted an identification and bookmarked some websites. I'll try to look that up if you think you might have a similar problem. I do rotate the planting area every year and I dont use pesticides. I still leave them in the ground for a while longer because it seems the leaves may still be doing something and the potatoes are fresh and normal (altho small), even up to three months later. The potato plants seem to maintain a level of... degradation (for lack of a better word) after looking a bit worse than yours do now, if that makes sense. If yours have a similar disease as mine, they may yet live although they will be darn ugly. Let me know if that doesnt make sense, someone served me a glass of red wine with dinner and its gone straight to my head. Also, if someone has expert advice, Id love to hear it. Skybird, I have compost potatoes this year too! Its the first year I havent planted my own because of my back and the first year Ive had compost taters. Just another little thing I am learning to appreciate. Are your leaves curled? Do you have any sign of disease? |
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| Hi Azura, Thanks for the response. It’s really great to see you posting around here again. I was planning to post on your thread, but haven’t gotten over there yet, so I’ll reply to you here! Sorry to hear about your back problems. With all the bodily damage I’ve had in the last few years, I know what it’s like to hurt all the time! At least my back isn’t giving me any problems—yet! But I’m glad you’ve found the joy in "just looking!" When I get home from a trip, almost always—and no matter how tired I am, I come in the front door and go straight out the back door for a slow walk around the yard. I do that several other times during the day when I’m home, but when I’m still in uniform I don’t want to get it dirty, so I don’t even pull out "a few small weeds!" It’s strictly a "I’m back home in my wonderful garden" walk. It’s so relaxing, and so gets me "over" whatever happened on my flites! I love to do that when I’m out in the hills or on vacation too. Just take my time when I’m hiking—which is usually really more like plain old walking—and look at the trees and other plants and rocks and sky and.......... In spite of all the problems, it really is a wonderful world we live in! I don’t think the potatoes have a disease. The foliage looks to me kind of like it’s "at the end of its useful life," but there’s no curling or spots or bugs or anything like that. I’ve kind of wondered a little bit if they might be too dry—that’s sorta what it looks like—but the "original" potatoes are at the very bottom of the 2 X 12, and then I filled it up with half digested compost, so it seems to me it should be staying pretty wet all the way down on the bottom. And the same thing happened last year when they were actually growing right in the compost pile, and they were way plenty wet then. It just kind of looks like they’ve decided it’s the end of the growing season and they’re "done!" But never having grown potatoes "for real," I don’t know if that happens or not. Hopefully a RMG "expert" will be along to help us both! Hope you’re feeling better soon, |
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- Posted by dan_staley USDA 5/S 2b (My Page) on Mon, Jul 6, 09 at 23:28
| You'll know - they'll flower then the lvs will start to turn then just before they get crispy, start digging. Hard to describe, easy to see, esp if you do garlic and onions - same signals. Dan |
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| What Dan said, looks right to me. If you leave the new tubers in the ground, there is a risk that they will begin to sprout - especially, if there is plenty of soil moisture. You don't want that to happen. So, when they are done, they're done. Steve |
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| Thanks guys! I don't see any indication that they're gonna bloom before the foliage completely yellows, but I'll wait a while longer and see what they do. If I see any indication of new green growth coming up, they're going in my stomach! Thanks again, |
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- Posted by dan_staley USDA 5/S 2b (My Page) on Tue, Jul 7, 09 at 10:15
| Yum. BBQ at Skybird's! Dan |
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- Posted by billie_ladybug 5b (My Page) on Tue, Jul 21, 09 at 22:19
| Planted potatoes a few times, this year makes year 6? Always left them in the ground until about the first frost. I did not harvest last year until well after the first frost. Mine are all snuggled in straw and leaves until then. That is when the plants are completely dead. They usually bloom a blue/lavander flower around mid August for me. Then they die off and I harvest after the tomatoes are done. I have never had any new tubers sprout until the next spring. That is when you find out how many potatoes you missed in the fall. You can dig into one side and find out what you have under a plant, but they will still be very small, more likely than not. Billie |
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