My box of 4X2 grows 35-40 pounds of potatoes. I grow them from spring until the end of summer for bigger ones. I plant 5 potatoes in each square, making sure there are 2 eyes in each potato, and then just cover them up and water. I am way too lazy to go out there and keep adding more and more soil as they grow. You can see some photos of this in my photobucket page. Sinfo says he does all kinds of things wrong with growing potatoes but he gets this gigantic yield, so, hopefully we well hear from him...

Thanks for the info, snibb! How do I look at your photobucket page? Also, what kind of potatoes do you grow? Are they early or midseason? Yes, I would love to hear from Sinfonian on this subject, too... hint, hint ;)

Sangeo

san...I grow red pontiacs-I couldn't tell you if they are early or mid, but for us, they are late! We store them throughout the winter here...

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm14/snobblet/

Snibb, I just checked out your photos. Looks like a great garden! How deep is your potato bed and what is the white string for? Thanks for your help!

Sangeo

Red Pontiacs are a late season. Yukon Gold are early (and determinate) and won't grow up in several layers like you would want in the bin.

You will need to "hill" them to make sure the tubers aren't exposed to sunlight.

I added a link at the bottom for some more potato growing info.

Potato variety information: (sorry, I don't know how to link here)

http://www.umaine.edu/paa/var.htm

http://potatoes.wsu.edu/varieties/

Here is a link that might be useful: CSU growing potatoes in straw

san...my soil is about 12" deep. I have never done the "hill"-far too lazy, but all I can tell you is that I get potatoes all over the place in there by the end of the summer. Its not just a single layer. And, they dont ever get exposed because I keep my boxes a full as I can get them....never been a problem for me.

greenbean..you have a very nice looking garden...

snibb, thanks again for the info! My bed is only 6" deep so it may not work for potatoes.

greenbean, thanks for the info and the links, also! I have some reading up to do :)

Better late than never, here I am, hehe.

Yukon golds are early variety potatoes, so hilling them or growing in cages, etc. will not improve yield. So go ahead and plant them in your SFG about six inches down if you have 12, or half way if not. You will get about 10 pounds per pound of seed.

I have seed from last year's harvest so I will find room in my beds for them this year.

Good luck and enjoy your garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

I just harvested some Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac potatoes today...I was curious :)

I was very happy with the results. The plants are only about 9 weeks old, so the potatoes were on the small side, but they tasted GREAT!

Gosh, I love gardening!

Here is a link that might be useful: Come see my potato harvest!

I have 2 separate plantings of potatoes this year - 10 squares of whites (1 seed poato in each square), and three 31 gallon tote bins (partial) of reds. They all seem to be doing quite well, and the reds are doing way better than the others. I don't remember the varieties....oops!

EG

Thank you all for the great advice! I am kind of glad to hear that my potatoes aren't the kind that need a bin of some kind. I'll just try to grow them in my new 10" bed. Maybe next year I'll tackle trying grow some other kinds. I'm totally new to gardening and can't wait to get started. We just got another cold spell here in NC so I'm glad I waited to start planting. The local nursery told me to wait until after April 15th so I guess they were right!

Thanks again, everyone!
Sangeo

Since we actually had nice weather today, I planted my potatoes. Can I just say, I got WAY too many!! If they all produce, I am going to have potatoes EVERYWHERE!! Oh well, it'll be better than none! Next time though, I don't think I'll cut the seeds unless they are huge, and then, I'll leave them bigger. I've had them upstairs in a bedroom to presprout buth they only grew about 1/2 inch. I think it is so dry here that they were dehydrating.

I planted red ones, blue ones, purple and yellows. Early, mid-season and late. Plus a few mystery spuds from the pantry, which BTW had bigger sprouts on them than my seed potatoes. I planted some in my bin, some in the ground and most in pots (large nursery containers, used, but free!). I'm using straw and compost in the containers. I didn't find a lot of info on using compost but I did see a few sites from the UK that talk about it, so I'm trying it. I'm using last summer's compost, so it is well finished and aged.

Thank you for the compliment Snibb.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

Wow, that's a lot of potatoes, greenbean! Please let us know how they do :)

I have a plot of land that I tilled up and added garden soil to grow yukon gold potatoes. I have never grown them before, but others tell me that the grub worms eat them all before harvest. What can I do for this? What's the best soil for this type of potatoes? Are they better grown in a bin, or raised bed, or in the ground like I have? Any info will help a lot. Thanks

juantita,

I have never experienced grubs eating my Yukon golds but then I do not leave them in the ground long after the tops turn yellow and fall. I dig them up and put them in a cool dry place.

If you do have grub problems I would look into using Milky Spore. It is an organic and effective way of eliminating grubs from the lawn and garden for several years after the applications (there are at least two and sometimes four)

Best of luck!