gary350
Full Access Member
I planted 12 lbs of grocery store potatoes. I selected the smallest potatoes with the most eyes. I want 1 oz cuttings with 1 eye each cutting. I planted cuttings 8" apart, 3 rows spaced 8" apart. Cuttings were placed on soil so eyes are laying on their side. Place cuttings on soil surface then cover with 4" of dry dead pine needles. We have 20 pine trees along 1 side of our yard. Red & White potatoes are both a 3 month crop.
I dug up 121 lbs of new potatoes. Plants were dead, soil is soft from many days of rain. Easy digging in soft soil. I pulled away pine needles new were laying there ready to pick up.
I pulled up several dead plants and was very surprised to learn Red new potatoes pull up out of the soil with the dead plants but White potatoes will not pull up with the dead plants.
Investigation shows white potatoes grow out like spokes on a wheel. Red Norland potatoes grow in a bundle around the seed potato. With all the Red potatoes in a bundle there is much less soil to pull new potatoes up through. I would have never guessed this with out seeing it.
Boards around beds are levees to hold in water. When soil gets dry plants get 90 gallons of water = 60 cents according to our water bills. We had enough rain this year I only used city water 2 times all summer.
We have,
68 lbs of Red Norland new potatoes.
53 lbs of white Kennebec new potatoes.
121 lbs total new potatoes.
I dug up 121 lbs of new potatoes. Plants were dead, soil is soft from many days of rain. Easy digging in soft soil. I pulled away pine needles new were laying there ready to pick up.
I pulled up several dead plants and was very surprised to learn Red new potatoes pull up out of the soil with the dead plants but White potatoes will not pull up with the dead plants.
Investigation shows white potatoes grow out like spokes on a wheel. Red Norland potatoes grow in a bundle around the seed potato. With all the Red potatoes in a bundle there is much less soil to pull new potatoes up through. I would have never guessed this with out seeing it.
Boards around beds are levees to hold in water. When soil gets dry plants get 90 gallons of water = 60 cents according to our water bills. We had enough rain this year I only used city water 2 times all summer.
We have,
68 lbs of Red Norland new potatoes.
53 lbs of white Kennebec new potatoes.
121 lbs total new potatoes.
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