Container potatoes in fall experiment (grown from potato peels).

[ThePlantKid]

For this blog, I will be doing an experiment to see if I can harvest any potatoes (or to even see if tops come up) from store-bought white potatoes (Unknown variety. Most likely either Kennebeck or another variety of Russet potato) that I am growing from peels. I have had them for almost a week now. I got them on Tuesday of last week (The 8th). I had planted them on Friday of last week (The 11th). I had just finished checking to see if they had rotted and within three days, they already have roots. (I also re-panted them deeper.) They are in an old ZeroWater container. Size measurements are 30 Cup / 240oz / 1.875 gallons capacity.

The next update will be when the first tops come up.

 

[Meadowlark]

Excellent. I'm so happy to see others trying experiments and reporting results It's the best way I know of to learn what works and doesn't work.

 

[ThePlantKid]

Thanks, saw your "An experiment in Hugelkulture in containers" thread. Pretty interesting.

 

[YumYum]

Are you saying you got the peel to sprout roots? How much meat was behind the eye on the peel?

 

[ThePlantKid]

Pictures of the setup:

Soil that will be added for hilling later in the experiment:

Extra mulching may be added later.

 

[ThePlantKid]

Sorry that the pictures didn't go through.

 

[ThePlantKid]

Are you saying you got the peel to sprout roots? How much meat was behind the eye on the peel?

Some of the potatoes sprouts didn't even have skin underneath but are still sprouting and forming roots. For the ones that did, they had 1/8 to 1/16 of potato flesh underneath.

 

[ThePlantKid]

New development:
It is about -1°C and partially sunny outside. The potatoes are in the shade. I might have to put my Red potatoes in there with them later due to the cold and needing to use the tarps for other things.

Pictures of the setup:

Soil that will be added for hilling later in the experiment:

 

[ThePlantKid]

New development:

I made the impulsive decision to try to plant my red potatoes with the white potatoes. Long story short, I had to replant both of the potato varieties in their respective containers. Everything seems to still be going well.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I would put raw compost, along with lots of other stuff, in the trench when I planted runner beans. I found potato plants grew under the runners from peelings. They kept weeds down and the beans grew happily above them, so I left them and got potatoes when I dug over after the beans finished. Nowadays I plant the potatoes deliberately and am experimenting with types and timing to see what gets the best results.

 

[ThePlantKid]

Sounds pretty cool. I might have to try that out one day.

 

[ThePlantKid]

New development:

Just added some onion roots on the top as mulch and put the top compartment of the filter on and filled it with soil (The compartment is filled with soil, not the whole container) and put the lid on as to insulate the container from these cold temperatures.

 

[ThePlantKid]

New develpment:

Just put them in the carport closet to prevent them from freezing in the cold. The potatoes are still doing well.

Pictures for the post above this one:

There's not to much humidity in the container if you were wondering from the picture.

 

[ThePlantKid]

New development:

Tops are finally coming up (more came up after the picture was taken), along with roots on the side of the container:

After mulching:

More are pushing through the soil. The next post will be when they have leaves.

 

[Meadowlark]

... am experimenting with types and timing to see what gets the best results.

A gardener who doesn't experiment in an effort to get the best results and gain valuable knowledge is missing out on the best of gardening IMO. Local knowledge gained from hands on experimenting is simply invaluable. The gardeners who continue to augment "book" knowledge throughout their life with hands on experimenting have my highest respect.