How can I accelerate my fresh bought potato's eye growth? I'm planting baking taters and I want to hurry up the sprouting process so I can get them in the ground. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
Sit them out in a sunny area inside, sprouts get started but are not too thin. Yes they will turn green but thats not a problem as you will not be eating these. Coat the cut surfaces with a little sulfur prior to planting., protects against rot. And last spread reemay or equivalent over the rows after planting, it really speads along growth. Of course soil prep is essential also.
Are those freshly bought seed potatoes, or regular potatoes you bought from a grocery store?
If it's the latter, you shouldn't use them in your garden. Order seed potatoes instead. Since potatoes are clones, and clones made from large pieces, they tend to accumulate viruses and other microbes during successive plantings. Because they aren't reproduced sexually and therefore are unable develop genetic disease resistance, there comes a point after a few generations at which they should be abandoned and new seed potatoes should be ordered that can be certified virus free. I also read somewhere that you shouldn't plant potatoes in the same area more than once every three years because they accumulate disease so easily since they're cloned. I don't know if that's an excessive amount of time, though, even for a crop as disease-prone as potatoes.
I'm using big baking potatoe's from the grocery store, I have to now since I bought about 10 of them, we couldn't eat that many and I don't know where to get seed potatoes, how expensive they are or how long it will take to get them mailed, (this is my first time with taters) my plot is close to full sun and moderate level of seasoned cow/horse manure, well tilled.
I went heavy on the manure for my onion/pepper/tomato plot in partial sun, these are from seed but I didn't start any indoors this year.
blueberries wintered well and have nice foliage already. _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
I'm currently growing King Harry's (white potatoes) on my second storey apartment balcony as an experiment. Planted them the first part of February (this is California) in 2 large 8 gallon pots and they are going to town! Very lush growth and they don't even get full sun all day long.
My biggest problem last year growing Caribe potatoes the same way was Looping worms (caterpillars). They were stripping the foliage before I knew, and looked for a remedy besides going outside at night with a flashlight and cutting them in half with a pair of scissors! Found a dusting compound that was suppose to be organic, but worked very well in killing them. I've read if you have chickens this is not such a problem as they are voracious worm eaters. Anyone out there with experience is this true? My grandmother, when I was a child, let her chickens run free range through her garden and I never heard her complain about bugs. _________________ Skeptical scrutiny in both Science and Religion is the means by which deep thoughts are winnowed from deep nonsense-Carl Sagan
Chickens would be excellent pest control, I would think. You have to make sure they don't scratch up all your veggies though. I think I heard pea-fowl are good at insect control and they leave your plants alone, but I'm not sure. I was looking at some chickens at the feed store but the man said I couldn't have chickens with the dogs cause the dogs(4) would kill them, I'm thinking there must be people who have chickens and dogs getting along? _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
Whether or not you can have (free-ranging) dogs guard (free-ranging) chickens depends on the breed of dog and to a lesser extent the chickens. I currently have three dogs and 1 chicken. Two of the dogs are herding breeds : Australian Shepherd and Border Collie. The third is of watchdog breeds (German Shepherd+Husky). I used to have a Lab and a Shetland Sheepdog which were also good chicken watchdogs.
Herding dogs will (duh) try to herd (e.g. nip and corral) chickens which usually drives the chickens nuts. The nipping can also lead to accidental injuring with the herding dogs getting a taste for (bloody) chicken.
I kennel my herding dogs up during the workday and leave the watchdog to roam the backyard with the chicken. My watchdog ignores the chicken and guards the yard.
....So, if your dog's basic nature is to guard and you modestly train the dog, you'll have no problem. (Use the right dog for the right job. )
Finally, if you've got the land, you can always build a dog run AROUND a chicken coop. Drives the raccoons nuts.
I'm using big baking potatoe's from the grocery store, I have to now since I bought about 10 of them, we couldn't eat that many and I don't know where to get seed potatoes, how expensive they are or how long it will take to get them mailed, (this is my first time with taters) my plot is close to full sun and moderate level of seasoned cow/horse manure, well tilled.
Next time around, it's best to use seed potatoes to prevent disease accumulation in your soil and other problems.
You can buy seed potatoes (which aren't really seeds, they're potatoes cut into chunks) from many places online. Many seed companies sell them. Here's one:
However, TPS is more difficult to grow and produces smaller yields. On the other hand, they're more disease resistant, acclimate to local conditions over time, improve instead of decline in disease resistance, can be rotated faster into crop rotations, and don't produce all the soil issues that "seed potatoes" do.
Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 1185 Location: western Wisconsin
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: Re: tater growin'
As mentioned above, set them in a warm, sunny place and see if they will sprout. They should send out stubby green sprouts in a couple of days. If you want to cut them up to have more sets to plant, do that first, so the exposed surfaces will heal over. Cut pieces so they each have a couple of eyes. If they don't sprout at all after a couple of days, you should have eaten them.
Dogs and chickens--we have always kept one or the other under tight control, never let both run free at the same time.
I have 4 dogs, border collie, australian cattle dog, mixed breed ( maybe husky and something small), and a corgi/retriever mix. I don't trust any of them except the border collie, I could point at a chicken, tell her no... once, and not worry about it again.
I love the idea of a run encircling the chicken area, but I've also heard good things about those movable chicken tractors. I would like to move the chickens around the pasture to eat the fly larvae in the manure.
I got 15 lbs. of seed potato today at the feed store for 6.00, I'm wondering if it's genuine seed potato or just old market potato's, they all have 3 or 4 sprouts per spud, red taters. I got one old baker that's starting to eye that I'll plant with them to compare. I should cut those "seed" potatos now? I thought you were 'sposed to wait till they were soft with lots of eyes before you divided and planted them?
This is the potato patch, maybe do some cukes in here too. Almost full sun. _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:48 am Post subject: Re: tater growin'
jboogy
Quote:
I have to now since I bought about 10 of them, we couldn't eat that many
If you can't eat 10 potatoes from the store, which are treated to enhance storage, would your time and effort be better spent on a crop you would consume? Do you intend to sell the things or is this an experiment? Just curious.
That is a FINE stretch of land, by the way.
I'm wondering what everyone gets for yield from their potato plants. I get anywhere from nothing, drought and neglect, to 3 pounds during a good season with a little bit of attention.
CHICKENS
I had to pen up the birds, the neighborhood dogs tore through the flock, taking 7 in 2 days. They also decimated the beet greens, destroyed the lettuce and rutabaga, and the horseradish quietly vanished, never to be heard from again. My birds are well fed with a wide variety of foods including weeds, grains, leftovers, restaurant waste, grass, and worms, yet they will still eat anything and everything I put in front of them. I do not know if they will eat potato plants. If they do not (is solanin bitter to them?) letting them loose around well developed potato plants would be effective in controlling weeds as well as bugs.
DUSTING COMPOUNDS
Bt, i.e. bacillus thuringiensis, often sold under the name Dipel Dust, is a most effective treatment for worm, weevils, grubs, and a host of other pests. It is harmless to humans and chickens. I've used it and seen overwhelming success within 3 days of application. _________________ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
-George Orwell, 1984
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12582 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: Re: tater growin'
I find chickens to be more destructive with their digging than their pecking. Even if they didn't like the taste of the potato plants, probably they would damage them by digging around the crowns looking for bugs. _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Jun 06, 2005 Posts: 1272 Location: the place where smartasses dwell
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:37 am Post subject: Re: tater growin'
10 of those big baking potatos are more than we usually buy at once, normal eating rate would mean a few would get soft before we ate em. I'll peel and french-fry them now that I got the seed taters, the fry's are always devoured at dinner. The plan, (snicker into your palm at will), is to can lots and lots of stuff. I'm assuming since you can buy canned potatos that I'll be able to can mine, again I don't know, but that's the plan. This will be the first year trying to can. Last year we took a bag of beans with us as giveaways every time we went out, duh, I planted like 6 rows of them at once and they did well. I was curious about the "hill and weed" you all were talking about, what is that?
This is my bean/ lettuce/cauliflower/etc. plot. Last year this whole piece was beans and they were coming out my ears, but fresh beans are very tasty. _________________ It's the height of rudeness for the stretch polyester pants crowd to foist their tard version of Christ on talmudic scholars. But they don't get this, because they are, after all, extremely thick.----Threadbare
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