Forums >Off the Beaten Path>2012 Gardening Thread
With Red Pontiacs (all I have grown until this year), assuming a decent growing season, I expect 3-5 nice potatoes per plant. With so few plants and doting attention on them, you may do better. I plant a ton (I end up with 4-5 milk crates full on a decent year) so I realy don't take care of them that well.
OK. That's actually good then. Not sure if I'll get more than that anyway, I had to space them a little closer than I like. I don't have much space. I wanted to expand the garden this year and never got around to it. I have to take down the "fort" (the youngest is 14 now, so they're not using it anymore), and make a bigger bed. That's a lot of work because I set the footings in concrete.
Joy.
Jeff
Prince of Fatness
I have been planting Red Pontiacs every year and reliably get good yields from them. They are a late variety and usually the last ones that I dig up, so give them time. Be careful when digging them up. The skin is really thin and just brushing them with your fingers can peel the skin off.
Not at it at all.
Well, I don't have that variety, I was just assuming that any of them (except for fingerlings) would yield about the same in my crumy little garden.
In reality, I'll take what I can get. And, when the time comes, I'll be very careful digging anything I get up anyway.
Feeling the growl again
You know I always wondered how the hell you were digging your spuds so early. My references point was just Red Pontiacs. That explains it. Now I know I screwed up...I planted them closest to the pumpkins, and the other varieties between the Reds and the garden edge. I should have reversed this to keep the Reds as far away from the expanding vines as possible.
Good to know for next year...and to expect to be digging the other stuff earlier. Thanks.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Exactly. My potatoes take up roughly half of my garden, so I plant late to early from one side. The Pontiacs are always along the fence on one side. Yukon Golds are usually the first row in the middle since they are ready the earliest. I have them dug up by the time the pumpkins are put in (Late June / Early July). Pontiacs are by far the latest variety that I plant,
I studied plant biology for a time so it annoys me that I don't know and can't locate a definitive answer on this (in all of 5min I looked). I would hypothesize that there is some sort of necessary dormancy time, or that they must experience some sort of cooling then warming to "reset" them to grow. . . Fortunately for us, my sister has a PhD in botany and plant pathology. So I emailed the question to her. If we do not get a definitive answer she will never hear the end of it (isn't that what little brothers are for?).
I studied plant biology for a time so it annoys me that I don't know and can't locate a definitive answer on this (in all of 5min I looked). I would hypothesize that there is some sort of necessary dormancy time, or that they must experience some sort of cooling then warming to "reset" them to grow.
.
Fortunately for us, my sister has a PhD in botany and plant pathology. So I emailed the question to her. If we do not get a definitive answer she will never hear the end of it (isn't that what little brothers are for?).
Well...that was interesting.
OK...so my hypotheses were mostly correct. There is a dormancy time for potatoes during which they will not sprout, even under the most ideal of conditions. According to the University of Idaho (go figure) for Russett potatoes this period is 80-175 days, depending on storage conditions. Unlike some seeds, there is no requirement to get cold (ie winter) for a period of time, although both temp and moisture can somewhat affect the dormancy period. Dormancy time varies by potato variety.
In other words, if you want to grow a second crop you will have to use seed stored from the prior year. No matter what you do to the ones from the first crop, you will not be able to get them to grow a second crop the same year.
Or, the leftovers from what I bought a few weeks ago, assuming I keep them rather cool in my basement...
Interesting about the dormancy and stuff.
Thanks for the post. It makes sense. So basically, the plants that come up in late summer are outliers. What you say explains why the majority of the volunteers that I get come up the next spring. I'll also assume that the reason for the crappy yields for late summer plantings has to do with temperature.
So, the garden is now done.
Anyway, I went with all plants this year due to the new kitten in our house. NOT conducive to raising plants from seed. At all.
I went with a really broad bunch of toms this year. Hope I turn out with something good. Except for the Brandy Boy, where I went with two plants, everything else is a one off.
And, also pretty much, I decided to mess with heirlooms. Hope the yield is OK.
Anyone have any experiences with these varieties?
Here's what I went with (yeah, their not all heirloom)
Golden Jubilee
Mortgage Lifter
German Johnson
Orange Wellington
Mr. Stripey
Big Boy
Better Boy
Jet Star
After that I went with a whopping three potato plants. That's another experiment, never tried them before. Did some cukes, some red and yellow peppers, and one jalapeno. Broccoli, only two plants. I've always had pest issues, and don't want to waste too much garden space on them. A few spinach plants, some lettuce. Basil, thyme, rosemary, one plant each.
Mostly, I don't have enough space to keep us in vegetables all summer (except for the tomatoes, and if I'm lucky, the peppers). So, for example, if the broc works, well, it will be a few heads and that's it. Same with the lettuce.
But, I don't really do it to keep my food costs down, I do it as a summer hobby. It keeps me out of trouble, at least for a few hours a week.
Our township does have community garden space, the plots are MUCH larger than the tiny 5x10 in my back yard, which you get via lottery, although it never fills up. But, of course, the problem with that is, I'd have to drive there daily. And, the last thing I would want to do after coming home from work is hop back in the car and go tend to a garden three miles away.
Have grown Big Boy and Better Boy, standard fare...no issues to note. No experience with the others.
Remember not to give tomatoes too much nitrogen fertilizer or you will get a lot of plant and not many tomatoes. Plant PhD sister told me that when we were trying to figure out why we had 6ft plants and very low yield last year (but in that case I think we put them where they didn't get enough sun).
Have grown Big Boy and Better Boy, standard fare...no issues to note. No experience with the others. Remember not to give tomatoes too much nitrogen fertilizer or you will get a lot of plant and not many tomatoes. Plant PhD sister told me that when we were trying to figure out why we had 6ft plants and very low yield last year (but in that case I think we put them where they didn't get enough sun).
I am assuming that something like Miracle Grow is a hugh nitrogen fertilzer? The *do* have (I think I saw it last year) a version for tomatoes. Or for vegetables. Can't remember.,
I put Miracle Grow (which contains nitrogen) on the tomatoes ONCE last year in accoradance with instructions. I got big plants and a terrible yield. Do I or my sister think that that single application should have caused the observed result? No. Do I plan on fertilizing them this year? No.
Clear as mud?
I think for fruit growth phosphorus and potassium are more important that nitrogen. Here's an article that may help.
http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/fertilizing-tomatoes.html
That being said I have never fertilized any of my vegetables. I do add a couple of yards of home made compost to the soil every year, as well as mulching with shredded yard debris throughout the year. The plants seem to thrive on that stuff so I don't see a need to fertilize.
I put Miracle Grow (which contains nitrogen) on the tomatoes ONCE last year in accoradance with instructions. I got big plants and a terrible yield. Do I or my sister think that that single application should have caused the observed result? No. Do I plan on fertilizing them this year? No. Clear as mud?
Oddly enough, I used Miracle Grow once a week last year, and I did OK. On one variety of tomatoes, and the cukes. All the other stuff didn't produce. Don't know if it was a coincidence or not.
Regardless, I think I'll just pass on the stuff this year.
I think for fruit growth phosphorus and potassium are more important that nitrogen. Here's an article that may help. http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/fertilizing-tomatoes.html That being said I have never fertilized any of my vegetables. I do add a couple of yards of home made compost to the soil every year, as well as mulching with shredded yard debris throughout the year. The plants seem to thrive on that stuff so I don't see a need to fertilize.
Yeah, I tend to avoid fertilizers as the soil here is pretty rich...but I had a sandy area in my one garden that I wanted to bulk up. So I used some cow manure, of which I have a big pile from when I let someone keep some cattle in my barn over the winter. Big mistake.....wherever they brought the hay from that they fed them, it was rich with the most noxious, spiny weeds I have ever encountered. 3 years to eliminate them.