Store-Bought Potatoes

[freeasaburt]

I understand the reasoning behind spraying, but if it was *impossible* to grow potatoes without spraying, my ("very low effort") experiment would have totally failed, and the opposite was true. But if you rely on your crops, or you have pretty huge areas of produce, I do get it.
I noticed how Colorado bugs also eat other plants indeed, like tomatoes.

How many there are can also depend on the year, some years when farmers change crops (after potatoes), there's literally thousands of Colorado bugs crawling the roads between the fields here; I guess that despite the spraying, a lot of them still hatch/'change from larvae into bugs' the next year, and when there's no potatoes to be found, they start looking for them. If a 'swarm' like that reaches your veggie garden, you will have to react accordingly (not spraying is not much of an option then i guess) or just give up some of your produce.

 

[muddstopper]

I grow tates two different ways. Here outside my house, I use large containers and found out last year I can get 2 crops a year from my pots. I also grow taters in the soil at my sons house to store for during the winter. I have very little tater bug problems in my pot plated spuds. I attribute that to the soil is seperated from the ground contact where the bugs actually live. The bugs dont seem to move between the ground to inside the containers. My container plants are also just starting to bloom for this years first crop. I move my ground planted spaces each year and this seems to help with the bug population out in the garden. I think it is because I move the plants away from where they are living in the soil, jmo. It takes a lot of land to rotate planting spaces each year, but I find it does seem to help control the bugs. My poted plants ae way ahead of my gound plants due to different planting dates caused by the weather. I can plant 6 0r 8 pots in just a few minutes and do it on my front porch even if its pouring down of rain, where I could think of plowing in the garden. I get excellent yields out of the pots and nice size taters to boot. Since I just discovered last year that two crops a year is possibile planting in pots I am looking for a few more large pots to increase the number of taters I can actually grow. Pot grown taters are also very easy to harvest. just dump the pots upside down and pick up the taters. put the soil back in the pot, add in a few seeds taters and wait on the next crop.

 

[sonny580]

The commercial growers use TONS of a REAL nasty chemicals in tater production AND in the storage sheds! They fumigate the stored taters every so often while in storage and keep the taters for 3 to 5 years before they sell or dump them, so my little sprayings are not even on the scale of what the big guys do. Thats why I dont buy store taters!! Nuff said????

 

[TNTreeHugger]

https://www.cmmcp.org/pesticide-information/pages/spinosad-saccharopolyspora-spinosa#:~:text=Spinosad is practically non-toxic,highly toxic to eastern oysters.

"In general, Spinosad provides effective control of pests belonging to the following groups: moths and butterflies (caterpillars); "
Spinosad...

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Honestly, I can do without white taters all together, they're on that "rarely ever eat" list right under soybeans and corn...okra, eggplant, and kale are higher up the list.

So, for my purposes, and my size garden, I'd much rather buy a few taters from the store when I want to make beef stew, game hens, or potato salad than spray something that will kill my Gulf fritillary butterflies, and others in the yard.

As to the comment about "not dumping it in the pond" well, if covering my little garden won't protect it from potential pesticide gas-off from the farmers fields surrounding my property, how will spraying it in my garden keep it out of the fish pond?

I don't want to argue with you guys about it. I can clearly see how serious potato growers need to use something to protect their crop.
I just don't need to do that since I don't eat much, don't sell what I grow, and can buy good stuff from the Mennonite store up the road.

I am curious to see if I get those bugs though. If I do, I'll use @slowp coffee can method of elimination.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Everything you never knew you didn't know about taters.

https://spudman.com/

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Potatoes are being dumped west of Spokane and you can get as many as you want. The Hutterites are doing this instead of feeding the taters to cows. Apparently the potato buyers reduced the contracts by 30% and room must be made for this year's crop. It's too far for me to go.

I will plant one spud this year, like usual, and hope the dogs don't dig it up.

Growing up, we had a good sized patch of spuds every year and a root cellar to keep them in. I did not like planting them because it was early in the spring and usually cold and windy. Very windy...

That YT report was from three years ago. (I was wondering why they were still wearing masks. lol)
Are they still giving them away this year?

 

[muddstopper]

I just planted another pot of potatoes today. also a couple of blueberry bushes, but thats a different story. the taters planted today I used store bought potting soil, composted chicken poop and some freshly harvested poop from the hen house. I figure I will end up with a ton of just vines and few taters, but its a cheap test. I also moved this pot to a different location from my other tater pots so I dont expect any tater bugs to show up. I will hit the taters with some 0/0/50 and 0/46/0 once the plants emerge. I got to thinking about the buying taters at the store thing and realized each of my pots supplies about the same amount of spuds as is contained in one of those little bags found in the store. I found and ordered some 17gal pots (4) which will increase yield. They where $8 each and I am waiting to get them before I order any more. I have found cheap pots will only last about a season, so I dont want to invest in something that wont last more than a year or two. 5gal sheetrock mud buckets work and last well, and they are mostly free, but not hardly big enough if you want lots of taters

 

[sonny580]

bigger is better!! More soil area = more production! Plants feel more at home in bigger pots too so that helps.
Spuds here just starting to come up. Now gotta start watching for bugs, sprayer is ready! LOL!

 

[muddstopper]

bigger is better!! More soil area = more production! Plants feel more at home in bigger pots too so that helps.
Spuds here just starting to come up. Now gotta start watching for bugs, sprayer is ready! LOL!

My pot taters are starting to bloom and I have reached into one pot and have found little marble taters. I planted the pots first of march, against BillGs advice. His years of claimed experience doesnt mean squat in my area. I planted in the ground on March 5 last year, again against BillGs advice, and ended dumping a loader bucket full in the woods this past march because they where starting to sprout and getting all wrinkely. My storage area is a little lacking, but it gets me from harvest to planting.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Just found this article

POTATO Yukon Gold​

 

[Del_]

I just ordered 5 lbs. of Yukon Gem.

Supposed to be an improvement over Yukon Gold.

Higher yield, more disease resistance and less tuber defects.

 

[sonny580]

I got stuck with Yukon GEM one time! NEVER again! NO yield pale color and just no good here! Your results may differ in your area!
Also gotta plant garden when its right in your area! What works for 1 wont work for all! I plant way too early here and a lot of the seed dont even sprout!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Will potatoes clone?
I mean, if I plant a store bought potato, will the potatoes be identical to the one I bought?
I know with some seeds you get from store bought fruit/veggies you likely won't get the same as the produce you bought.

 

[sonny580]

With potatoes . they CLAIM you can replant for 3 years then things go South! I only plant 1 year then get new seed. Other stuff that is modified or crossbred will not give anything like the original.

 

[muddstopper]

With potatoes . they CLAIM you can replant for 3 years then things go South! I only plant 1 year then get new seed. Other stuff that is modified or crossbred will not give anything like the original.

I dont know if I agree with that. I have been replanting my own tater seed for years. I only plant Kenneybac and Red Pontiac. I remember growing up that the old folks used to swap taters for planting, claimed it kept the nematodes away, but I think just planting in different places does the same thing. My container taters have bloomed already,I think I should be able to dig the taters and replant the pots by the end of May. That should give me time for a second crop.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

I dont know if I agree with that. I have been replanting my own tater seed for years. I only plant Kenneybac and Red Pontiac. I remember growing up that the old folks used to swap taters for planting, claimed it kept the nematodes away, but I think just planting in different places does the same thing. My container taters have bloomed already,I think I should be able to dig the taters and replant the pots by the end of May. That should give me time for a second crop.

My potato plants have flower buds getting ready to open, how long after they flower are the potatoes ready to dig? Aren't you supposed to wait until the vines die back, or 90 days from planting?

 

[c_loh]

Are you telling me you do not cut them?
Have you never planted potatoes?
You realize March 29 was the day to plant potatoes I hope.

Hey Bill. I was just wondering if you have any Poulan 306a or 245a models you might be willing to part with? Thanks. Chad

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Hey Bill. I was just wondering if you have any Poulan 306a or 245a models you might be willing to part with? Thanks. Chad

Mr. Bill's not here.

 

[muddstopper]

My potato plants have flower buds getting ready to open, how long after they flower are the potatoes ready to dig? Aren't you supposed to wait until the vines die back, or 90 days from planting?

If your taters are blooming, then you already have taters under the vine but probably not very big. Need to wait a bit for size. As for waiting until the vines die back. normally I will. but if you want to get two crops in, you cant really wait that long. Last year, I waited until july too plant my second crop, and altho I made some taters, the cold weather hit and I had to harvest. I had a few decent size taters, but mostly golfball to baseball size. I'll stick my hand into the soil and see what I can pull out and If the taters are decent, I will go ahead and harvest so I can get my second crop in the dirt as soon as possible. Just to be clear, I am only dealing with 6 or 7 pots. My main crop is planted in the soil and will stay until the vines are dead, and the weeds are a foot or 2 high.