odd potatoes

[thistlebloom]

Spacing and number of eyes on your cut seed is important.

Some folks don't think so and say that one eye can produce multiple plants anyway. But, it isn't what the agronomists advise for the spud farmers - limit what will grow in the square foot by limiting the number of eyes at planting.

Planting a whole seed potato is likely to result in many "small potatoes." Actually, it is a way for growers of fingerlings to limit the size and they may crowd them deliberately by not cutting the seed &/or close planting.

Steve

I'm not a potatoologist, and I would never argue with Steve or agronomists, however..... (had to get those disclaimers out of the way )...that was not my experience. I never cut my seed, and this year as an experiment and just for grins, I planted one of those HUGE russet bakers from Costco, whole. I harvested -hang on- I'll run out to the garage and count..... 17 spuds from it. None were as gigantic as the mother, but they were all respectable, and no marbles. Nearly all of the potatoes in that northeast bed were wonderfully productive and large. It was such fun digging them! I kept running back to the house to show off the big guys.

By contrast, the ones I planted in the southwest bed, ( and there were a few of the same varieties as the NW bed ) were smaller and less productive and had many marbles, although there were a few great big ones. That bed is still pretty new and very rocky and I have a lot of work ahead of me to build up the humus and fertility, and because I planted it after the NW bed I started planting closer than I wanted. So in that bed I guess the "whole seed = smaller potatoes" held true to an extent. But the other bed planted the same way was just amazing.

 

[NwMtGardener]

My experience has been that a potato plant in my garden will produce variable size potatoes, almost every plant. A few tiny, maybe 2 medium, and one or two large. I always took that to be "normal" but maybe its just normal due to the lack of fertility in my garden.

As far as cooking, i think my fresh new spuds cook FASTER than stored or store bought ones, but maybe it has something to do with variety too, i planted yukon golds this year, they are delicious, but its not the variety i usually buy at the grocery store.

Like Marshall, i also worked in a kitchen as a teen where we peeled, chopped and soaked our potatoes, for mashed potatoes. We would change the water out several times to help wash out the starch, but i guess i never had a good grasp of how that changed the potatoes for cooking!! Maybe they cook more uniformly??

 

[catjac1975]

This is a good point. If you look in a potato catalog there are hundreds of varieties to choose from. Many of the more unusual forms are quite small. That is probably why they are not that popular. Personally I prefer peeling the big potatoes.

Spacing and number of eyes on your cut seed is important.

Some folks don't think so and say that one eye can produce multiple plants anyway. But, it isn't what the agronomists advise for the spud farmers - limit what will grow in the square foot by limiting the number of eyes at planting.

Planting a whole seed potato is likely to result in many "small potatoes." Actually, it is a way for growers of fingerlings to limit the size and they may crowd them deliberately by not cutting the seed &/or close planting.

Steve

I'm not a potatoologist, and I would never argue with Steve or agronomists, however..... (had to get those disclaimers out of the way )...that was not my experience. I never cut my seed, and this year as an experiment and just for grins, I planted one of those HUGE russet bakers from Costco, whole. I harvested -hang on- I'll run out to the garage and count..... 17 spuds from it. None were as gigantic as the mother, but they were all respectable, and no marbles. Nearly all of the potatoes in that northeast bed were wonderfully productive and large. It was such fun digging them! I kept running back to the house to show off the big guys.

By contrast, the ones I planted in the southwest bed, ( and there were a few of the same varieties as the NW bed ) were smaller and less productive and had many marbles, although there were a few great big ones. That bed is still pretty new and very rocky and I have a lot of work ahead of me to build up the humus and fertility, and because I planted it after the NW bed I started planting closer than I wanted. So in that bed I guess the "whole seed = smaller potatoes" held true to an extent. But the other bed planted the same way was just amazing.

 

[canesisters]

Just wanted to add - don't knock the 'marbles', they are perfect for Monty's Crash Hot Potatoes!
This was my first year growing potatoes - and by accident on top of that. So I was tickled to death to find that I had 'taters' in the garden and I carefully stored away every single one of them. A couple of nights ago I rummaged around in the box and pulled out a half dozen or so marbles. It only took a moment in hot water to soften them up - a fork was sufficient to squash them - smothered in olive oil, salt & cheese and baked... BEST potato treat EVER ... and since they were so small and I only had a few.. not enough to share .... hehehehe

 

[catjac1975]

Another thing to remember is to make sure you eat some when the are"new" potatoes. It is just after the plant blooms. You cannot imagine the flavor and texture!

 

[bj taylor]

speaking of odd potatoes, I have a brand new potato plant that has come up in the last couple of days. is this normal? here it is beginning of fall. we recently had a marvelous rain. do I hold off digging to see what's under there, get it now, or can whatever potato is under there survive a mild Texas winter even after the top of the plant has bit the dust? just curious about this late bloomer

 

[digitS']

I'm sure that I don't know much of anything about potatoes in Texas. (Altho', Dad's mom was from Texas. I can't remember if she was born in Montague County or her family just lived there before moving north. Twenty or thirty years after the railroad replaced the Chisholm Trail . . . but, I digress.)

I'm sure that I don't know much of anything about potatoes in Texas.

These people do! Here is the date they give for planting seed potatoes in east Texas: Potatoes, Irish - 8/15 - 9/15 (Texas A&M link). Do you think you may have hit that planting date window, BJ?

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I have potatoes over winter in Massachusetts easily in zone 6, so you should not have any problem.

speaking of odd potatoes, I have a brand new potato plant that has come up in the last couple of days. is this normal? here it is beginning of fall. we recently had a marvelous rain. do I hold off digging to see what's under there, get it now, or can whatever potato is under there survive a mild Texas winter even after the top of the plant has bit the dust? just curious about this late bloomer

 

[baymule]

BJ, the potato is responding to the cooler weather, like our early spring. It will freeze back, but I don't know about leaving the potatoes, if any in the earth over the winter. If my feeble mind (riffling through the files at turtle speed) can recall, letting the vines freeze might lead to the potatoes rotting. You can let them stay in the ground until frost, but then dig them up. A friend of mine grew some last fall and they made little potatoes.

I have some potatoes coming up in a compost bin. I'm going to let them grow and see what happens.

 

[thistlebloom]

They may not rot. I had scads of volunteers this year from potatoes I missed at last years harvest, and some of those were really pretty impressive! I would leave it and see what happens in the spring. You won't have any tubers of usable size on it now anyway.