GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - bigger potato yields ( was Excitement in the Air)

06-05-2004, 09:04 PM

In article , wrote:
On Sun, 02 May 2004 18:05:42 GMT, (Rez)
wrote:
Interesting... say, here's a question about potatoes:

I've noticed that red potatoes grown here in California are
pale-skinned and flavourless. Quite unlike the good red potatoes from
North Dakota and Washington.

So when I planted some "eyes", I used good Washington potatoes.

Were they cut up .. one eye to the chunk or did you plant smaller
whole potatoes?

Some of each, since some were real small and others had plenty of
spare eyes.

But they *produced* typical pale bland California potatoes -- yuck!
Did you let them dry up or just dig them while the vines were still
green? In california they might just keep growing and growing if you
didn't withdraw water and then make sure no more got to them...
because they will start growing again, making bumps on the already
existing potatoes and some small new ones could form.

They died off on their own and looked like potatoes normally will when
they're ready to dig. Probably the heat and dry air finally got to
them. They were every which size, from pea to fist.

So appears it's a soil, water, or climate issue (SoCal desert), rather
than a variety issue. Any thoughts?
Certainly growing conditions affect the outcome, water.. and too much
of it will make anemic potatoes, if you suspect there is something
missing from the soil, have it tested.

Our "soil" is so alkaline it's off the scale (our water is very high
in calcium, but not in other salts), has zero nitrogen, but is fairly
good for other nutrients. I've added Ammonium sulphate (can't find
straight sulphur here anymore) and plenty of horse manure and mulch,
but it's gonna be a long uphill climb to real soil.

Grass (but not corn), trees other than citrus, tomatoes, onions,
roses, bulb flowers of any sort, all grow like weeds with no care
other than water (tho the tomatoes really went nuts when sprayed with
insecticidal soap). Other veggies have highly variable and often weird
results. Peas do fine, beans look terrible unless you pile on the
nitrogen. Broccoli turns into a giant perennial thing with lacey
leaves, and doesn't make heads, but does make sugar-sweet tasty
blossoms (this was the headed variety, so it's not supposed to do
that!) Carrots are so bitter they're inedible (and make you sick if
you eat 'em anyway). Squash and melons do well if we get a spring, but
not if we just go from winter to summer in one day like happened last
year. Spinach and leaf lettuce get milky-sapped and incredibly
bitter (haven't tried head lettuce yet.)

Califlower was really weird -- didn't head up til it was over a year
old, and by then they were 4 feet tall -- and the entire plant was
sweet and edible (including the root nodules that look like they want
to be flower heads!) Finally had to get rid of them because they were
drawing HORDES of mice. Next time I'll plant 'em out in the middle of
the back 40, not within screaming distance of the house.

The variety you're growing is the biggest difference .. there is an
early red.. norland I think.. and it doesn't have good flavor, very
anemic even grown here in Idaho! (at least in my opinion). Pontiacs
are a later variety, better keeper, MUCH better flavor. I grew some
Levitt's pink..red skin and pink flesh, it was very tasty. Sangre are
a russet skinned red, a bit more mealy than what most of us think of
as reds.. waxy moist.

Pontiac rings a bell, I think that's probably what these were.

As a side effect, they also produced literally hundreds of half-inch
nubbins which were impossible to dig out, all of which sprouted this
spring. So now I have this patch of volunteers which apparently don't
mind that I'm not watering them, in the hope that they'll dry up and
go away. g
Well you could hill with soil or mulch some of them, don't water them
and see what they produce with just the natural water. They produce
tubers above the level of the "seed" piece, so you might as well get
something out of them if you can, they may be better dryer.

Now that it's gone up to 100F they've pretty much died back. That
area needs daily water or it turns to concrete real fast. Might be
worth spading around in there to see what they did, since they had the
whole winter and spring to do it.

In the future, be sure to know precisely what variety you're planting,

Well, what I planted were good eating, so I'd hope they'd grow the
same variety as I just ate g

and if you don't like what you get, then you'll know for sure what not
to buy next time, because all red potatoes, or white potatoes are NOT

The best reds are from North Dakota!

Not a red, but I love kennebec potatoes, they're cobble shaped white
potatoes that can get so big they suggest you plant them closer
together than other varieties to keep them from getting too large.

Are those the ones that get all knobby?

~REZ~