A few weeks ago some of my potato pots were looking like this, coming along great. I figured I had a few months before they would be ready.
Well a few weeks ago the leaves started dying off (these are the pots where I did not cover them in our last freeze and I had some leaf die back and they did seem to recover). I started noticing that more and more leaves started to die. I guess I had envisioned large leaves in the pot and then the leaves turning yellow as a sign that the potatoes would be ready. I guess these plants were stressed and gave up.
I started these pots back in February (toward the end of potato planting season).
I decided to check to see what was under the soil and see if anything was salvageable at least the soil may have been.
Here is what I found from 2 of the 3 buckets:
This is the end result from 2 of the buckets where the leaves were gone. I did not have a scale, so not sure how much they all weighed, maybe 2-3 pounds combined.
There is one bucket left with one stem of leaves hanging on. I will wait until it is gone to harvest any potatoes.
I do have other pots and a another potato bed containing potatoes planted later, so I will post when those are ready to be harvested.
wow, that's not bad! when did you plant them originally? i haven't tried potatoes yet ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Joseph, I actually planted these back in February and I think these were from a grocery store, becasue I could not find any in town. I then found some at a feed and supply store and planted these in some leftover pots and a flower bed that I was not using (not very deep). These still have leaves and are thriving. So I am not sure if the other potatoes suffered due to the freezes or if it was because they were from a grocery store. Next season I will be making a larger potoato bed that is much deeper to see if get better results. The potatoes were real good, just not enough (of course).
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruth@VS, I was shocked at how easy the process is. I am meausring and getting my supply list to finish making the beds. The pot method is good, but your yield is surely low and it seems you have to water more often. I figured spend a few more dollars for the wood and dirt (about $20 bucks for a 3X6X10 bed and call it a day). Plus the next growing season you must find something ele to plant in that spot, because you know you can't let valuable real estate go to waste (ha ha.)
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