about potatos?

[bornthrifty]

last year I grew them up in boxes I built from cedar fence boards, and used some mulch I had from the chickens

it worked good, but I think I crowded them a bit, and started late, got some nice potatos but they were really on the small side, baseball was the biggest one


now I am going to start earlier,
but am thinking about using the straw bale or hay bale method...
but I heard the potatos will be smallish

just wondering if anyone has gotten nice sized potatoes from the hay or straw bale method?

thanks ( I will probably try a few methods this year, unless some one can talk me out of one that may be a waste of time and effort)
thanks

 

[BirchHatchery]

i plant 50 lbs of potatoes a year in the ground i think you have to have poatoes planted by easter is Bs i plant mine and will continue to plant mine in end of may/june along with my sweet corn last year i planted sweet corn one week after july forth and boy it was the best corn ive ever gotton

 

[Marianne]

I think the biggest problem with planting spuds in bales is that the bales usually aren't loose enough. The bales I have now are the tightest, heaviest straw bales that I have ever had. But I only tried bale planting one time.

I usually plant in straw, but loose straw on the ground. I usually end up with a foot of straw over the potato pieces by the time they're blooming. The straw helps keep things from warming up in the early spring, too, so I start out with just a few inches, adding more as the plant grows.

I have always been happy with the size of my potatoes. If you do plant in straw, you'll need some fertilizer or compost tea along the way for nutrients.

Around here, St. Patricks day is the time to plant potatoes. Mine are in the garden already.

 

[Wifezilla]

You don't want to plant IN the bales as far as I understand. But you do want to use the straw. I just planted my yukon golds in a garbage can and I am using straw from the duck pen.

 

[i_am2bz]

Not my intention to hijack bornthifty's thread......but how high do ya'll let the plants get before adding more soil/compost/straw/whatever? I've read 8".

I planted 4 pieces in a barrel (just to see what would happen); all have greenery, but 1 plant is much taller than the others. If it doesn't catch up soon, I may smother it when I add the other material. :/

 

[kimlove2]

I don't know about the hay bales, but I have planted mine in old tires. when the plant is about 6 inches above the rim of the tire pile on another, and fill it with dirt/compost/sawdust. do this until you have four tires stacked up. My taters are always good sized and very tasty!

 

[Marianne]

Not my intention to hijack bornthifty's thread......but how high do ya'll let the plants get before adding more soil/compost/straw/whatever? I've read 8".

I planted 4 pieces in a barrel (just to see what would happen); all have greenery, but 1 plant is much taller than the others. If it doesn't catch up soon, I may smother it when I add the other material. :/

I'd say 8" max - I aim for shorter than that, maybe 5 to 7", but man, those things grow fast once they get some leaves. They generally get too tall if I forget about them for a couple days.

 

[i_am2bz]

Thanks, Marianne...these plants are actually more wide than high, but one is prolly twice as tall as the shortest one. Is it obvious I've never grown taters before...?

 

[Marianne]

Don't worry too much about it all. You'll probably still get spuds! One year I got the most potatoes from the crappiest looking plants!

I'd probably just tuck straw all around and on top of some of the branches. As long as you leave some leaves showing at the top, you should be okay. Just my opinion.

 

[Neko-chan]

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