Potato growing question?

[nao57]

First, I want to encourage as many of you as possible to grow gardens this year (and next year). specifically not so much flowering stuff, but stuff you can eat. When times were hard or when the country was facing challenges throughout our history that's what people did. Because it was common sense. It was logical to do.

...

OK, here's my question about potatoes. I saw a couple youtube videos where there's people that say they pulled out potatoes from under a potato plant before the plant had done growing all of them. OR they suggested you could do this. In those videos they hadn't really tested if that works, or if it was a good idea. They didn't have facts.

I'm wondering, based on comparing that idea with other vegetable plants, if you pull out potatoes prematurely before the plant is done growing them will it regrow them or make it grow more? Will it compensate for it? This seems interesting to know. But unless someone has the potato plant in some kind of container that lets you access inside the ground easier not many people will know. Anyway I'm very interested in this idea and hope someone has feedback on it? Plus, part of why this came up they say if you pick the fruit early on other stuff like cucumbers or tomatoes that it tells the plant to grow more. And is that the same?

Thank you very much.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Interesting question. I'm not a huge potato fan, but I started growing them last year, gave them to friends who raved about them, and then begrudgingly planted them again this year for those friends.

So, I have "traditional" planted potatoes in rows in the dug up earth. And my mother, who likes to try new things, planted some potatoes in cardboard boxes. Her potatoes are already growing leaves.

I would imagine that you could pick a few potatoes off of a plant and it would be ok. Not sure it would grow more but continue to grow the fruits that are already there.

I look forward to hearing from more experienced gardeners!!

 

[Acre4Me]

Our potatoes have been in the ground long enough to have produced flowers. Recently, I did exactly what you suggest: picked a few “new” potatoes off. I have never done this before, but we have a lot of potato plants. So, I just scraped around the first couple inches of soil and if I came across an edible size I picked it. Any roots that popped up I re-buried. Plants still look great. .

 

[kbroom]

First, I want to encourage as many of you as possible to grow gardens this year (and next year). specifically not so much flowering stuff, but stuff you can eat. When times were hard or when the country was facing challenges throughout our history that's what people did. Because it was common sense. It was logical to do.

...

OK, here's my question about potatoes. I saw a couple youtube videos where there's people that say they pulled out potatoes from under a potato plant before the plant had done growing all of them. OR they suggested you could do this. In those videos they hadn't really tested if that works, or if it was a good idea. They didn't have facts.

I'm wondering, based on comparing that idea with other vegetable plants, if you pull out potatoes prematurely before the plant is done growing them will it regrow them or make it grow more? Will it compensate for it? This seems interesting to know. But unless someone has the potato plant in some kind of container that lets you access inside the ground easier not many people will know. Anyway I'm very interested in this idea and hope someone has feedback on it? Plus, part of why this came up they say if you pick the fruit early on other stuff like cucumbers or tomatoes that it tells the plant to grow more. And is that the same?

Thank you very much.

SO true! They used to call them "Victory" gardens. I like to grow those small red potatoes sometimes called, "new" potatoes. You can throw them into soups, cut them and fries them up with some onions (yum), and don't even have to peel them, especially if you've grown them at home, and KNOW what has been around them. Potatoes should be a stalk garden plant, along with beans, corn, and greens. I actually grow curly dock that I took from a nearby field, and cultivated in a large pot with great dirt. We also collected cow paddies from a neighbor's field. That certainly helps with the fertilizer. Usually, when I harvest a potato plant, that's pretty much it. Just get some more potato "seeds" or allow your potatoes to grow "eyes," then cut as many pieces as possible that have them. Plant them about two week apart, so that you'll always have some growing. I think cow dung is the best for potatoes. Uh, regarding the cucumber, it's possible that you're right about it signaling the plant to grow more. I've named my LARGE cucumber plant FEED ME! I haven't even counted how many cucumbers I've gotten this year, but my fridge is full, I eat some every morning, and sometimes in the evening as well. All our friends and neighbors have also had a bag or two also... My husband likes to go out and check her to see if she's given anymore goodies!

 

[saysfaa]

OK, here's my question about potatoes. I saw a couple youtube videos where there's people that say they pulled out potatoes from under a potato plant before the plant had done growing all of them. OR they suggested you could do this. In those videos they hadn't really tested if that works, or if it was a good idea. They didn't have facts.

I'm wondering, based on comparing that idea with other vegetable plants, if you pull out potatoes prematurely before the plant is done growing them will it regrow them or make it grow more? Will it compensate for it? ... Plus, part of why this came up they say if you pick the fruit early on other stuff like cucumbers or tomatoes that it tells the plant to grow more. And is that the same?

Thank you very much.

My mother sent one of us out to dig potatoes for dinner nearly every day. We would loosen the soil just enough to find the amount needed. It was often not an amount even with the amount from a single plant.

It is important to disturb the rest of the roots as little as possible if you are leaving part of the plant to continue growing.

The rest of the potatoes keep growing - as long as not too much was taken. When too much of the roots were disturbed then the top of the plant would die. The rest of the potatoes from that plant stopped growing but remained good as long as enough soil covered them to keep them from turning green.

I don't know if taking some stimulated more potatoes to develop. We had a long row and just started at one end. In the beginning, it might take two or three or more plants to get enough for one meal. Nearer harvest time, it might take three or four meals to harvest all of a single plant.

I tend to think it doesn't stimulate more potatoes. The plants seem to produce according to growing conditions. If they get enough but not too much water and/or nutrients in the soil then there are more productive roots per plant and more potatoes on each root and each potato will be bigger. It is pretty easy to see if a row gets watered or fed unevenly.

 

[coastingangel]

The previous owners of our property planted potatoes, that was 3 years ago, I havent planted any since and we only have to buy them for a few months in the middle of winter.

I just dig up enough for what I need and make sure to leave the rest well covered.

Totally agree on encouraging people to grow their own food, so rewarding.

 

[PopoMyers]

SO true! They used to call them "Victory" gardens. I like to grow those small red potatoes sometimes called, "new" potatoes. You can throw them into soups, cut them and fries them up with some onions (yum), and don't even have to peel them, especially if you've grown them at home, and KNOW what has been around them. Potatoes should be a stalk garden plant, along with beans, corn, and greens. I actually grow curly dock that I took from a nearby field, and cultivated in a large pot with great dirt. We also collected cow paddies from a neighbor's field. That certainly helps with the fertilizer. Usually, when I harvest a potato plant, that's pretty much it. Just get some more potato "seeds" or allow your potatoes to grow "eyes," then cut as many pieces as possible that have them. Plant them about two week apart, so that you'll always have some growing. I think cow dung is the best for potatoes. Uh, regarding the cucumber, it's possible that you're right about it signaling the plant to grow more. I've named my LARGE cucumber plant FEED ME! I haven't even counted how many cucumbers I've gotten this year, but my fridge is full, I eat some every morning, and sometimes in the evening as well. All our friends and neighbors have also had a bag or two also... My husband likes to go out and check her to see if she's given anymore goodies!

Your potatoes look like they're almost mature. Nice harvest!

 

[PopoMyers]

Yes, you can steal some new potatoes when you have blossoms. Any that are left will continue getting larger. The plant is finished maturing when they start yellowing and drying up. Dig them after this. Mild winter areas can actually leave them in the ground and dig through fall and winter as needed. Zone 8, anyway. Mulch with straw. I dig mine because I've had underground critter eat the tubers!

 

[nao57]

Thank you very much to all of you. The comments you replied with were all very rewarding and interesting. its always interesting to hear other peoples experiences!

 

[kbroom]

Your potatoes look like they're almost mature. Nice harvest!

Thank you. They certainly tasted great! My mother was German, and she would fry the potatoes with oil, onions and a pinch of sugar, not to sweeten them, but to encourage them to caramelize.