Growing Potatoes -- Beginner Style!
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- Jojo
- stewartlj
- Jojo
- axlroad
- Jojo
- dcslater
- Jojo
- Jojo
- grayandstacey
- Jojo
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» Jojo - Hi there
Hi thereWould it be possible to convince your child away from potatoes? I fear that 12-inches is not really enough.
Either way, a vegetable garden at this time of year is best left fallow and weed-free. Come September you might want to try a fall crop of rye seeds or clover, which you could dig into the soil come spring.
More soil would be best. Is there something there you could compost alot of (leaves?) to come up with more soil next spring to ammend the soil with?
I hope this helps - JOjo
-- posted by Jojo
» stewartlj - Spuds
Thanks for the reply. I have been out digging again, and discovered that the soil actually goes down at least 6ft - and very probably deeper. What concerns me most is the condition of the soil which was, until recently, full of tree roots. I have removed the larger roots, and most of the bits of string, but it is an endless task, and I have decided to cut my losses. Will these roots, which are no longer attached to anything above ground, pose a problem to newly planted plants?Compost is not a problem, we have about two year's worth of grass cuttings and miscellaneous garden and biodegradable kitchen waste (old tea bags, banana skins, etc), and come the autumn, there will be more leaves in my garden than there are £5 notes in the Bank of England.
Best wishes,
Stewart
-- posted by stewartlj
» Jojo - Hi Stewart
If the roots are not live they should be fine down there. That depends much on what kinds of trees they were attatched to though. For example, willow, pear, apple, cherry, alder, holly and maple roots can sometimes sprout after they've been cut. If they did, it would happen in the spring.I have a garden riddled with cedar roots (or their roots are riddled with my garden, depending on which side of the fence you choose). Cedar trees don't tend to shoot up with new trees to badly, but the living roots are posing a problem to certain areas of the garden, where they suck up alot of moisture. They also grow quite fast and recover lost roots in the area of the cut. Tree roots that are live can suck up quite alot of moisture, sometimes making much more irrigation of the area necessary, especially in terms of a vegetable garden. So in many ways, whether or not to remove all the roots is a question of a) what kind of trees they are coming from and b) how certain you can be they they will die and c) what you want to grow there and how.
I am hoping that the best possible scenario is what happens: The roots die, and are easier to dig out once they've begun to rot in the ground, likely after a few seasons of growing vegetables on the soil. For the first year you will probably find that marrows and tomatoes grow best there, and both are easy to weed around, especially if you use a mulch, newspapers or plastic. Potatoes would be fine as well and would help you dig the soil (they tend to soften up poor soils).
So hopefully your backbreaking is over for now.
-- posted by Jojo
» axlroad - Potato flowers
Everyone I know that planted potatoes in their garden have flowers on their plants. Mine are not yet flowering. I planted at the same time and the same varieties. Our gardens get equal amounts of sunlight. My plants look healthy, but they are just not flowering. Any ideas?-- posted by axlroad
» Jojo - Re: Potato flowers
Hi AxlroadThere's got to be something different about your garden and theirs. Could be the soil. Maybe yours has less phosphrus and more nitrogen, resulting in lots of nice leaves but later, or no, flowers. Late or no flowers is nothing to get too worried about. They are not requred for a good harvest.
Not all potato varieties mature at the same rates. Perhaps you have a later-maturing variety than the others.
If you go through the whole season with no flowers, you probably need to work on your soil nutrient levels. Additionally, you should not grow potatoes in the same bed two years running, so you'll have to add phosphorus to the new bed you choose for next year. For more info on why you should move your potato bed next year, see the article Crop Rotation - Beginner Style.
I hope this helps - Jojo
-- posted by Jojo
» grayandstacey - Potato Plants
I planted a few potatoes about 6 weeks ago I have very large plants and leaves but no flowers. When should I dig them up? We are beginners and not sure when to dig them up.-- posted by grayandstacey
» Jojo - Potato Plants
A good place to start if you are a beginner is by reading the article.You can dig them up anytime - it just depends how big you want your potatoes to be. Dig them up now and you will find you have very very tiny potatoes, probably about the size of peanuts. But they will be delicious peanuts. HOWEVER, I recommend you dig them up anytime between when they flower and your first local frost. They will likely flower in about 3 weeks for you.
I hope this helps - Jojo
-- posted by Jojo
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