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Update on the Great Potato Experiment
In May, I started my Great Potato Gardening Experiment when I planted a plastic trash bag and my compost bin full of seed potatoes.
“I sure hope there are some potatoes growing in there,” I thought to myself as I took some pictures of my backyard potato garden.
It’s the first time I’ve tried to grow spuds–and depending on the outcome–it may be my last.
Right after planting at the end of May, the potatoes started to send up green leafy shoots.
When the shoots were about 7 inches tall, I added more of my soil mixture, part mushroom compost and part potting soil, to the bag and the composter, leaving a few inches of the plant showing.
I’ve tried to keep the potatoes well-watered, but not too wet. After they’d grown another 7 inches, I added another layer of soil mix.
I’m hoping tubers are forming at this very minute.
I’ll keep up the watering and wait for signs the potatoes are ready to harvest: yellow leaves and die back of the foliage. Then I’ll know it’s time to stop watering and wait for the skins to dry a bit.
By the end of summer I’ll know if there are any potatoes for mashing–or not.
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Comments
I tried this too. It was going great until the last time I filled in more dirt…. I think I over watered because the plant shriveled up and died…. I’m determined though and I plan on trying again next year.
I did plant potatoes in the ground as well so it is not a total loss.
That looks like a fun way to plant things like a potato. I think the best way is to plant your crops in the ground. My only problem with that is the bugs but ever since I got row cover I don’t have to worry about the bugs anymore because they can’t get to my plants or crops and kill them.