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Hey Doc - this was superb! Not only have you provided folks with an easy means to grow taters, but in viewing the responses, it looks like you've sparked an interest. Excellent!
I had not heard of doing this with leaves only, but since I still have plenty left, I will conduct yet another one of my experiments and see if there is a difference in yield. Normally, I use a mix of leaves/compost/bark fines.
As far as "containing" them, I have used hogwire wrapped with pieces of landscape fabric (fasten with binder clips),
1/2" hardware mesh, & a specially made storable potato bin made from black heavy but flexible plastic (?) - got it on one of the garden supply sites. These are all easy to obtain & store.
Thanks again for your efforts. I wish I lived closer: I'd swing by so you could yap at me! Katye
Absolutely. This will be a fun experiment. But it got me to thinking: if folks do not have a quantity of available resources, such as leaves, what other mediums could be used to grow taters? I don't recall ever seeing anything written on this subject in any gardening mag, other than taters can be grown in poor soil. If one could lay the tubers on top of soil, could shredded paper be layered on top of it instead of leaves? Any ideas?
I'm just too curious for my own good...
thanks again, Doc.
Hmm, that's a very interesting idea. Taters will do pretty good even in poor soil. Its the drainage that's an issue, they do not like wet! I don't know why shredded newspapers wouldn't work. Straw works, you could use wheat straw, little weed seed in that.
The main difference in growing them this way, and I probably didn't make that real clear. The potatoes grow straight up and produce multiple lateral growth. They normally only do one or two laterals under ground. I hate to break it to Horseshoe, but my potatos did have "blooms". They reminded me of the petals on a snapdragon. LOL Far be it from me to argue with one of the resident experts...meow...LOL
You want to cover them from the light source so they'll grow up seeking the light, so I don't see why other materials wouldn't work.
I got the idea from an old Mother Earth magazine about 20 years ago and never went back. I like the oak leaves because they do repel the potato beetles. The neighbors cannot get potatoes in the ground because of these pests, or at least not many. Nothing like doing a little one upmanship from the neighborhood nutsos...LOL
Oh, my goodness! I want to try this so much this year!!
I broke my foot, haven't been able to make any "leaf mold" (annual ritual in fall here) this year...leaves are still on the ground! But by the time it will be potato planting season I'll be all raked and have a load of leaves I won't know what to do with!
PLANT POTATOES!
I'm gonna try it!
aha! I was wondering about the oak leaves...now I am informed.
I always planted potatoes in the ground, as well as the above ground method. I have a raised bed with particularly sandy compost (yes-I bought it. a waste a $)
and no bugs or diseases whatsoever. But, digging them required more "careful" extraction methods than laying them on top of the soil & covering them. That's why I like this method, plus - no bruising or spearing occurs.
My thought process was towards those who garden in a more urban setting & not have access to available materials such as leaves, etc. Was there something that might be a suitable substitute, and if so, was it readily available;
would it hinder or promote growth, or be neutral...sorry. too many questions. Just be glad you're not in my brain!
Don't be silly, honey chile, there is not such thing as too many questions, ever! You are obviously an innovator. That raised bed might be a great place to grow carrots and other root veggies. They like sandy loam. And you can leave them for the winter if you want. Spearing your new potatoes has always been a problem with the in ground method, it's not a major problem, its just one of those things.
Please feel free to d mail if you have questions or just want to chat. Most of the plp on this site are primarily interested in flowers. My area of expertise is veggie gardening, although I'm learning as much as I can about perennials.
Doc - I grow anything & everything, including some of the NorthWest's finest Gargantuan Dandelions. I have planted lots of shrubs & trees (decid) as I find that they are less maintenance than the perennials. The peren. have to withstand dogtails & dogchases. They have decided that the new borders are ALWAYS to be included in their agility courses - agility consisting of runthroughtheplantsrealfastsoshedoesntseeus...
My property is located on the "edge" of a bowl: what i believe was once old lakebed, and the Lake receded over time. My soil is extremely rich, so everything gets big. Once I realized that composting allowed the nutrients to be more easily accessed by the plants, it was all over. Even if I plant in non-amended soil, the plants do fairly well. But with additional help from the micro-herd, they improve immensely. that is why I bought sandy compost - nutrients, but not too rich for the taters. I HATE SPEARING MY TATERS! So on top they went.
Carrots occupy the bed every other year, but i do rotate my crops. Every 7 years or so, i grow cover crops only - allow the soil to soak up the goodies. This has worked well, & I have less problems with diseases. Well, except for Blackspot...In fact, I just got my vegie seed order today! But I am ahead of myself in wanting to start planting - 6 - 8 weeks or so to go,lol.
Going to try a few things I've not grown before like long beans, and peppers from seed. Hoping this summer will be warmer than last - I'd like a decent return on my tomatoes...
What do you tend to grow, and what grows best for you?
Oh, that sounds so lovely, yummy. we plant, tomatoes (I have 6 new heirloom varieties I want to try this year), peppers, cukes, beans (both bush and pole), carrots, broccoli, cauliflower( my success is iffy), melons, squash (winter and summer), Potatoes, regulars and sweet. I haven't had a big garden in many years, so I'm excited to do it again. We don't do corn, it's to hard to get the water to it. Although if we get the rain barrels as we planned we might be able to make it work.
We have black walnuts, pecans, 2 pears, I want to replant dwarf apples, we took down our big ones last year. They were tired out.
We have about 3/4 of and acre and want to trade the grass for flowers and veggies. DH is getting tired of mowing. I use cover crops regularly and rotate regularly as well.
My soil is black and loamy, from working it all these years. I still have a few spots of VA red clay but not much. :) I sure hope the potato thingy works well for everyone. It's just so much easier to do and deal with. The really big plus was the lack of potato beetles, they are a real pest around here. :)
I think your article will encourage many people to try potatoes who otherwise would not bother. You presented a no-fuss way, & pretty hard to go wrong if followed correctly.
Funny how some folks will think certain crops are so difficult. I suppose that all depends on what they're willing to put up with, or, what they've had to endure!
Cauliflower is one that has had spotty results. I prefer Broccoli, so I don't bother with the Cauli any longer.
I was going to try celery this year, and wisdom overruled.
Also looking for NOT-SO-EXPENSIVE sweet potato starts.
Geez, they want $15 for slips! I think they are treated like regular potatoes with a growth-inhibitor, or am I wrong?
I have a Filbert, but no other nuts. Well - what's in my head...
Hope your weekend is warm & restful! K
Hi there 5 and Katie, I'm not sure if I'm adding this in the right place or just butting in. Oh well just shoot me, figuritively of course. Loved the article on the oak leaves. Here in NZ growing spuds in a stack of tyres was all the rage. DH supplied tyres and away we went, we
were going to have the easiest crop ever. In past years we had a Huuuuuge potato and kumera[ sweet potato ] garden we grew enough
of both to last between seasons and never bought any. Hard hard work, but that was then and times change, thank goodness. Anyway
with only hubby and I tyres sounded great, and away we went . Soil was quite hard to come by so we used river bed dirt/sand and got our stacks about 5 tyres high then patted our selves on the back and waited!!! Harvesting our not so easy after all crop was almost impossible. The river bed soil had set almost like concrete and seperating the tyres needed a crow bar and all hubby's muscles.
And of course the crop was pathetic. We had agood laugh about it afterwards tho. Sooooo, oak leaves sounds like something I could manage on my own, and while typing this brain has been working overtime. Ive decided where to mske stack and also where to get the leaves, too late now but next year , watch this space . Katye if you are still looking for cheapsweet potato starts I may be able to help we used to do our own. to buy them was about $15 for 500.tipu's [starts]. Lesley / kiwi.
Well you can use straw as well as leaves, I've heard of using the tires as well. The object is to get the potatoes to grow straight up and throw of more lateral side shoots, so you have a bigger yield.
Doc, thanks once again for the great article & all the ideas. I'll be planting poatoes in 3-4 weeks. I will let you know how it all goes, including yield. Potatoes grow so well here, wish that was true for the Sweet potatoes.
Lesley - if your source for starts is in NZ, that would explain the lower price. They were cheap in Hawaii, too, but I never grew them while living there. The other thing to fight here is the cool weather: SP's have a preference for heat, or so I am told. But, I do like to experiment, so I would like to try. I'm still looking, but wondering if I could produce my own starts from a store bought, organic. Or are they treated with a growth inhibitor, too? Thanks!
I doubt those are treated with a growth inhibitor, but I would certainly ask. Even with one you'll get some production, not as much as seed grown slips, but still some taters. And yes, you can put in an container of water...support it on the sides with toothpicks and get you're own slips. You may be too far North for good sweet potato production, they do like the heat.
Please do let me know how your taters do. I'm hoping everyone has a highly successful fun experience with this method. :)
Hullo again Katye, you wanted to know how yo grow your own sweet potato shoots. Ifit's cold where you are set things up where they're
going to get maximum heat and as you aren't wanting to do enough for a market garden it should be fairly easy. As long as they get warmth all day and sheltered from cold at night. Get your medium sized tubers the organic ones should be ok. Use a mod deep box
half fill with sandy soil or sand, lay in longways your S P cover with sand to about 5cm, as the shoots come away add more sand to help roots form up the stem. When these shoots are about 15---20cm they are ready to plant out. As long as no frosts are expected they
should do well. If the shoots get a bit long,put a loop half way down the stem when planting it always worked for us. Water the individual plants daily to stop any wilting for about a week. Then away they will go. Good Luck. After the first trial experiment. After getting plants in the ground and you do get some cold happening cover over night with frost cloth or whatever your equivalent is.
doc suggested sitting in water, we used to do this to get a nice lush house plant/climber. Every one used to admire them then have a go when they found out it was just a sweet potato. as far ar I know you can't grow these from seed also in 30 years I have never seen one flower. Have fun. Lesley.
Thanks for the tips, Lesley - I will be getting everything together over the next two weeks. Just could not bring myself to paying $17.45 (plus tax) for 12 slips.
And they don't ship until June to my area. But I have raised beds with warm, cozy covers for them to bed into, so i think I can plant them out earlier. We'll see!
