Potatoes in the Pot
The harvest above is from a couple of pots I planted a couple of years ago. It worked out better than I had expected, but fell short of what I later found out I could have harvested. One of the improvements I am making is to be sure that the tops of the pots are topped with mulch or some other moisture retaining material. Another thing I am doing differently is I’m allowing the plant to nearly die before I harvest which will ensure that the potatoes will be a little larger than those shown. Another change is than this year I am using larger containers than those used on this crop. The larger potatoes in the picture came from the larger container.
Basically, you can plant your potatoes in small or large pots, but the larger ones will give you larger fruit and more of them. I like to put a little grave in the bottom of the container so the holes aren’t plugged up and there is good drainage of water. If the water doesn’t drain well, the potato seed could rot in the ground or if it has grown up a bit, the plant can die from root rot. After the layer of rocks, I put a layer of compost followed by a layer of top soil. The combination of layers: rock, compost, and soil should add up to about six inches if you are growing in a large container. In smaller containers, the layer still has to take up at least 4". Next, you put in your sprouted piece of potato with the sprout side up. Now cover your seed with six inches of soil that has been mixed with a little composted steer manure. When the tops of the plants grow above the container, carefully fill the remaining part of the container with dirt. This keeps the spuds from being exposed to the air and turning green which indicates the presence of a chemical that is toxic to people and most animals. When the plant grows up tall, it will produce some small flowers. The plant is ready to pull when the flowers dry up and fall off and the plant starts to get more yellow leaves making it look sickly. After the plant achieves this stage, the potatoes will not get any larger.
One thing that you will learn when growing potatoes or any other plant, is that once they get up and looking nice, an army of pests come along eating the leaves and fruits that you have worked so hard to produce. A good way to slow down pests is to put two tablespoons of neem oil and one tablespoon of liquid dish detergent into a gallon of water, shake it up and then use it to spray both the undersides and the tops of your potato or other plants. You can do this once a week and it will help keep the populations down. If you have a population of pests established, you can spray with this every other day for a week or so to see if it reduces insect activity. Some other things one can do to deter insects is to plant garlic or marigolds in with other plants. These two plants are good at deterring insects so the problem is stopped before it starts.
If you have an infestation, then you have to act quickly to save your plants. There are a number of methods to rid or at least reduce the number of pests in your garden. If you have ear wigs, the solution is simple. Just put out some rolled up newspapers in spots where the earwigs are a problem. Put them in the branches of fruit trees or around plants that are susceptible to the bugs. Come back in a couple of days and unroll the papers into a container. If you have a large infestation, you will have quite a load of bugs. I used to put them in the sun in a closed container for awhile then dump them in to my chickens. It really boosted egg production. If you have aphids, a good way to knock their population down is to put 2 tablespoons of Murphy’s Wood Oil Soap in a gallon of water, mix and spray on the plants affected. Let the mixture set on the plants for an hour then spray it off with a gentle stream of water. A search engine can give you more guidance on specific pests and what to do about them.
This gardening work is keeping my mind focused on something positive instead of just running the virus news around and around my head. I feel a sense of empowerment along with a mellow mood when I’m taking care of my plants. There’s also a sense of accomplishment when watching your garden grow. I sincerely hope that some of you are planting something and passing these posts on to others so that they can have the same benefits that we are having in our gardens.