Recommendation for french fry potato?

[linzelu100]

I am looking to grow potatoes for the first time- I never had the room before. I am doing my research now and have come to the conclusion that for a first year I would like to grow around 120 pounds (or enough for 10 pounds a month). We use potatoes for mash (so I will grow some kind of gold variety) and french fries/home fries. I don't know of a potato that is especially good for frying. Any suggestions?

[Mark0820]

I like Kennebec potatoes.

[wmontanez]

For french fries Kennebec too.
For mash if Amey were available is the best but Yukon Gold is a tad sweet but great also.

I posted about french fries here:
http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=24575

[Fusion_power]

Because it is commonly available and very well adapted to your climate, Kennebec is an excellent choice for fried and french fried potatoes. You can easily get Yukon Gold and it is an excellent choice as a yellow. If you are ordering potatoes, Yellow Finn is another good choice.

DarJones

[Mark0820]

If you want to be a little creative, you might want to give Purple Majesty a try as well. I personally haven't grown it, but it generally receives high reviews on the Internet.

I was planning on growing it this year, but I ran out of garden space and didn't order any seed potatoes.

http://www.potatogarden.com/mm5/merc..._Code=NSPEarly

[linzelu100]

Thanks for the info. We do have kennebec at our farm center and yukon gold, so that makes it easy for my first year. How many pounds do I need to plant (how much space) to yield about 120 pounds of potatoes? More is ok, but I am striving to at least make this number. I grow using 4 foot wide rows...most are 32 foot long, but I can rearrange for whatever works best for spuds.

Lindsey

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by linzelu100

Thanks for the info. We do have kennebec at our farm center and yukon gold, so that makes it easy for my first year. How many pounds do I need to plant (how much space) to yield about 120 pounds of potatoes? More is ok, but I am striving to at least make this number. I grow using 4 foot wide rows...most are 32 foot long, but I can rearrange for whatever works best for spuds.
Lindsey

Plan on about 3 pounds per plant. There are some on this forum who get 17 pounds and others above 10, but nobody has seen them. I aim for anything above 4 pounds as reasonable.

Examples.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BKWAI 11 September 2010 Yukon Gold Test Box Potatoes
Yukon Gold Potatoes were harvested today. A total weight of 23.5 pounds was harvested from the 4 by 4 foot test area. The quality is excellent. Another plant could probably be placed in the center of the area without crowding. The average weight per plant was 5.9 pounds. From my experience anything over 4 pounds is acceptable.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RUDKB 15 September 2010 Chieftain Potatoes Harvested.
Chieftain is the king of the six types that I grow. The largest tuber was two pounds, and it was not hollow in the center. The tubers are prolific and very large.

[NathanP]

There are some on this forum who get 17 pounds and others above 10, but nobody has seen them.

Wow, I didn't know that the purpose of everyone's farming efforts should be to prove something to you. What's your problem?

[wmontanez]

Originally Posted by linzelu100

Thanks for the info. We do have kennebec at our farm center and yukon gold, so that makes it easy for my first year. How many pounds do I need to plant (how much space) to yield about 120 pounds of potatoes? More is ok, but I am striving to at least make this number. I grow using 4 foot wide rows...most are 32 foot long, but I can rearrange for whatever works best for spuds.

Lindsey

@linzelu100
For about 120 pounds if you assume a yield of 3# per plant you need to plant about 40 potatoes. If you assume on the lower end say you only get about 2# per tuber planted you need 60 potatoes. How many pounds of potatoes? If you get 2 onz potatoes as seed (about 8 spuds per pound) that would be 5# of spuds minimum to 7.5 # to give you more cushion if your yield is lower.

For the case of 3# per plant. You said you have a 32ft long row of 4ft width that is plenty wide. If you plant each potato at 9 inches of space you can fit them all 40 plants in the 32 ft long row but that could be a bit too close for the canopy in my opinion.

It you only have 32 ft length...is better to stagger them so make 2 rows in the 4ft width make each potato plant 18 inches from center to center on the first row, That fits 20 plants. Start the second row staggered also with 18 inches spacing at the end each plant is going to have good space around for air circulation.

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by Durgan

Plan on about 3 pounds per plant. There are some on this forum who get 17 pounds and others above 10, but nobody has seen them. I aim for anything above 4 pounds as reasonable.

3 pounds! I guess I had very greedy expectations!

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by wmontanez

@linzelu100
For the case of 3# per plant. You said you have a 32ft long row of 4ft width that is plenty wide. If you plant each potato at 9 inches of space you can fit them all 40 plants in the 32 ft long row but that could be a bit too close for the canopy in my opinion.

It you only have 32 ft length...is better to stagger them so make 2 rows in the 4ft width make each potato plant 18 inches from center to center on the first row, That fits 20 plants. Start the second row staggered also with 18 inches spacing at the end each plant is going to have good space around for air circulation.

Oh I have as many rows as I need, I have acres to work with. But my gardening style is the 4 foot rows. That's what we keep and rotate. I can have as many rows of potatoes as necessary. Also, Should different potatoes be seperated from each other? I am not keeping seed, but I will be keeping seed potatoes for the next year.

By the way, loved your writings on french fries. I had no idea it could be so complicated. Ours get soggy...now I know why! The only thing we have perfected in french fry making, is the oil we use. We have decided grapeseed oil is where it's at! Expensive, but the best IMO. Good thing we don't eat them often or we would need to get second jobs

Lindsey

[Fusion_power]

Get 5 pounds of Kennebec and 5 pounds of Yukon Gold. Plant a total of two rows of potatoes. This will yield in the range of 120 to 150 pounds of potatoes. Cut them into chunks with at least one eye on each chunk. Plant them about 12 inches apart in the row. The larger the chunk you plant, the larger the potatoes the plant will produce. Just remember that if you plant pieces that are too large, they will have more than one eye and therefore will make more than one plant which reduces size but increases yield.

DarJones

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Get 5 pounds of Kennebec and 5 pounds of Yukon Gold. Plant a total of two rows of potatoes. This will yield in the range of 120 to 150 pounds of potatoes. Cut them into chunks with at least one eye on each chunk. Plant them about 12 inches apart in the row. The larger the chunk you plant, the larger the potatoes the plant will produce. Just remember that if you plant pieces that are too large, they will have more than one eye and therefore will make more than one plant which reduces size but increases yield.

DarJones

AWESOME! Thanks I am going to print this page and keep it in my garden notes for next year

Lindsey

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Get 5 pounds of Kennebec and 5 pounds of Yukon Gold. Plant a total of two rows of potatoes. This will yield in the range of 120 to 150 pounds of potatoes. Cut them into chunks with at least one eye on each chunk. Plant them about 12 inches apart in the row. The larger the chunk you plant, the larger the potatoes the plant will produce. Just remember that if you plant pieces that are too large, they will have more than one eye and therefore will make more than one plant which reduces size but increases yield.

DarJones

This statement has no validity. In fact, it is patently false.

[Masbustelo]

Durgan is correct. There is no relationship between large chunks and large potatoes.