Houston -Potato- Progress

[feldon30]

I planted these about 3 weeks too late, but maybe I will get a few taters before it gets too hot. Growing potatoes in Houston in the season we laughingly call "spring" can be a dubious proposition in some years if it is cold-cold-cold and then hot-hot-hot with a short transition period.

After incorporating several bags of Black Kow compost into my soil, I then dug trenches and put a couple of shovelfuls of the compost into each trench, then sprinkled some Osmocote, then added the cut, sulfured potato pieces. They came up after 2 weeks. But just in the last week, they are taking off like a rocket!

The growth of these Kennebec plants is almost beyond belief for me. My yellows aren't far behind. Check my gallery for more photos.


3/8


3/10


3/11


3/12


3/13


3/14

[gardenmaniac]

Feldon- great photos! I am always amazed at how quickly they grow once they emerge.

On a side note: I have a non-gardening sister in Houston and I used to go to Texas A&M at Galveston. It's good to see there are some people from Houston at Tomatoville.

Tiffanie

[feldon30]

I did not mulch the potatoes, since I was planning on hilling them in the next few days. I get the impression I will get all kinds of foliage diseases now.

[duajones]

They look great, hopefully you will get a good harvest out of them. Im still hopeful that my container potatoes will give me a decent harvest as well. Having never grown potatoes or seen them growing, I am in awe of how fast they grow. I wanted the kennebec but since my neighbor offered me the red pontiac, I accepted.

[Earl]

Next time dig a deep trench to plant the spuds, that way as you hill you'll get a few more inches of stem and potental spuds.

[gardenmaniac]

Man, you guys are getting a beating! I hope by the time it gets to us (Tallahassee) tomorrow night it will be less organized. It's still early in the season- you might not have to worry about disease just yet...

Tiffanie

[feldon30]

They've grown quite a bit more since 3/14. I hilled them up yesterday. I guess now it's the race to see if they are ready before the end of April when the heat reduces the output and quality.

[feldon30]

Boom!


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I will never space them this closely again!

[FlipTX]

I wish other plants in my garden would grow as fast as my potatoes did. One week, they were maybe 4 inches above the soil line. The next week, they were four times as tall and wide. A week after that, they looked like green woolly mammoths.

Mine seem to have quit growing vertically now, though. I hope that means they're about to start making potatoes.

[feldon30]

All the energy stored up in those tubers really makes them grow.

2 of my Kennebec potato plants have buds that will eventually produce the signature purple blossoms. I am figuring 1 month or so for potato production to really kick in.

[duajones]

beautiful feldon! Mine look ok but I have no idea whats going on underneath. i have blooms that look ready to open, but they have signs of maybe blossom drop, if that is possible with taters. Good luck with your harvest!

[feldon30]

I have blossoms that have not opened after 3 days. Kinda weird.

[duajones]

my blossoms havent opened after 4 or 5 days. almost looks like they are going to drop like tomato blooms do.

[FlipTX]

My plants have buds on them, too. I check every day to see if they've opened, but so far they're being shy. I'm growing Huckleberry from milkranch.com and the pic of the flower looks really pretty. I never knew potatoes made such lovely plants.

[feldon30]

I guess those blossoms take a while to open! Plus the rain and lack of sun probably threw off the schedule. Anyway, here we go:


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Those pictures on milkranch.com are quite nice.