You Say Potaytoh, I Say Potahtoh
So, my container potato planting last year was a fail. The plants grew and grew beautifully, but when I dumped the dirt, everywhere there was a potato was a hollow place in the dirt. I don’t know if critters got it, or if there was something wrong with the potatoes.
I went to make dinner last night, and my bag of organic potatoes are all sprouting. I thought, I wonder if I should make a new garden patch, or if I should try the container again. Or maybe I should just cut the sprouts off and make mashed potatoes.
Here is what is left of this side of my yard. The other half of my yard is fenced off, and boys and dogs run wild back there. No garden can go there, trust me. Anyway, back to this half — the rest of the yard is what you see in the garden pics:
We’re about to re-do the fence. The fence that has the hose hanger thing on it is coming down, and the fence is getting extended all the way to the front of the house. We’re then installing a dog run – it will run from where this patio ends to the end of the new fence. So, I don’t have from the patio edge to the end of the current fence – that will all be incorporated in the new dog run. I only have from this pole (which is cemented into the ground and cannot be moved – we think it held a satellite dish) to the edge of the newer garden.
I’ve never grown potatoes in the ground. Is this enough room to plant a couple rows of potatoes? Or should I give the container a go again?
What do you think?
Hallee
I’m so grateful for your visit, today.
You would bless me if you added me to your 
feed reader or subscribed 
via email.
You can also become a fan on 
Facebook or follow me on 
Twitter. I would love to see more of you!
PDF 
5 Comments
Leave a Reply
-
Find me on Facebook
Safe Site
We are committed to keeping the content on this site
family friendly and child safe.
-
Gregg & Hallee
Find Me on My Author Blog
* 
You have space. They’re not as viney as melons or cucumbers. I’d buy potato starts or seed potatoes, though, and not use the ones you bought for eating. My dad says the ones you get at the grocery store are treated to retard sprouting, and shouldn’t be used to plant in your garden because they won’t grow as well. I don’t know if that is true for organic potatoes or not, but they could still be treated in some way with something organic.
We used store bought organic potatoes that had begun to sprout in the bag last year, they did well. I believe its the conventional ones that are treated to retard growth.
When we were stationed at Polk, I had a few potatoes that sprouted (they were yukon gold, I think) and just to see what would happen, we planted them. They grew beautifully and I actually dug in the ground and saw several tiny potatoes starting to grow! But then, we got a dog who decided to dig up all the potatoes and eat them.
We’re stationed at Knox now and we planted a few potatoes, along with several other veggies. We put up a temporary fence to keep out the dog, but she kept breaking in and she went right for the potatoes.. dug them up and ate them!
We’re trying again this year with sweet potatoes to see what will happen.
I think you have enough room. But I think you should try the container again too, because I want to see it work! haha
We just did our second planting this past weekend. Soy Beans, Zuchinni and Pumpkins. *fingers crossed* we get a good crop, because this funky weather didn’t bode well for my March planting.
I’ve never grown potatoes, but my mom does every year. Her area for potatoes is not much bigger then your’s and she puts in (guessing) about 6-10 plants. Maybe you need a certain nutrient in the dirt for potatoes to do well and your container dirt was missing it, just an idea.