Potatoes

May 10, 2024

I woke up early this morning and decided it would be a good day to get my potatoes in the ground.  We have been under “high alert days” for the last week and are due for a stretch of warm and calm weather for the next three days.  When I got to the patio, I saw the wind and rain had caused some havoc on my tomatoes and feeders.  I refilled the feeders and put the two that had blown down back on their stands.  I straightened the tomato cages and pruned the small branches off the bottom of the plants.  It finally seems everything left will grow, although two of the plants I started from seed appear puny.  I was excited to see flowers on many of the plants as well as tiny tomatoes on two of them.  I took the time to remove the dead flowers off the fruit hoping to avoid the rotted ends I had encountered last year.  Next it was over to my “three sisters” beds.  Only about half of the corn had sprouted.  I did some light weeding and then reseeded corn in the areas where it had not grown.  The corn plants that had sprouted are getting tall enough that it is almost time to plant the beans and squash.  Hopefully, the new corn will sprout before I need to do the secondary plantings.  Finally, I cleaned up after the kids.  I could no longer put it off, it was time to plant some potatoes.

When I looked online, I found that like tomatoes, potatoes can be determinate or indeterminate as defined by their growth patterns.  Determinate potatoes are varieties with tubers that grow in just one layer and therefore do not require mounding of the soil around the plants.  These plants have a predetermined size and structure, and their growth typically stops once they reach a certain height, allowing their energy to be redirected towards the development of potatoes.  They produce early, in about 70 to 90 days.  Indeterminate potatoes are characterized by their continuous growth throughout the growing season and will keep growing and producing foliage until environmental factors (frost or lack of nutrients) limit their growth.  Unlike determinate potatoes, indeterminate varieties do not have a predetermined endpoint for their growth and can continue to produce potatoes as long as the conditions allow.  Indeterminate potatoes grow in multiple layers, so it is important to mound soil around the plants to give a better yield.  Indeterminate potatoes produce late crops, 110 to 135 days out.  You can determine the variety of potato by observing its growth over time.  Determinates will exhibit a more compact and uniform growth, while indeterminates, like Yukon Gold, will continue to grow and produce foliage throughout the season.

I mentioned several days ago that I intended to plant 10 hills of potatoes.  I had found (at last) the seed potatoes at the local co-op on “close out” and when the salesperson saw how few I was buying he gave them to me for free and told me to get more if I wanted.  I did not want to be greedy nor to waste potential seed potatoes someone else might need, but I did pick out three more.  I worked my way over the fence around one of the beds and weeded and re-loosened the soil.  I had my bag of potatoes but realized I had left the cages on the other side of the deck.  “Melissa?!?”  She was kind enough to bring the cages to me.   I like to cage the plants to help me know where the potatoes are supposed to be when I water and to support the indeterminant vines.  I was able to get 13 hills of seed potatoes in the ground, cage them, and mulch them with straw.  Only 120 days to go.

THOUGHTS:  I was again amazed that with all the research I have done on my plants how I learn new things each year.  In my third year of growing potatoes, I had no idea they could be determinant or indeterminant.   Melissa and I watched a documentary video on Apricot Lane Farms (The Biggest Little Farm) last night which chronicled the seven year journey of John and Molly Chester and their dog Todd to reawaken an interactive farm ecosystem focused on diversity.  It inspired me . . . and let me (again) know how far I have to go.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.