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ltilton_gw

Potatoes growing large

ltilton
10 years ago

My russet potatoes are looking pretty good when I dig around under the straw to poke at them, but I can't see just how big they're getting. I really want to get them baking size. The vines look like they might have as much as a month left before they die back [this is a late variety, Canela], and I know that the longer they grow the more new potatoes they'll set.

I'm not particularly interested in new russets, what I want is for the ones already set to size up. At what point do individual tubers stop growing? Does it make sense to keep fertilizing them at this point in the growing season?

Comments (13)

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    When did you plant them ?

    It takes anywhere from 80 days to 110 days for potatoes to be done(depending on the variety). Another indication, will be that the stems get brownish and woody and subsequently die.

    But the 5-finger test is the best. Just keep digging around. Or, jut pull up one to find out. mature potato will have a nice skin, just like the ones you buy from the stores

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    These are long-season, late potatoes and the vines aren't at all ready to die back.

    My question isn't when to pull them, it's whether the tubers keep growing in size throughout the whole season until the vines die. I can tell they're getting good-sized, but I don't want to keep poking at them for fear I might break the tubers off their stolens.

    Other potatoes, I'm always grubbing around and picking to cook new, but I don't want new russets, I want big ones.

    [I know, if I'm patient and wait a month, all will be revealed.]

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    I have not heard of LONG season potatoes before. But as long as the top is green the tubers should be growing( unless soil tem is too hot).

    The other thing is that tubers on the potato is like fruits on the tomato, That is each one is separate and non-dependant on the others. So if you harvest one, the other ones will never know it. lol.

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Canela matures later than a lot of other potatoes because it's slow to get started. It likes a warmer temp before it will sprout.

    But tubers aren't all independent. Often, tubers will chain on the stolen, one sprouting out of the end of another, and another again. Robbing the early ones is in effect aborting the later. I do it anyway to get new potatoes, but it does cut down on yield.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    "Canela matures later than a lot of other potatoes because it's slow to get started. It likes a warmer temp before it will sprout. "
    *&*&
    I thought you mentioned that you are growing "RUSSET"?!
    ------------------------------------
    "But tubers aren't all independent. Often, tubers will chain on the stolen"
    &&&&&
    Any source, link for what you mentioned ?
    Meaning that start with one tuber, the next one grows from the tip of it ... so on ??

    But as far as I know, tubers are independently attached to stolens. Maybe there are certain varieties that have characteristics. Tubers formation is similar to tomatoes on a truss.; No tomato grows from the end of another tomato.

  • florauk
    10 years ago

    seysonn - I don't grow potatoes - insufficient space. But I can tell you that Canela is a russet potato. Russet isn't a cultivar it just describes a group of potatoes which have a 'russet' skin ie brown in colour and slightly rough and netted. The term also applies to apples. Many apples are russets but there are lots of different russet cultivars.

  • sweetquietplace
    10 years ago

    I grew 25 varieties of potatoes this year just to see which ones I liked the best. I noticed the "chain" formation on several of them. Also had knobs on some. I blame it on a cold, rainy summer, or my favorite, chem trails. We should be in the middle of the dog days of summer...instead, I've forced myself NOT to put the heat on three times this past week.

  • pattypan
    10 years ago

    sweet, chem trails or methane, we have a wool blanket on our bed here in ct., after the dog days of july. change is in the wind ( 2 hurricanes in 2 years).
    i have a question about those seeds formed from potato flowers. are they like garlic ? you can plant the seeds and not transfer soil-borne diseases. will they form potato plants ? i'd hate to waste something that interesting.
    also, after looking pretty shabby, my 5 potato plants have put up new growth. so i'd wait until that dies back before digging ? i don't have room for many, but they are fun to dig. they don't store nearly as long as my sweet potatoes do.

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I've never seen russets chaining, but the russets I've grown always poke their heads out of the ground, so that's not so surprising. Fingerlings do it all the time. My source is digging up my own potatoes.

    Pattypan - Luther Burbank bred the russet potato by accident, planting out true potato seed that formed on his vines. It's indeed an interesting thing to do. But they're like tomatoes, not garlic. Let the fruit mature and plant the seeds inside.

  • pattypan
    10 years ago

    thanks ltilton, i might try that. do you mean i could dry the seeds and plant them next year ? then transplant them outside ? i don't even start my own tomatoes. maybe i could direct plant the seed early. hmmmmm, if taters can overwinter, can the seeds ?

  • florauk
    10 years ago

    'Luther Burbank bred the russet potato...;'

    'Burbank' is only one of many, many varieties of potato which are russets. 'Russet' is not a cultivar name.

    pattypan - sowing potato seed would be fun to try but if you want reliable crops of good quality you need to plant tubers. Potato breeders use true seed but they sow millions to find a new variety worth cloning. BTW potato fruit and seeds are poisonous. Just because they look like mini tomatoes don't be tempted to eat them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Varieties of russet potato

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I should have said, Burbank bred the Russet Burbank potato, from which many other cultivars have since been bred.

  • pattypan
    10 years ago

    sounds like too much work ! i'll stick with planting organic potato pieces...no lack of sprouting there. thanks for all the info !

    btw, i got 2 1/2# of red potatoes from 1 plant about 2 weeks ago. i have no idea what a good yield is...can anyone give me a range ?

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