Potatoes failed - ideas?

cindyanna · 09-17-2012, 08:51 PM

Hi, we bought seed potatoes this year and used those green plastic planting bags. I filled with with compost about a quarter of the way, put the potatoes on top after hardening them off and cutting them up. They shot up like CRAZY. I filled them up with compost and they were probably a foot higher than the bag. However, there were no potatoes at all. Any ideas of what I did wrong?

Hoosier Girl · 09-18-2012, 04:05 PM

I planted potatoes in Several tubs last year and ran into the same issue...not a single potato, although the plants were billed up, well watered and seemed to be flourishing. I had a pretty scant harvest with my in ground potatoes as well. This year I didn't even try tubs. I only have a quarter of my potatoes dug, but am having a much better harvest.

I think the best strategy I have heard is the one from a good old southern boy I chatted with on an airplane. His grandmother would plant them in the ground, then stack tires up as the plants grew, filling each ring in with dirt or compost. I think potatoes just like to have their roots in the ground. Maybe because it is cooler, or has a better mix of the nutrients they need.

WI LO M · 09-18-2012, 06:14 PM

Potato tubers are produced on stolons. Stolons are produced from an underground section of the stalk. You allowed the plants to form only an aboveground stalk. You should have placed the seed piece 6" below the surface or covered it with 6" of compost right away.

Fusion_power · 10-10-2012, 09:30 PM

There is also a possible problem with nutrient availability and with sunlight exposure. Potatoes need a minimum of 6 hours per day of full sunlight to form normal tubers. They also need a higher amount of potassium and phosphorus relative to nitrogen in the soil. If the nitrogen is too high, you get a lot of vine and no spuds.

DarJones

smwlindy · 10-12-2012, 08:05 AM

We also had a much lower yield of potatoes this year and we'd like to figure out what went wrong.
We grow Yukon Gold & French Fingerling and yield was great last year (around 20:1), but this year our yield is less than half that & the potatoes didn't size up well. We grew them in-ground using the same method we used last year (planting 6-10" below ground then hilling up as they grow), they were in a slightly different spot (sunny, but more infiltrated with tree roots) and when weather turned dry in August we didn't water them as regularly through October as we did last year--the plants looked great & healthy though. When we dug them yesterday the soil was dry & dusty down to a foot depth...we are in a bad drought!
Do potatoes need regular watering while the vines are dying back to help form potatoes? I don't yet understand the timeline of when the tubers form & size up during the growing cycle. The plants were huge & beautiful all year until they died back.

I know we were lucky last year, but I can't help wanting that kind of luck again! Any ideas or info on the tuber growth cycle would be appreciated! (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was HOT this year...)

09-17-2012, 08:51 PM	#1
cindyanna Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: West Des Moines Posts: 1	Potatoes failed - ideas? Hi, we bought seed potatoes this year and used those green plastic planting bags. I filled with with compost about a quarter of the way, put the potatoes on top after hardening them off and cutting them up. They shot up like CRAZY. I filled them up with compost and they were probably a foot higher than the bag. However, there were no potatoes at all. Any ideas of what I did wrong?

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09-18-2012, 04:05 PM	#2
Hoosier Girl Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Indiana, zone 5B Posts: 75	I planted potatoes in Several tubs last year and ran into the same issue...not a single potato, although the plants were billed up, well watered and seemed to be flourishing. I had a pretty scant harvest with my in ground potatoes as well. This year I didn't even try tubs. I only have a quarter of my potatoes dug, but am having a much better harvest. I think the best strategy I have heard is the one from a good old southern boy I chatted with on an airplane. His grandmother would plant them in the ground, then stack tires up as the plants grew, filling each ring in with dirt or compost. I think potatoes just like to have their roots in the ground. Maybe because it is cooler, or has a better mix of the nutrients they need.

09-18-2012, 06:14 PM	#3
WI LO M Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 480	Potato tubers are produced on stolons. Stolons are produced from an underground section of the stalk. You allowed the plants to form only an aboveground stalk. You should have placed the seed piece 6" below the surface or covered it with 6" of compost right away.

10-10-2012, 09:30 PM	#4
Fusion_power Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 46	There is also a possible problem with nutrient availability and with sunlight exposure. Potatoes need a minimum of 6 hours per day of full sunlight to form normal tubers. They also need a higher amount of potassium and phosphorus relative to nitrogen in the soil. If the nitrogen is too high, you get a lot of vine and no spuds. DarJones

10-12-2012, 08:05 AM	#5
smwlindy Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: St. Paul MN Posts: 395	We also had a much lower yield of potatoes this year and we'd like to figure out what went wrong. We grow Yukon Gold & French Fingerling and yield was great last year (around 20:1), but this year our yield is less than half that & the potatoes didn't size up well. We grew them in-ground using the same method we used last year (planting 6-10" below ground then hilling up as they grow), they were in a slightly different spot (sunny, but more infiltrated with tree roots) and when weather turned dry in August we didn't water them as regularly through October as we did last year--the plants looked great & healthy though. When we dug them yesterday the soil was dry & dusty down to a foot depth...we are in a bad drought! Do potatoes need regular watering while the vines are dying back to help form potatoes? I don't yet understand the timeline of when the tubers form & size up during the growing cycle. The plants were huge & beautiful all year until they died back. I know we were lucky last year, but I can't help wanting that kind of luck again! Any ideas or info on the tuber growth cycle would be appreciated! (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was HOT this year...)