looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

dmpower on Wed May 19, 2010 2:48 pm

I was just adding my 4th layer to my potatoes and while placing the straw around them, noticed that they look like they are ready to start flowering. This is my first season planting potatoes and this seems a little early! I only started them a month ago.

Should I just let them go? Should I pinch them back because it is too early? I really wasn't expecting this - help!

SirTravers on Wed May 19, 2010 4:09 pm

Nip it in the Bud!!! rofl

If you nip the flowers off the plants will grow longer. Just let them keep going until the stalks brown out at the end of the season. Also if you get any seed pods throw them away as they are poisonous and icky... I know I know...but I still have kids so it's a normal word hehe.

Megan on Wed May 19, 2010 4:34 pm

Ah hah... I did NOT know to nip off potato flowers. Thanks!! Mine aren't there yet (still filling my box) but looking very vigorous. Yay potatoes! (Now I just have to figure out where to score some straw.)

**Chopper** on Wed May 19, 2010 7:57 pm

Don't know if you have a lawn, Megan, but I use my dried grass clippings in lieu of straw. Also, if there is a feed store near you, you should be able to get straw there - but get STRAW not HAY because straw will not have seeds and hay most certainly will.

Megan on Wed May 19, 2010 7:59 pm

No lawn worth speaking of, now the SFGs are in place! lol.... I'll check the feed store, thanks Chopper.

jenjehle on Wed May 19, 2010 8:26 pm

I am new to planting potatoes... can I jump in with a question????

Thank you!!!

My potatoes are planted in 20 gallon tubs with compost in the bottom with many layers of straw. I kept covering up the greens with straw but now they are sprouting up above the top of the tubs and I can no longer cover them up. Is there anything else I need to do with them (other than nip off the flowers when they bloom) or should I just leave them alone to just grow??

I appreciate any help in this area Smile

Retired Member 1 on Thu May 20, 2010 2:16 pm

Just leave them alone. Mother Nature will take over from here.

Megan on Thu May 20, 2010 3:38 pm

I scored some free straw! Went to the local feed store and asked if there were any torn bags or spoiled straw. They pointed me at an open tractor trailer and said "got any bags?" I just happened to have some lawn & leaf bags in the car. cheers

The trailer was almost empty of bales and there were huge drifts of loose straw all over the place.

So, my potato bed is full now! I put a bunch of straw in and then an inch or two of mix across the top. Except for what I spilled and a few pieces sticking out, you can't tell there is straw in there.

dmpower on Fri May 21, 2010 7:42 am

SirTravers wrote:Nip it in the Bud!!!
If you nip the flowers off the plants will grow longer. Just let them keep going until the stalks brown out at the end of the season. Also if you get any seed pods throw them away as they are poisonous and icky... I know I know...but I still have kids so it's a normal word hehe.

Thanks so much!! The potatoes are now nipped.

jenjehle on Fri May 21, 2010 12:02 pm

I have, what may seem like, a dumb question.

Do the potatoes grow in the bottom near the roots or do they grow along and up the stem? So when I go to harvest them after the stems turn brown, will the potatoes be in the straw or in the dirt in the bottom?

Thanks Smile

Wyldflower on Fri May 21, 2010 12:29 pm

Simple answer is "YES"

The potatoes will grow along the roots... and the little hairs on the stems will send off roots as they get covered, so they will develop tubers as well. Smile

jenjehle on Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:04 pm

My straw potatoes in 20 gallon tubs have been subjected to some serious rain the past month. Most of the time, it would rain soon after a previous rain, without time in between for the straw to dry out.

Now my straw, and everything in the tub, seems soggy. I didn't dig all the way down to the bottom but when I checked 6-8 inches down, it was pretty goopy. There are many holes drilled in the bottom of the tubs and we put a couple boards under the tubs so they are not sitting in wet grass absorbing more liquid.

Any thoughts about this? Should I throw something over the tubs to shield them from more rain for now? Should I remove some of the straw and add dry straw? Should I dump them and forget the whole thing until next year and try again?

I'd love any advice you have.

Here is a picture of my potatoes but it's pretty early in the season. They don't look this great now. They look more beaten up and a little discolored.

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looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Just Do What Barney Says!

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Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

Dumb question

Re: looks like my potatoes may start to flower?!?

How wet is too wet?