Monday, August 17, 2009

Where Did I Go Wrong?


You may remember I planted potatoes this spring. All summer I had been dreaming of a nice potato harvest. I read a little on potato gardening, but I must have done something wrong. I thought for sure there would be a lot of potatoes when we dug them up. But, that's all we got in the picture below.


I put dirt on top whenever the plants grew, leaving just the tops of the plants out. They grew to about 4 feet tall and flowered then after a while the plants died. I waited about 6 weeks before digging them up. And that's all we got, enough for one meal. So, all you gardeners out there, please tell me where I went wrong.

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14 comments:

KathyB. said...

I could not tell you where you went wrong. I did not plant potatoes since I do not like to eat potatoes. Unfortunately ( for me ), my husband loves potatoes, planted them and is now harvesting them. I will ask him about this. Lanny ( http://itsthedirt.blogspot.com/) is very good at gardening and potatoes are a passion of hers, she might help too.Good thing potatoes are cheap at the grocery store, so this gives you another year to figure this out and plan for a huge bounty of taters next year!

QuiltedSimple said...

Couldn't tell you - we buy our potatoes from a local potatoe farmer in bulk - but boy, what a bummer to only get that many!
Kris

Twisted Fencepost said...

How many potatoes did you plant?
Did you fertilize them?
I haven't planted potatoes for years. Cause the last time I did, it turned out like yours. And the ground was too hard to dig. Then I realized I don't have anywhere to store them anyway. So I didn't plant them again.
But growing up in WV, we had bountiful potato harvests.

Beth Herring said...

My son-in-law used to farm sweet potatoes, and I know that if they get too much water, it will keep them from growing.

Nancy M. said...

Becky, I planted around 8-10 seed potatoes. We didn't fertilize after the initial planting. Maybe we should have?

Eggs In My Pocket said...

How frustrating for you! I have never worked with potatoes...wish I could give you some wise words. Maybe you can research on the internet. blessings,Kathleen

CrystalW said...

I wish I could help, but I haven't had luck with potatoes either! If you find out what you did wrong, maybe you can let me know, lol!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm...I don't know. I've only grown potatoes once, and we didn't have very many plants. You might try your local extension service. They're usually good at answering gardening-related questions.

Mandie said...

Was the ground soft where you planted them? I know they need soft dirt as to grow. We are getting ready to plant potatoes for our fall crop. I love to dig them up!! I use regular potatoes that I have around the house. I cut them in 4's and let them dry for a couple of days. Then plant them when I see "eyes". I planted seed potatoes this spring but all of the rain made them rot.

Nancy M. said...

Mandie, the ground was soft when we planted, but the rain must have compacted it, because when we dug it up, it was hard.

Shannon said...

So sorry. We got a few, but they looked like yours. I am beginning to re-think this garden idea and just stick with what we know, lol. Eggs and corn. Our chickens are doing amazing, we can't keep up with the eggs. Going to have to start sharing with the neighbors. :)

Tammy ~ Country Girl at Home ~ said...

I don't have a clue, Nancy. My dad and husband tried some, and the rabbits got to them when they started coming up. I don't think they ended up getting any! We're going to try to do better next year! We love potatoes! That reminds me of the movie, Faith Like Potatoes, though! Have you seen it?

Tammy

Paula said...

So sorry, Nancy- I'm no spud expert either- I leave that to Hubby. I'll ask him and see if he knows what happened.

Nancy M. said...

Tammy, nope haven't seen that movie. I don't think I've ever heard of it.