johno
New Member
Posts: 33
|
Post by johno on Dec 23, 2009 20:08:35 GMT -8
I don't know how to phrase the title. Not real sure I know how to phrase the question, but here goes...
I grew a few varieties from locally available seed potatoes, and only one (Cobbler) was productive. Is it possible to guess from that information which other varieties might do well also? I'm thinking heavy soil is the main inhibiting factor.
|
|
|
Post by Tom Wagner on Dec 23, 2009 23:29:35 GMT -8
Yeah,
I am no stranger to hard soil and potatoee not doing well. I grew up in Kansas on some shallow prairie soil where the underlying soil was hard clay. Growing potatoes in the early 50's, Cobblers would do well enough since they were earlier than most other varieties. Could never do well with late varieties, especially Russet Burbank and Kennebec was about as late as I could get by with. Too much rain early and no rain later made concrete out of our ground.
That is why the Cobblers were my first variety to save seed from potato berries.
I was always a bit jealous of those farmers who had some sandy loam in the river bottoms because they could grow most any variety! Of course they had to fertilize a bit more to grow the potatoes and irrigate more than I, but their success forced me to grow in more than one location.
Norland was a new variety when I was still a kid and I convinced my aunt and uncle to grow it on their hard soil down by Cummings, KS. It seems when the days got longer and hotter, the late varieties got knocked for a loop. They were all top and no tubers.
Tom
|
|
johno
New Member
Posts: 33
|
Post by johno on Dec 24, 2009 1:41:05 GMT -8
Thanks, Tom. So, look for early varieties? Yukon Golds did well enough, too, come to think of it. And I did notice that the Cobblers flowered profusely...
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Dec 27, 2009 11:59:02 GMT -8
Could never do well with late varieties, especially Russet Burbank and Kennebec was about as late as I could get by with. Too much rain early and no rain later made concrete out of our ground. Interesting! Kennebec has been my choice for a late potato for over 20 years. Never failed me. Added 30 hills of Russet Burbank this year expecting some nice bakers. Only got a lot of small boilers. Martin
|
|
canadamike
Full Member
GARDENER FOR THE MOUTH
Posts: 186
|
Post by canadamike on Dec 28, 2009 0:10:22 GMT -8
Johno: I would really try Earlaine and Epicure, the latter being really delicious as the name imply and early like...Earlaine which is a nice big baker on the floury side. I also grew Red Warba in sandy loam, clayish loam and almost pure pottery clay side by side and the winner was....pure clay, followed by clayish loam then sandy loam.
Friggin bugger to clean potatoes grown in clay but they do keep very very well. Irish cobbler did also very well in clay, but less than Red Warba, which is just a redder variant of Warba I think, cause I got plenty of ''white-ish'' taters in the lot, looking exactly like the warbas at the ag store.
Another that did very well in clay is Siberian, with a profusion of small new potatoes looking tubers, all together when you pull the plant like eggs in a hen's nest. They would keep that youngish look of new taters well into the winter and were quite productive.
|
|