Need some carrot and potato growing tips

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Permalink Reply by Steve Livingston on July 9, 2008 at 9:59pm

No kidding - potatoes? Carrots are really really tough to grow in our soil. They like loam, they like pH neutral, and they like NO ROCKS! Our typical clammy, heavy clay soil is prime breeding ground for the carrot root maggot, which little buggers will make your carrots look like Chinese calligraphy. There are some very neat miniature carrot varieties, that just grow into a little orange ball, but I found them unsatisfying.

When you have foot-deep loam, you can grow carrots. But potatoes, hmm . . . they grow just fine in a clay soil, provided you give them a nice dark, moist blanket to nurture the tubers. Most locals practice the "mounding" technique, where you pile up soil around the stem once they've begun to flower. I prefer mulch over soil because it stays moist. It has to be dark though - to prevent the formation of solanine, which is somewhat toxic to humans.

There is no truth to the rumor that potatoes "must" be cured before eating.

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Permalink Reply by Polly McDaniel on July 9, 2008 at 10:09pm

This is great information, Steve. I have not tried potatoes in years. During the Mountain Farm & Garden Tour, I stopped by the Bountiful Cities demonstration garden in Montford and they were growing both carrots and potatoes ... so effortlessly, it seemed.

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Permalink Reply by Marion Buehler on July 11, 2008 at 6:08am

A couple of thoughts - Don't over fertilize for carrots. It makes them "fork". Also, don't lime for potatoes. It makes them more prone to "scab". I leave my potatoes in the ground year round and just dig them as I need them.

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Permalink Reply by stone on December 10, 2008 at 6:16pm

"I've heard that you need to cure potatoes after harvest before you eat them. Is this true?"

Sweet potatoes must be cured in the sun to sweeten.

Irish potatoes must be kept out of the light.

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Permalink Reply by Alan on January 5, 2009 at 10:42pm

Grow carrots (if you must) in old clay drain tiles upended. You can fill them with non-rocky soil. Better yet, just buy them. Some things are better left to people who know how to do it. This is not true with taters. Any idiot can plant a tater patch. Be sure you mound the rows though. If you want sweet taters... wait until the slips come in, early May, and try it....

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Permalink Reply by Sally Biggers on January 29, 2009 at 10:13am

With regard to potatoes - We had a neighbor who always planted his seed potatoes the week between Christmas and New Year's. He wouldn't dig them until the ground temperature was 75 degrees I think and his were consistently the big baking sorts of potatoes. We have planted some (just from the store) in the late summer/early fall this year. Don't know how they will turn out, but we have kept them fairly heavily mulched. Some may have to come out early to make room for other crops tho.

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Permalink Reply by Dina Gold on August 6, 2009 at 10:37am

You need to keep potatoes outside before put them in storage 7-10 days to cure them after harvest.
How to store potatoes

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Permalink Reply by Marion Buehler on August 7, 2009 at 7:09am

You can eat potatoes right out of the ground, but, as Dina says, you have to cure them before puting them in storage. I just leave mine in the ground and dig them as I need them. They keep just fine through the winter under mulch. You do have to use them up or at least dig them before they start growing again in the spring and rotate the crop.

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Permalink Reply by Dina Gold on August 9, 2009 at 11:41am

Plant sweet potatoes in your garden. The nutritive value of the sweet potato is high. It also rich of vitamins and minerals. Sweet potatoes is easy to cultivate.
How to grow sweet potatoes

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Permalink Reply by Barbara on December 30, 2009 at 5:46pm

Deep sandy or loamy soil is what you need. If you're growing in clay you'll want to either dig a hole and replace the clay, or forget about root vegetables. Both like plenty of well aged compost, no fresh manure. I like to mix wood ash or charcoal in to keep boring maggots away.

I cure my potatoes about 10 minutes ... as long as it takes to heat the pot! It's winter squash you need to cure. When the soil is loose I "steal from the potatoes". I'll dig a large one before the crop is finished, without disturbing the plant. In sandy soil I got a consistent 200 lbs. from a plot 20 X 6.

Forget about growing under straw. Doesn't work.

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Permalink Reply by ann adkins on January 31, 2010 at 11:14am

I have never had a problem with carrots or potatoes. Our ground is mostly black dirt. I make a ridge to sew my carrots they do like a lot of moisture to germinate. When they come up I keep weeds pulled until they are good size, then I dig dirt up on ridge and they just grow. As for potatoes we grew about 120 bu. last year. My husband lays of rows [with a horse] we drop potatoes and he covers with plow. We will hoe or dig a ridge on the potatoes when they come up. If they get to weedy he plows through them some, but that is all we do until digging time. He plows them out with horse and plow, we try to plow when ground is dry. we store in a place in barn. They keep until spring.[what we don't eat or sell]

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Permalink Reply by Ann on February 3, 2010 at 9:59pm

We did carrots in a very large flower pot last year. Mixed potting soil, sand (it was actually the sand from the kids sandbox - the top had blown off and it got wet) Our carrots came out longer and wider than we've ever had. I also grow potatoes in large black plastic trash cans that we cut in half and cut the bottom off. Put enough potting soil/garden soil to provide a good bottom layer and then cover the potatoes as you plant. Then I just mulch with straw as they grow up and out of the trash can. When it's time to harvest---you can simply lift the trash can and spread the dirt to find the potatoes. They are smaller this way -but if space is limited- it works great.

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