Potatoes can be grown in a wide range of different bags, from garbage bags, empty feed bags to burlap sacks.

Whatever type of bag you choose make sure there are holes in the bottom to allow the excess water to drain from.
The best part of planting potatoes in bags is that they take up very little room and can be placed anywhere that they can get six to eight hours of sunlight. These bags can be placed along a fence line, on the corner of a deck or even among other plants in your yard. The bags can also be decorated or potted plants can be placed around then to add dimension to your landscape. The ideas are endless on where and how you use this method of bag grown potatoes.

For planting potatoes in a bag, first of all add about six inches of rich humus organic soil in the bottom of the bag. Then put in your prepared seed potatoes on the top of the soil about six inches apart and cover them with another six inches of soil.

At this point make sure you have drainage holes in the bottom of the bag. Then roll the excess bag down around the bottom of the filled portion of the bag.
As the potatoes plants start growing keep filling the bag with more soil or compost so the plants will continue to keep developing tubers, leaving a small portion of the plant exposed. Once the potato plants start to bloom stop adding soil to the bag and make sure at all times that the soil is keep moist.

When the plants are blossoming is when there are new young potatoes that are ready to be harvested. You can gently remove some soil by hand from the base of the plant and pick off the tubers that are cooking size.
Once the plants foliage starts to die off and wither the tubers are full grown and ready to be removed from the bags.

Potato Planter Bags – buy just now

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Homegrown vegetables offer many options that store bought varieties do not. Most stores carry one or two varieties of commercially produced tomatoes, melons, potatoes, etc.

Growing your vegetables at home offers numerous choices. A home vegetable gardener can choose to grow heirloom vegetables that have been around for hundreds of years. A real advantage of growing heirloom varieties is the seeds are open pollinated meaning it is possible to save seeds of favorite varieties from year to year.

Another plus to growing vegetables is that it is a great way to save money, something everyone is looking to do these days.

Preserve What You Grow

Another advantage of growing vegetables at home is there are more storage options available. Some varieties of vegetables were bred so people could keep their produce throughout the winter. An example of this is the heirloom winter storage yellow watermelon.

This particular watermelon had yellow flesh and will keep at least until February under proper storage conditions. There are tomatoes that have been bred to produce under cool conditions so that a longer harvest can be achieved.

Varieties such as the Burpee Long Keeper Tomato will store up to twelve weeks after harvest.

Unusual Colorful Vegetables

Growing vegetables can be fun. Choosing unusual colors such as blue, black or green corn can add variety to your palate and delight younger family members. Carrots come in a wide variety of colors too. There are purple, yellow, white and of course, the familiar orange carrot to choose from.

While most colored vegetables will change to a normal color as they are cooked, that is not the case with all vegetables. A great example of this is the Peruvian Purple Potato. This potato is a perfect choice for spicing up a dull meal. Mashed potatoes will be purple in color and many cooks add chunks of this potato to their potato salad to give it some real flare.

With a bit of research every gardener in every location is sure to find some unusual varieties of vegetables that is sure to please their palate and fit into their gardening season schedule. Don’t forget to include the youngsters in the decision making. Children love to grow things and sometimes allowing them to grow their own vegetables is a great way to encourage them to clean up their plates.

Who knows, you could just be starting a lifetime of healthy habits as well as learning to enjoy the time you have together as a family more, not to mention the fact that growing your own vegetables is a great way to save on the grocery bill.

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The potato is one of the most versatile vegetables you can put on your plate. You can mash them, dice them, and slice them. Did you know you can even grow them? But I live in the city, you tell me. No excuse! Growing potatoes is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and they look great on the patio right up till harvest.

Potatoes, a long standing staple for many cooks, will grow in almost any part of the world. They can fill an acre of farmland or decorate your patio. All you need is a container, some good soil, and a few potatoes that have been setting around long enough to begin growing “eyes.” The “eyes” are actually the sprouts or buds that will start the growth of a new plant. If you leave a potato sit for a few weeks you will see the sprouts begin.

Your patio container can be of any size or style. Anything from a plastic tub (like the ones you use to store Christmas decorations) to an old whiskey barrel will work, but I prefer to use decorative clay pots. Make sure what ever container you choose will have drainage holes so the potatoes do not sit in water. The process is simple.

First, fill your container with at least two inches of soil. Cut your potato in pieces so each piece contains at least one “eye” and lay the “eye” facing up on the soil in your container. Next cover the potato “eye” with another two inches of soil. Keep the soil moist and water when it starts to dry. As your new potato plant begins to spout and grow, you will continue to add soil to cover the new growth. Allow at least two inches of stem to emerge before adding soil. Continue adding soil to cover the stem until your container is full. The deeper your container, the more potatoes you will harvest. The potatoes will grow on the stem with the larger potatoes at the bottom.

If you live in a cold area, wait till the last frost has appeared before your begin your planting. If you live in a warm climate, you may plant year long. As the potato plant grows, it produces a nice green leafy top which looks very nice on any patio. As the potato plant matures, the tops will begin to brown and wither. This is your clue to begin your harvest. You can leave the potato crop in the soil for 4-6 weeks; but, once you dig through your container and gather your new potatoes, wash and store them in a cool place.

There could be a farmer in you that is just jumping at the chance to impress the neighbors. And what could be more impressive than hosting a dinner party with home grown potatoes. Not the usual past time or hobby of most. Think of the interesting conversation that will be be generated as you pass the potatoes.

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There are many different varieties of potatoes and possibly 3,000 in all. There are only about 100 which are typically grown and each has its own characteristics that are unique to that particular potato. Each potato has its own texture, shape, color and taste. I am going to give you the ones that I think are the most popular and also give you the best options for using them as well.

Russets Potatoes: ( Idaho Potato,baking potato,starchy potato, chefs potato). They are a high starch potato and have a brown skin and a white flesh to them. They have a floury texture when they are cooked and make them a very good choice for baking, and they make a really good mashed potato. This potato is also called a chefs potato, and preferred by many chefs due to the high starch and low moisture. They bake well and yield light and fluffy mashed potatoes. The major varieties are Idaho, Burbank, Centennial, and Norgold.

Long whites: They are an oval potato, and they have a thin light brown skin with tiny eyes. They are a medium starch potato and are good for pan frying or boiling. They are also a good all purpose potato. The major variety of the long whites are called White Rose.

Round Whites: They are round with smooth light brown or tan skin. They have also been called Eastern potatoes. They are a low starch potato, and they are ideal for roasting, potato salad, and au gratin, and scalloped potatoes. Some of the major varieties are Superior, and Chippewa.

Round Reds: They have a rosy red skin with withe flesh and are usually round and some oblong. The smaller ones that are harvested before they reach maturity are very low in starch and have a sweet flavor. These are often called new potatoes and they are good for boiling, roasting, and potato salads. Some of the major varieties are La Rouge, Red La Soda, and Red Pontiac.

Yellow Flesh: This variety of potato has a mild buttery texture and taste. This is my favorite potato. You can use this potato for roasting, and mashed potatoes. Some of the major varieties of this potato are Yukon Gold, and Yellow Finn.

Blue and Purple: These are the most uncommon tubers have flesh that range in a hue from dark blue or a lavender to a white color. They have a somewhat nutty flavor. If you want to preserve the color on these little beauties you will need to microwave them. It helps to keep their color intact more than any other type of cooking. You can bake them, or you can steam them which are also good cooking methods. Some of the major varieties are Purple Peruvian, and All Blue.

I hope that this information will help you when you are trying to pick the right potato for that perfect meal.

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ORGANIC VEGETABLE SEEDS

There are a lot of simple ways to grow organic potatoes. This article describes how to grow potatoes without digging soil.
This way produces delicious clean potatoes that can be incorporated into your family’s mealtimes.
For best results you should to locate your potato patch in area that receives plenty of sun. In soil that is well drained and that has not had potatoes or close relatives like tomatoes growing in it for at least three years.

Seed potatoes

Choose seed potatoes from certified virus free stocks. You can use potatoes that have sprouted from your supermarket but make sure you won’t get such good results.

How to get sprouting potato seed

A couple of weeks before you plan to plant out the tubers. Define a nice sunny location in your house (must be frost free) to let the tubers sprout. Good method is to place them in egg boxes on the window sill with the eyes uppermost. Once there is about an inch of growth the potatoes are ready to plant. Aim to plant out in mid-spring.

Preparation

The planting area is first of all covered with overlapping layers of newspaper full thickness. The newspaper can be placed directly over weeds. Onto the newspaper you lay out your tubers about 1 foot apart.

Mulching

Over the potatoes you need to place about 1 foot of mulch. This can consist of hay, straw, leaves, paper shreds and grass clippings. A mixture of these will work. As the potatoes grow they need to be covered over with more mulch. It is vital that the tubers are not allowed to be exposed to the sun as this produces a green tuber which is poisonous if eaten in quantity. You may need to water the patch if the mulch is very dry.

Harvesting

Using this method there is no need to dig up the tubers at harvest time. To begin with you might want to pull back some of the mulch and selectively pick out new potatoes. The main crop can be harvested once the top growth starts to turn yellow. To harvest drag away the mulch and the clean tubers should still be sitting on top of the newspaper layer ready to be picked up by hand. If you want to keep the tubers allow them to dry out for 24 hours in the sun then they are ready to be stored.
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Growing potatoes is easier than you think. So easy that you don’t even need a greenhouse. You could grow these on a balcony or a patio. If you love new potatoes then this is something you really should try and it’ll give you the best tasting, freshest potatoes ever!

First earlies will benefit from chitting to produce the earliest crops – the Swift is a first early and is as the name suggests, a fast grower and can be ready to crop in as little as 7 weeks from planting!

Chitting means letting them sprout. You stand them in a dry frost free place in the light and allow the shoots to grow. They do this without any soil or water – as you will know if you’ve ever had potatoes inside your kitchen for more than a few days!

It’s best to start these growing bag first earlies off somewhere other than outside though to give them a good start! A porch or conservatory or a greenhouse or shed will do. As foliage develops you need to top up the compost to cover the green leaves.

Start you first early potatoes in the greenhouse or conservatory, this ensures warmer soil for quicker development. As foliage develops, regularly add more soil compost to ‘earth up’ your crops

You start the potatoes off at the right planting time (Indoors: February to March / Outdoors: March-April). You should place three tubers on top of a 15-20cm layer of decent compost in each Gro-Sack(TM) and then cover the tubers with a further 10cm layer of compost.

You must keep the compost damp but not wet at all times. It it gets too wet then it can cause the tubers to rot.

As the plants grow and shoots emerge above the surface, add more compost to cover the shoots and then repeat as needed until the compost is about 2in/5cm below the top of the bag. As the weather improves you can put the bag outside, take care to pick up the Gro-Sack with its two strong carrying handles and relocate to a outdoor position. Get someone to assist it the bag is too heavy for you.

Use a high potash fertiliser on the green foliage to increase yield. Avoid a nitrogen rich fertiliser as this benefits only the leaves.

Watering needs to be regular and the need will increase as the tubers grow – this is as the foliage is big and flowers start to form..

Harvest times do depend on planting dates, as well as weather during the growing season, plus different varieties take different times.

However First Earlies are always best harvested in small quantities and eaten straightaway when fresh in June and July.

Soil Requirements

For growing good crop of potatoes a well-drained, fine sandy loam soil, high in organic matter is preferred. In case of heavy clay or clay loam soils drainage problems should be corrected and improved by growing cover crops or adding aged manure or compost. Be cautioned, however, that manure may increase the incidence of potato diseases.

Seedbed Preparation

If a cover crop (rye or wheat are excellent choices) was planted the previous fall, it should be turned under before it exceeds 12 inches in height by tilling 8 to 10 inches deep, depending on the depth of the topsoil. After tilling, level the surface slightly so that furrows can be made. It is best to wait at least a week after tilling in the cover crop before planting the seed pieces.

Soil pH and Fertilizer Practices

The pH should be 5.0 to 5.5 as scab disease (brown corky tissue on surface of tubers) may be a problem in alkaline or “sweet” soils. Moderate amounts of fertilizer are required for big yields of potatoes.

Ideally, the fertilizer should be placed in continuous bands two to three inches to each side and slightly below the seed piece. However, many gardeners will use the fertilizer before tilling or spading. Fertilizer rates should be based on results of a soil test. A typical rate would be two and a half to three pounds of 8-16-16, 10-20-20, or equivalent per 100 square feet. When plants are four to six inches tall, band two to three pounds of fertilizer per 100 feet of row about 6 to 10 inches from the row, if growth is not satisfactory and if foliage is yellowish-green.

Variety Selection

There are a lot of good potato seed variety. Irish Cobbler is an excellent early maturing variety for the home garden, but seed is scarce. It should be planted early, from late March to mid-May, depending on the section of the state. Norland is an early, red-skinned variety, various strains of which are readily available. Another red-skinned variety is Pontiac, a late-maturing, high-yielding potato of fair cooking quality, but often misshapen. Superior is a white-skinned variety, maturing later than Irish Cobbler, but earlier than two other recommended varieties, Katahdin and Kennebec. These two are desirable when gardeners want to store potatoes.

Whichever variety is selected, use certified disease-free seed. Such seed is grown under rigid rules and carefully inspected by state authorities. The potato seed is not a true seed, but modified stem tissue known as a tuber. The true seed of the potato occurs in the small, inedible orange fruit the plant produces during mid-season.

Some feed and garden stores sell B-size seed-small tubers weighing 1-1/2 to 2 ounces. These tubers should not be cut before planting. If 4 to 6 ounce or larger tubers are used, cut them so that each piece is block shaped, contains at least one good eye or bud, and weighs about 1-1/2 ounces. It should be planted immediately after cutting.

Planting potato seeds

Plant the seed in shallow trenches 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 inches deep and cover with an inch or two of soil. The seed pieces should be spaced 9 to 12 inches apart in rows 28 to 34 inches apart. Nine to 12 pounds of seed will be needed for each 100 feet of row when 1-1/2 to 2 ounce seed pieces are planted 12 inches apart.

Cultivation and Weed Control

Due to the small area involved and the variety of potentially sensitive crops grown in the garden, chemical weed control is not recommended. Control weeds by shallow and frequent cultivation. Deep cultivation may cut potato roots and slow growth. When plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, begin to mound soil around the bases of the plants to start forming a ridge or hill. By the time the plants are 15 to 18 inches tall (at last cultivation), the ridge or hill should be 4 to 5 inches high. “Hilling up” is necessary to prevent greening of shallow tubers.

Insect and Disease Management

Most feed and garden stores sell approved insecticides and fungicides for use on potatoes. The spraying or dusting program should start as soon as the plants emerge and continue according to the product label until late summer or a few weeks before harvest. Flea beetles, leafhoppers, aphids and Colorado potato beetles are the major insects affecting leaves and stems. Early Blight and Late Blight are the major foliar diseases.

Garden area previously in sod may harbor wireworms, white grubs and other soil insects. These insects should be controlled before planting. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office for current control recommendations.

Harvesting and Storage of potatoes

For highest yields and best storage, potatoes should not be dug until two weeks after vines have naturally died down. This allows the skins to set and reduces skin peeling, bruising and rot in storage.
When harvesting at temperatures above 80 degrees F, potatoes should be picked up immediately and put in a dark place. Potatoes exposed to sun and high temperatures will turn green and may rot.
Most homes do not have a suitable place to store potatoes for more than four to six weeks.
To store potatoes for several months, the tubers should be cured in a dark place at 60 to 65 degrees F and a humidity of 85 percent or higher for 10 days.

After the tubers are cured, keep them in a cool (40 to 45 degrees F), dark place with high humidity. Under these conditions most varieties will not sprout for two to three months.

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You should use indoors to monitor the ambient general temperatures surrounding your seed environment. You also can use a heating mat to give your seeds a head start.

Make sure that the soil isn’t getting too hot.
For general seed germination, the soil temperature should be in the 60-75 degree range.

If your soil temperature is staying too warm, then the heat needs to be turned down or preferable off in the room where the seed flats are at. Seedlings like a night time soil temperature of 50-60 degrees so the plant can harden off gradually.

I had my heat mats plugged into my timer so at night when the lights and fan turned off, so did the heat mats. Once the seeds have germinated, turn off the heat mats permanently. They don’t need them and you want your seedlings to grow up stout and ready to go outside in the real world.

Consider the following information about soil temperature when you are going to plant vegetables.

• 60 F – tomatoes, cucumbers, snap beans
• 65 F – sweet corn, lima beans, mustard greens
• 70 F – peppers, watermelons, squash, southern peas
• 75 F – okra, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes

Tips for vegetables growing

• Organic pest control begins with healthy soil. It produces healthy plants, which are better able to withstand disease and insect damage.

• Specimen plants which need a warmer climate zone than you have do well in sheltered, south-facing walls. The wall acts as a solar collector, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, creating a small zone that is warmer than the rest of the garden.

There are two alternatives.

The first one is hiring one from a hire shop and this will give you the chance to get a strong powerful machine on the few days when you need it. The advantage is that there is no need to worry about maintenance. Disadvantage is that you should every time get it at home. You may need an estate car.

The other alternative is to get together with neighbors or get your gardening club or allotment society to buy one you can all share.This again will help you get a good rotary cultivator at a reasonable price.
Now, what it can do for you. This depends on the cultivator you buy. The best rotary cultivator will dig over to a depth of about l0 in (25cm) by breaking up the soil into small granules and mixing them up.

You can distribute your compost on the surface and it will be interfusion with the soil more evenly than you could do it with a fork. Set to cultivate lightly it acts more as a hoe and is ideal for dealing with low weed growth amongs tpotato plants.

Attachments to rotary cultivators are available to help you earth up potatoes or to plough, hut only on the larger rotary cultivators are these likely to be successful.

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Potato Viruses Y and A (PVY and PVA) is the second most important potato virus. It is perpetuated through infected tubers and transmitted by aphids in a nonpersistent manner. Potatoes yield losses may reach 80%.

Symptoms of Potato Viruses Y and A

Symptoms of Potato Viruses Y and A vary widely with virus strain,Potatoes  cultivar, and environmental conditions.
Rugosity, bunching, twisting of leaves, downward turning of leaflet margins, stunting, necrosis of leaflet veins, necrotic spotting, leaf necrosis, and stem streak are typical.
Less sensitive potatoes cultivars may react by developing with only a mild mosaic, or they may be infected symptomlessly.
PVA is in many respects similar to PVY.
When present in certain cultivars, it is generally less severe than PVY.
Potatoes yield losses may reach 40%.
PVA causes mosaic (sometimes severe), as well as rugosity and crinkling, and leaves may appear shiny.
PVA symptoms are usually milder, but cannot be easily distinguished from those of PVY.

Management

Management of PVY and PVA is by clonal selection and roguing in seed propagation. Resistant potatoes cultivars are available.

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