Potatoes

[JimSraj 505]

10 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

Those Red taters I put in early are almost 2' tall now! Hilled them twice. Planted some Russets and Blues several weeks ago. They are coming along fine, about 6" tall.

Beans are up. Tomatoes and Green peppers are slow. Can't seem to grow a cucumber to save my life. Seeds never sprout. Hate to buy plants, but if I want cukes, I have to.

Try starting them in flats or cell packs and then transplant them to the garden after they have a set of real leaves. 

[Wayne0 1,101]

Lo and behold, have 2 cucumber sprouts!

Planted a short row of green onions behind a row of Potatoes. (have those in 3 places)

Took down the only tree that shades the garden the other day. 130 foot White Pine.

[ebinmaine 71,751]

I mentioned this to Trina the other day. 

We have had trouble getting cukes too. 

Last two years they bought em from the local Amish or Mennonite stores. 

 

Maybe this year too.  

 

 

21 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

only tree that shades the garden

 

 

Nice. 

 

 

We've been doing the same by watching the sun angles from early AM to about 4 PM. 

Selected the trees to be downed over the last several years.  

 

 

 

 

[Wayne0 1,101]

I've got two more that shade the deck mid day. Both 120+ feet. They're next. Only issue is $$$.

Funny, I live on Pine St. It's a curse.

Edited June 6 by Wayne0

[ebinmaine 71,751]

Pine trees......   not a fan.  We cull them in favor of letting the hardwood grow.  

[Wayne0 1,101]

Things are going good in the garden now except the peppers. They're doing nothing. Don't know the problem.

Spuds are taking off, but have to keep picking off the potato beetles.

Three varieties, Norland Reds, Russets and Blues. I was going to plant Yukon Gold, but ran out of space.

Broccoli is coming along nicely and the cukes are doing well.

Only 1/2 my beans came up, so I had to plant another pack. I actually have a tomato on! Probably won't last.

Put some green onion sets in the other day.

The woodchuck hasn't been around so far.

Edited Tuesday at 08:30 PM by Wayne0

[Gasaholic 271]

15 hours ago, Wayne0 said:

 

Spuds are taking off, but have to keep picking off the potato beetles.

 

 Tater bugs. Ew. Did the pick and crush for years , hands stained yellow with bug guts. Then I came across an excellent solution:  "Conserve Naturalyte with Spinosad" -  It's concentrated so it gets diluted with water in a small sprayer (Mine's 1 quart) and I spray my tater leaves at first sign of bugs or larva about once every 2 or 3 weeks and my potato bug problem is non-existent. Easy to find on Amazon. Nice thing about it is it's fairly natural and doesn't hurt the beneficial insects like bees and etc. It's a natural substance made by bacteria in the soil that's toxic to the bugs and caterpillars. 

[Wayne0 1,101]

On 6/11/2025 at 8:08 AM, Gasaholic said:

 Tater bugs. Ew. Did the pick and crush for years , hands stained yellow with bug guts. Then I came across an excellent solution:  "Conserve Naturalyte with Spinosad" -  It's concentrated so it gets diluted with water in a small sprayer (Mine's 1 quart) and I spray my tater leaves at first sign of bugs or larva about once every 2 or 3 weeks and my potato bug problem is non-existent. Easy to find on Amazon. Nice thing about it is it's fairly natural and doesn't hurt the beneficial insects like bees and etc. It's a natural substance made by bacteria in the soil that's toxic to the bugs and caterpillars. 

Ordered some. We'll see how it works.

[c-series don 9,743]

Back in high school there was potato fields across the street from the school that stretched for about as far as the eye could see. The building has big sliding windows with no screens and no air conditioning. It might by now? I’m not sure, but it’s only a mile and a half as the crow flies from the ocean so that kept us cool. Anyway, we had the windows open a lot and when they would disc the fields, if the wind was right and it was dry the dust would pour in the school. Then later on as the potatoes grew the potato bugs would get blown into the building. I mean like thousands of them. I remember trying not to step on them in the hallway and flicking them off the desks! I also remember not paying attention in class because I was glued to watching them plow, disc, plant and eventually harvest the potatoes and then plant the cover crop. Faculty and students there now know nothing about this as all those fields have been gone for over thirty years and have been turned into homes that sell starting around three million. Sad really when I think about it.