Trash Can Kennebec Potatoes in Zone 6

creeper

Beans are ready

(darn no picture attached..back to the drawing board with the stupid smartphone i've been working on all day. Its hard to learn how to be a geek)

Thunder Chicken

July 23, 53 days in the ground for the potatoes.

We really never got much rain, but the temperatures have dropped back to seasonal (low 80Fs ), so the stuff that I can water is perking back up. All the vegetables except for the potatoes are flowering and the broccoli heads are looking better. Swiss chard is sprouting. Raspberries are done for the summer, have about 10 lbs of berries in the freezer (what we couldn't manage to eat), and we're hoping for a good fall batch as well. Raspberries really have done very well.

Potatoes are looking OK. They seem to have topped out which suggests that the interesting stuff might be starting below ground. No flowers yet. I've been watering every few days and it seems to be happy. We have had bad earwigs this season which have been nibbling on the potatoes and everything else, but it isn't even close to stripping the leaves. Unsightly but no harm.

The rest of the yard is dry as a bone.

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ghostlyvision

Wow, thsoe look great, TC!

Thunder Chicken

Hallelujah! We finally are getting some real rain, not a tease sprinkle. Thunderstorms have been rolling through and it has been raining, really raining, for a couple of hours. I honestly don't see how people don't like rain.

Hope you folks out in the Midwest can get some of this soon.

bbo

we've had a good amount in WI where I am recently.

now my lawn looks more like a green lawn with brown spots, than a brown lawn with green spots.

Thunder Chicken

July 29, 59 days in the ground for the potatoes. We have some cool overcast weather now (70F with a breeze). The potatoes have grown a bit more and the taller plants now are starting to show flower buds.

Everything is making up time from the drought. Just cut my first cucumber and more are on the way.

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creeper

Your crops look great. My spuds are duds this year, but the yellow beans are ready.

Now if only I can figure how to make the phone send the picture portrait style

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Thunder Chicken

August 5th, 65 days in. The first flower buds have opened, pretty white flowers with yellow stamens. There are buds on most of the plants now. The plants continue to look happy despite the temperatures getting back into the low 90Fs. The humidity has come up, so things aren't drying out anymore (but what dried out in the earlier weather is still bone dry). We're getting thunderstorms and humidity with temperatures in the mid 80s this week.

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Thunder Chicken

August 17, 77 days in. All the potato plants have flowered and I made a tentative exploration for new potatoes, but did not find any. Not sure if it is too early, or I wasn't aggressive enough in my search. Anyway, the plants look fine. One fell over onto the fence and the stem bent, but it all looks green and healthy.

creeper

Looks like you got spuds bud. I was going to mention a while back that you can expect them to flop over. The rest will follow soon

You are certain to find some if you dig deep enough.

If it were my garden I would sacrifice one plant. Grab one stalk by the base and gently pull and see if you can get the plant out with the potatoes still attached. Maybe pull back some of the soil/mulch first to loosen.

Thunder Chicken

Thanks for the reassurance Creeper.

We're going to be traveling for a few days early next week so I don't think I want to pull a plant now as we couldn't use the new potatoes. I might give the floppy plant a more thorough frisking tomorrow, then pull it when I get home. I'm going to a party at a friend's house tomorrow and a sampler of new potatoes would be a crowd-pleaser.

Though it occurs to me that I really have no idea what the yield will be. 3 baby potatoes per plant, 2 lbs, 10 lbs? Growing potatoes feels like playing the lottery sometimes.

creeper

Don't want to be negative, but you don't have a huge space for them and the stalks, although very healthy looking, are a little thin.

I wouldn't expect more than a few per plant.

After you harvest be very gentle as the skins are delicate. Wash them only just prior to preparing. They will not be thick like those storage potatoes you buy in the store

Thunder Chicken

How thick should the stems be? These plants are about 5 ft high and the stems are about an inch thick at the base.

I'll keep my expectations low, maybe I'll get surprised. If anything comes out of the ground after this hot dry summer I'll chalk it up as a win.

We're getting rain today so I think I'll hold off the frisking until tomorrow.

creeper

Wow 5 feet high...thats crazy high. I've never seen that. Mine only get 2 or 3 at the most . This year is an utter and complete failure as far as the plant goes. Im not expecting anything in the ground.

The stalks usually get quite thick all the way up..like a tomato Maybe 2 or 3 in.

I think you will pleasantly surprised, but I also think they're too close together. Or maybe too many in the container

In the past we have left some unharvested well after a hard frost as bitten the plant. Just get them before snow

creeper

Hey I just dug up a hill where some plants used to be and found a handfull of baby spuds , not many but I wasn't expecting any

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