RE: Unidentified subject!

Hi, Beth!
This must be the answer! Someone recently sent a post saying that potatoes
should go in the very poorest (I interpreted that as poor soil) part of the
garden. That's why I had such success...Indiana clay, lots of sun, just
tossed them in, no supplements, except the peat moss, which is more or less
nutrient free (right, gang?). Stop feeding! 
	Better yet, do you have any sprouty ones in the cabinet? It's not
too late to put a few in a sunny but unsupplemented corner of the garden,
and see what happens. Sometimes you hard-working diligent gardeners make us
cheap, lazy people look good!
	Hope this works...you deserve some potatoes, Beth.

Carol 
Indianapolis


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Grem, Beth A [SMTP:GremEA@navair.navy.mil]
> Sent:	Monday, June 14, 1999 1:40 PM
> To:	'veggie-list@eskimo.com'
> Subject:	RE: Unidentified subject!
> 
> Hi Carol,
> 
>   Yes, I do hill my taters.  When I (attempted) to grow them in a
> container,
> They grew, I hilled, they grew, I hilled.... until they were about 5 feet
> tall!  I added a trash can with no bottom to the container to keep
> hilling.
> I expected thousands of potatoes!  I confess I watered them with miracle
> grow 'bout every 2 days, so I suspect that too much fertilizer made pretty
> plants, no taters.  Now this year, I did the trench/hill thing in the
> ground.  Teeny bit of fertilizer.  My plants are about 2 1/2 feet tall.
> They've been in since mid march.  No signs of flowers, but the bottom
> leaves
> are yellowing.  Is this what they should look like?  When should they be
> ready??  Will I ever eat a homegrown tato??  Variety is Yukon gold. 
> 
> Thanks much!
> (Beth MD zone7)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Young, Carol K E [c*@iupui.edu]
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 2:10 PM
> To: veggie-list@eskimo.com
> Subject: Unidentified subject!
> 
> 
> Hi, Beth, and all ''tater lovers!
> In filing some old posts, I reread your (Beth's) post about not growing
> potatoes successfully...great foliage, no potatoes. You mentioned growing
> them in tubs, and this leads me to believe that they were not hilled. 
> 	If I understand potatoes correctly (and I believe I have had great
> success), here's what happens: you dig a trench a foot or so deep, and
> place
> the 1/4 (more or less) potato with eye in the bottom of the trench. Cover
> it
> with dirt (eventually you'll have a hill instead of a trench, which is why
> it's called hilling them). Let them begin to send up shoots. Add a little
> more dirt (don't cover the leaves, just tuck the dirt under them). Shoots
> grow more. Add more dirt. And so on 'til harvest time when the leaves
> begin
> to turn yellow. The potatoes form along the stems in the cool dark earth;
> the more you hill, the more room for 'taters to grow! Evidently, if you
> don't hill, you just get a very pretty plant! 
> 	Even if you have luxuriant foliage now, and haven't hilled, I'd
> begin to heap dirt around them. I think there's plenty of time for
> potatoes
> to form.
> 	Any other thoughts, gang? Good luck, Beth!
> 
> Carol 
> Indianapolis
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