[Homestead] potato flowers !

Clansgian at wmconnect.com Clansgian at wmconnect.com
Mon May 25 08:14:36 EDT 2009



> 
> > Hope the spuds get big under the soil.  I haven't been disturbing the 
> soil by the potatoe plants to see if any little spuds yet

Generally (it's not mechanical, only a rule of thumb guide) when a potato 
plant blooms, it has already set on tubers.  By the time the blossoms fall, 
there should be new potatoes big enough to harvest.  

Usually the plant will not set on more tubers after it blooms, but if you 
harvest some, the remaining ones will be huge.  What appears to me to be 
happening is that a potato plant will set on, say, half a dozen sizeable tubers 
and then set on a dozen or so more little spuds.  If left alone, the big 
ones mature and the plant realizes it didn't need the backup little ones and 
leaves them gravel sized.  But if you carefully dig out some of the big ones, 
the plant is provoked into maturing some of the gravel potatoes into big 
tubers.  That is, I've never noticed a diminished harvest in the fall even if I 
take a lot of new potatoes.

Today we are beginning to hill up the main crop potatoes for the first 
time.  The mounds made out of the left over sprouting potatoes from last year 
and covered with 30" of old manure are in full bloom.

James



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