These ginormous French fingerling seed potatoes could have very easily been cut into smaller segments. But that would require 2-3 days “healing” time. Which would require some advance planning. Which, alas, the good folks at POD no longer really do. When it comes to gardening, at least.
But hey! Potatoes! Something that’s never before been tackled here at Plants On Deck — as they don’t play well with tomatoes, they’ve never been planted. But the tomatoes are moving to the front of the house this year (where sunlight is more direct and water is more readily available), so potatoes are the new tomato.
These babies were plopped on top of about four inches of dirt, six inches apart, and topped with another three inches of soil. The 18 gallon container (drilled well on both the bottom and sides to promote drainage) is home to five seed potatoes — which is, perhaps, a little tight, but we’re planning on harvesting a majority as new potatoes, anyway.
Happily, the heavens opened soon after the spuds were planted. The tricky part’s going to be keeping the soil consistently moist (not too wet nor too dry) until harvest.
In a few weeks, once the plants reach a towering height of six or eight inches, they’ll be “hilled” (that is, some more dirt and compost will be gently mounded around them, leaving about two-thirds of the plant exposed). This hilling process will be repeated until the plants reach to top of the bin. After the plants have bloomed, POD’s sending in the little fingers to find the wee fingerlings.
Grow Great Grub promises the whole enterprise will take 45-60 days…
