Brielle's Avalon

My last potato sprouted in the pantry. I didn’t want to waste it so I decided to try to make more potatoes. Usually I just plug them into an unused spot in the garden and keep adding straw mulch while they grow, then eventually pull the mulch off the mature plants and pick up potatoes. When the grandkids were small and I wielded the rake and the grandkids did the hunt and pick into baskets it was like an Easter egg hunt. I’m out of straw and don’t want to buy more til fall but I do have a bunch of potting soil that I haven’t used and a big, empty pot, so I figured I’d put them to use.

First I hosed off the big pot and put it where I wanted it to grow. It’ll get morning sun and open shade the rest of the day and will be convenient to water while not being in the way.

Then I put a big pot shard over the drain hole and added a thick layer of potting soil, nestling the potato into the center with most of the eye sprouts facing (more or less) up.

More potting soil, burying the potato by about 2 or 3 inches so it’s comfy and can start really growing.

Next water, a lot! If you use fresh from the store potting soil you won’t have this problem, but mine was REALLY dry so I had to soak it til it floated, let it drain while I watered the garden, then watered it well again before going inside to do other stuff for a while. After a couple hours I went back out to deal with the corn on the side of the house and soaked the pot again. This time it floated less and soaked more thoroughly. Now to wait for the sprouts to emerge, let it grow a bit and keep adding potting soil as it grows. I’ll update as I go.

Update June 2nd 2024:

It’s up! Just a nubbin of leaf buds, but it’s up! Make sure not to give it too much water. You don’t want the start to rot! Let the soil dry between waterings. Depending on the weather that could be a light watering every day if it’s hot and dry (like the furnace we live in out here in the Phoenix area of Arizona) or it could be just every 2 or 3 days in milder, more humid areas. Don’t be afraid to stick a finger in.

Making sure I’ve included a shot for scale…and Sophie was helping me out front today. She likes to rub against the brick wall.

Update June 10th 2024:

The spuds have grown enough to add more soil. I only filled it to the point of not covering the shortest/smallest sprouts, then watered it well. The potting soil soil was really dry so it floated and got on the foliage. That won’t hurt anything and it’ll wash off at the next watering.

I water every day or two, when the soil is dry when I poke my finger in all the way. I’m surprised how well this pot retains water.

Update 5/17/24

Just a week and it’s grown enough to add more soil. My soil is really dry since I don’t even remember when I bought it! Even if it isn’t dry, though, it’ll get on the leaves as you add it.

No problem, just lightly brush the soil off.

Water it well and keep going as you have been all along. Do keep in mind that too much water can be not a good thing for this project so don’t forget to stick your finger in way down to make sure the potato really needs watering before you water it.

Just for comparison, my in-ground potatoes are really struggling this year. These are the ones that sprouted in the pantry.

These are the ones I bought and put in in April, hoping for am actual harvest. he heat came on too soon and too strong this year. At least the datura (that I didn’t plant) is doing well behind it, as is the rosemary and Don Juan rose that you can barely see some leaves in the top left corner. The dead stuff on the right side is the artichoke dying back for the summer. It usually comes back in the fall. The sprawling grey-green thing in the bottom right corner is a globe mallow that came from native wildflower seed that I scattered 2 years ago. It and lupines are among my favourite desert wildflowers and I’m hoping for a nice show out front next spring.

6/25/24

It wilted, I stuck my finger in it seemed dry, it wilted more, I pushed my hand down the side, it was too wet. I overwatered it. There’s a chance it can come back, we’ll see. In this heat the balance is tricky. I pushed her back into the shade, too. I’m disappointed, she was starting to look like such a nice porch plant.

7/2/24 Update.

Sadly, in this heat the potato did not recover…and it was growing into such a nice porch plant. I’ll try it again in that pot later, next time a potato sprouts in the pantry.

In the mean time, one of the ones I dug out front was starting to sprout as I dug it up so, after waiting a week (for no good reason) I planted it in a different pot and put it in a fully shaded part of the porch. We’ll see how this one works out.