Good Friday is a traditional day for planting potatoes. I didn't get mine in today, but I did dig up about 2 pounds of nice little potatoes that I missed last fall. They'll be good roasted with my Easter lamb. A little rosemary, a little garlic, ahh.....
And I measured my potato patch today: 11 by 3 ft. I noticed that some of the potatoes I dug had started to sprout a little already, so looks like it is time to plant. Hopefully I'll get mine in next week - but the peas have priority and they're not in yet. I'm running behind this year....
potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)
13 comments:
I'm starting to question the conventional wisdom about getting your peas into the ground at the earliest possible moment. I sowed a couple rows on Washington's Birthday (the traditional pea-planting date in DC), and then another couple of rows about three weeks later. The earliest-sown ones had a germination rate that was about half of the later-sown ones, even though they came from the same seed packets. So the silver lining of getting your peas in late is that they might actually do better.
I was fascinated to read Amelia's comment. I put my peas in as early as possible (I'm in SW Ohio), and also had a very poor germination rate. I'm thinking of tucking a few more into the gaps in the rows, just to see what happens. I wonder if this means I should always hold off a little, or maybe it was just an odd year.
Anonymous, I just wonder if maybe some of our early-planted pea seeds succumbed to rot before germinating. The other thing I noticed was that all of the peas, regardless of when I sowed them, came up at the same time. So it's not like the early-sown ones gave me a headstart on the season.
Hopefully you both are right...I just got mine in this week...I am in Central Ohio and was feeling guilty about getting mine in so late.
A good way to ensure good pea germination is to soak them for 24hrs, plant them in peat cell packs and germinate them inside in the warmth. Once they sprout you can plant them pot and all in the garden or if the weather is still a little cold place the plants outside with some kind of protective covering until the weather is fairer.
Good luck with your potatoes Kathy. I am still waiting on mine to arrive. I am growing them in one of those build as you grow potatoes bins this year. I wish I had space for big rows a potatoes.
It sounds like you're planting the potatoes in the same spot as last year - what (if anything) do you have to do to replenish the soil? We have a few shallow raised beds, so we've never done potatoes, but I just learned this past winter about growing potatoes in pots. My 5 year old loves new potatoes, so we planted two pots for his special project. I can't wait to see how this works out!
I planted my peas already, but no sprout yet. It has been two weeks, and I think I need to re-seed. I have one of Roger Swain's books out from the library and he suggests waiting until the soil is warm enough for him to lie down on! I don't think we are there yet. I have potatoes to plant as well - it is going to be a busy week. I hope!
I'm in zone 7. I sowed some peas at the end of Feb and another batch mid march. They pretty much came up the same time with an excellent germination rate although delayed. The ones I planted early are only a couple days ahead of the rest. A friend of mine in zone 6 put hers in mid-Feb and she didn't have a successful germination rate.
Hi, Happy Easter, having Lamb too, well it's a tradition! Have just planted last 3 rows of potatoes into our second and newly dug allotment cleared of grass and brambles in the last two weeks. Tought I would let anyone interested know that I have just read that Marigolds are brilliant at dealing with the wireworm problem in freshly used soil. Will try this rather than chemicals. These bright little flowers seem to have a multitude or abilities as well as being pretty.
Happy Easter everyone.
Marian
Amelia I wondered about rot, too - my garden doesn't have ideal drainage, although it's not awful, and we had some cold wet weather. Also I didn't do like I should have (thanks Dan) and soaked them first. Having seen all this, I will mark my calendar to plant peas later next year. An early sunny day is just so tempting ...
I haven't gotten around to planting my peas yet (partly the rain and party the day job). These comments make me feel better about this. My next possible pea planting date is this Wednesday. We'll see.
For what its worth, last year I planted early (March 19, I think) and had a terrible crop, though sprouting seemed OK. The previous year I planted very late because of rains and had a super crop. I think its more the mid spring weather to blame though. Last year got hot too fast.
You're all making me feel better about needing to put in a second sowing of peas. I planted on St Patrick's Day and have three or four pealets to date.
The only problem is there are supposed to be tomatoes going into the pea spot in my succession plan and I'm afraid the peas won't be done by tomato-time. Panic in the garden.
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