Potatoes

[Lickey]

Yes i know its been discussed on the Farming Forum over the years, and the last time i tried to grow spuds i got SAPs approval and help via Pms and phone calls, [sAP was an advisor in the Chang Rai area for growing and harvesting spuds for near 9 years, he returned to NZ last year]

I done everything sap told me regarding spuds, i really think it was my poisened ground that messed up my spuds, i planted 20, 2 came through and died ina few days, but this year, hopefully will be different, The raised beds will have a lot more texture in the soil, and a good covering of bamboo leaves ect,

Not many people know this but when a spud is harvested, its sprayed with a sprout inhibitor, otherwise it will grow great white sprouts on the supermarket shelves and look unattractive to buyers, and also unable to seed further,

Bearing this in mind, with some spuds from Tesco that have started to sprout, ive broken off all the new shoots, put them in the banana gassing tub for a few days and new strong shoots have appeared, I will plant these in a soil/compost mix in pots in our back garden and keep you all informed as to progress,

If anybody has some info on spuds, please post, TIA Lickey..

[loong]

Yes i know its been discussed on the Farming Forum over the years, and the last time i tried to grow spuds i got SAPs approval and help via Pms and phone calls, [sAP was an advisor in the Chang Rai area for growing and harvesting spuds for near 9 years, he returned to NZ last year]

................

I've tried to grow potatoes a few times and the best result was 1 potato the size of a quail's egg. Even when the plant seems to do well, it will rot at the stem where it comes out of the soil.

Did you get any advice re this stem rot?

Good luck.

[jandtaa]

Hi Lickey,

I've only tried on one occassion growing spuds in Thailand and managed to get a fairly decent yield of "new" sized spuds before the plants died from rot. Hopefully the following may help.

In the tropics and subtropics, bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanaceanum) is the most destructive disease of potato crops. It is endemic in the tropical lowlands where it can persist in the soil for many years.

Not only does it cause the premature death of the plant but can cause infected tubers to rot. Planting of infected seed can also contaminate previously disease free soil. Bearing this in mind I am considering trying the following method ;

Potatoes under straw

Forget backbreaking preparation of garden beds, simply collect together some straw, compost and welldecomposed animal manure. Wet down a 10-15cm base layer of this nutritious mixture and place your

seed potatoes on top. Cover the potatoes with of further 15cm of the no-dig materials. As the potato

shoots begin to peep through, continue to build up the materials until your layers total at least 50cm.

Of course, you do not need conventional square beds when using this method. Try creating some

cylinders of chicken wire. Line them with newspaper to keep out the light and build up your no-dig

layers within this supporting frame. Recycled plastic buckets or 10 litre tins with the base cut out can

be used in the same manner. Large terracotta pots are ideal for growing potatoes on balconies or otherplaces where space is limited.

Cheers for now J

[Lickey]

Thanks Loong & Jandtaa,

I have had the same results as you Loong, 12 set, 12 harvested and 11 golf ball size spuds, they were lovely to eat with butter and chopped spring oinion,

Last year i think was a combo of poisened poorly drained bad soil, im going about it in a different way this year,

Jandtaa, ive done exactly what you describe with the spuds, yesterday, i put some back garden dirt in the pots, brought a bag full off well rotted manure from the farm, mixed it up and put the spuds in, not quite covering the spud, then a layer of fallen bamboo leaves as a mulch,

SAP told me the optimum time to plant spuds in Issan is mid November, to avoid stem rot ect and to treat them exactly like a tomato plant, feed them the same, water at the same time every day..

My new plan is trying to get round the "sprout inhibitor" spray, if my method of breaking off exsisting shoots, gassing them, then planting works, i will be a very happy falang farmer!! Cheers, Lickey..

[jandtaa]

Hi Lickey

Any growth yet ??

Been looking into it a little bit and found some useful info on spud production in Northern Thailand.

There's two types of farmers, hill farmers (for this read Hill Tribes) and valley farmers. The hill farmers farm above 800 meters and use local seed. valley farmers farm above 600 meters and buy seed potato from Dutch suppliers. the dutch seed potato varieties grown in Thailand are "Spunta" or for chipping "Fennebec"(sp?).

I've located a UK supplier of "spunta" mini-tubers (a fairly recent method of producing seed potato from tissue culture that means they are available all year round) so will be bringing some back with me. I also had a look at potato cultivation in Florida and the recommended variety is "Yukon Gold" a variety that is becoming more popular here in the UK but no seed available until next season.

I'll also be popping up to a Hill Tribe Market in Chiang Rai to get some local spuds (These aren't sprayed with inhibitor and readily sprout.)

My Plots at 500 meters above sea level at the foot of a range of mountains and its definitely cool from December through to February (lows of 3-4C) so hopefully might have some success.

cheers for now J

 

[Lickey]

Hi Jandtaa,

My desprouted and gassed potatoes came to nothing,,, 1 did manage to break through the mulch in the pot but died soon after, i think it was way to hot for them, 38c days and 30c nights, yes it is a little cooler in the DEC/JAN/FEB months here, perhaps a low of 12c nights and normal days 28c, still a little warm for tates i think?

When you get back to Thai, please contact me on the Seed swappers thread, i really do want some good seed tates,

Cheers, Lickey.

[soidog2]

Hi Jandtaa,

My desprouted and gassed potatoes came to nothing,,, 1 did manage to break through the mulch in the pot but died soon after, i think it was way to hot for them, 38c days and 30c nights, yes it is a little cooler in the DEC/JAN/FEB months here, perhaps a low of 12c nights and normal days 28c, still a little warm for tates i think?

When you get back to Thai, please contact me on the Seed swappers thread, i really do want some good seed tates,

Cheers, Lickey.

Just for fun; I successfully grew some supermarket bought potatoes this way.

They were sitting in the kitchen for a while, full of sprouts.

Took a 5-gallon plastic paint container; on the bottom, drilled as many holes as possible without destroying it.

Filled it up ½ the way with regular dirt from the garden, fully mixed (almost ½) with dry tamarind leafs for added drainage, put two potatoes per container ( planted two containers )

Added ¼ more dirt & tamarind leaves, watered to test the drainage. It drained fast & the dirt stayed moist.

Important, kept them out of the sun & rain; watered intermittently depending on temperature.

Sprouted in no time; in the end, I had very nice new potatoes about the size of a healthy egg.

Regards

[Lickey]

Hi Soidog2,

Will give your method a try, have lots of plastic paint bins, tamarind leaves ect, sprouting supermarket spuds, Can you do this all year or is it to hot sometimes?

I miss new tates in Thai like a Thai in UK would miss sticky rice!!

Cheers, Lickey.

[loong]

Hi Soidog2,

Will give your method a try, have lots of plastic paint bins, tamarind leaves ect, sprouting supermarket spuds, Can you do this all year or is it to hot sometimes?

I miss new tates in Thai like a Thai in UK would miss sticky rice!!

Cheers, Lickey.

I used to get new taters grow in my worm bin in the Uk (unintentional)- wonder if it'd work here

[soidog2]

Hi Soidog2,

Will give your method a try, have lots of plastic paint bins, tamarind leaves ect, sprouting supermarket spuds, Can you do this all year or is it to hot sometimes?

I miss new tates in Thai like a Thai in UK would miss sticky rice!!

Cheers, Lickey.

It will work any time, use common sense, keep them out the heat, rain, too much sun .

Those new potatoes, with olive oil butter, some fresh dill or parsley will taste preety good !

Best

[jandtaa]

hi folks

Thought I'd share this Potatoes Fertilizer Programme with you

 

Fertiliser Requirements

Potatoes are an extremely productive crop and so a greedy crop. Their requirements and an exact feeding regime will depend on the variety grown as well as the amount of nutrients already in the ground for them.

Assumptions Regarding Nutrients Available 

The assumption made here is that the soil is in good heart and that a reasonable level of NPK is there to start. If breaking new ground, or exhausted ground then an additional 10% to 20% of fertiliser would be beneficial.

Fertiliser Programme 

Adding manure the previous autumn at a rate of a barrow load of 20Kg per square metre will provide the starting point for the calculation. The manure is around 0.7% nitrogen so you have added 140g of nitrogen. However, nitrogen washes out of the soil and only around 10% of the amount you added is going to be available to the crop. So we've actually added 14g /M2 of nitrogen to get the crop going.

As well as nitrogen to form the haulm (foliage) potatoes need a high level of potash for the tubers. A good source of this is to lay wilted comfrey leaves in the base of the trench, covered with a little soil under the seed potatoes. 

First Early Potatoes 

For first early potatoes the addition of extra fertiliser is probably unnecessary, assuming you manured in the autumn. If you have not manured previously, adding 200g/M2 of Growmore or fish, blood and bone will provide enough to get a decent crop.

Second Early & Maincrop Fertilisers 

Second early and maincrop potatoes will certainly benefit from additional feeding prior to planting even if previously manured and again at the point where the tubers begin to form. This is effectively when the foliage canopy between the plants begins to touch. 

The reason we are adding nitrogen through the growing season is that nitrogen is the element that has the lowest life in the soil. Heavy rain or irrigation washes it out but phosphates and potash remain to be available for the crop.

A good source of additional potash is wood ashes - if you've burnt some wood pruning then don't waste this valuable resource. 

Calcium nitrate applied at 70g/M2 will provide (at 15.5% nitrogen) an additional 11g/M2 of nitrogen plus effectively lime, thereby reducing soil acidification and this will improve total yield, improve the skin finish and improve keeping quality.

Organic gardeners with a lot of comfrey liquid feed available could water weekly or fortnightly around 5 litres per metre of row or add around 100g/M2 of dried blood.

The late maincrop varieties are in the ground longest and these need the most feeding. Adding additional nitrogen around ten to twelve weeks after planting should carry them through.

cheers for now

J