GOT POTATOES!

[HornyToadAcres]

Newbie Potato Question

So after watching a bunch of videos, I decided to plant taters in black garbage bags utilizing "bunny hay" (the coastal hay I give my bunnies after they have played, pooped and peed on it) and our regular soil which is fairly heavy on the clay but fine-textured. And no, I haven't tested it yet - got tests coming because it seems I love to get ahead of myself. After reading this thread, I'm thinking it is going to get too hot here on the bags (high desert west Texas, elevation about 3000 ft zone 7a, 7b or 8a depending on the map you consult). Seed potatoes from TSC, Yukon gold, Russet, Kennebec. My objective is to use our own resources whenever possible. So I am now wondering if I should have hubby dig a trench to put the bags in to keep them cooler. Or I could place them under our house such that they would get afternoon sun. I have only done a bag of each so far so good time to regroup or to try something different with the rest of the seed potatoes if necessary.

I was planning to "hill" them with more bunny hay, maybe a little soil as well. I put more hay on after planting. So it was about 5-6 inches of bunny hay, 3-4 inches of dirt then another 5-6 of hay to start. I have tiny slits cut in the bottom of the bags and was watering thoroughly once daily.

BTW, bunny manure is 2 1 1

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I strongly suggest that you abandon the trash bags. Taters like cool soil. Dig a trench, bury your seed pieces, then use your bunny hay to deeply mulch them. Potatoes are heavy feeders, so... if you don't have enough natural fertilizer, I suggest that you use a granular or liquid fertilizer of your choice. Keep the soil moist. Taters don't like it very dry.

 

[R2elk]

My potato plant died so I pulled it out and dumped the bucket. Not great but better than nothing.

 

[HornyToadAcres]

I strongly suggest that you abandon the trash bags. Taters like cool soil. Dig a trench, bury your seed pieces, then use your bunny hay to deeply mulch them. Potatoes are heavy feeders, so... if you don't have enough natural fertilizer, I suggest that you use a granular or liquid fertilizer of your choice. Keep the soil moist. Taters don't like it very dry.

So hubby wants to experiment. So going to leave those three bags and see if his thoughts on evaporative cooling work. He also agreed to dig me a trench to plant the rest of the seed potatoes. Trench digging requires our backhoe (old one he fixed up worth its weight in gold) because a 12 layer of limerock (called caliche here) is at various depths nearly all over our 2 acres. He also is always willing to rig me out with micro-irrigation. It is so dry here. We have had to do a lot of experimentation.

This photo is from the fall where we were working on the front of the property. That willow tree is one of my pride and joys as I planted it. The other trees you can see are large mesquite bushes we trimmed up. I planted two more willow trees and hopefully will have the same success. The backhoe is in the photo. Most of our property is covered in crushed caliche called chipbase to keep the mesquite at bay. It's a constant battle though as they are perfectly capable of sprouting on top of the chipbase, thank you very much. lol

 

[farmerjan]

Why not raised beds? You can continue to improve them with the bunny hay as the mulch on top and the potatoes will set alot near the top. especially if it is so hard underneath that they can't put roots "down"..... That would help to keep them cooler on the ground, and you will be making better use of the soil you are creating as it will stay in one place.... not like in a big garden that you till and walk on some and plant in some.... even just something that is 12 inches deep will support the potatoes if you mulch HEAVY on top....

I am really surprised at the weeping willows..... the ones that I am familiar with require alot of moisture.... they mostly grow near wetlands/swampy ground or along the edges of creeks and streams and lakes/pond.

 

[HornyToadAcres]

I have to work with my husband's genius. lol. I asked about making some temporary raised beds out of hardware cloth. I was going to layer the bunny hay and dirt. He gets to thinking and the next thing I know he is talking about something that is off the ground and has a mini greenhouse on top. It's worth it because often his ideas turn out GREAT. But sometimes they keep things from actually happening. I don't know if you know anyone like that. Anyway, there were other weeping willows in the area - I think they put down really long roots or something. But ours is from a nearly continual micro-irrigation drip. That first one went like gangbusters. The second one I planted, my drip kept getting turned off when a renter in our little RV spot would use the hose or outlet and not turn it back to how it was. So last fall he plumbed all that underground for me so it is solid. So my poor little second willow and the third we planted should really go this spring. I can't WAIT. The other thing that grows very well here with micro is roses. No disease or aphids to speak off so with water and some fertilizer they take off.

The other factor is that we have 40 acres about an hour from where we live that we plan to move to some time in the next 2-3 years. So he likes everything to be modular and potentially transportable. I will revisit the raised beds. Sometimes we talk all the way around back to my original idea. I adore him and I can get whatever I really want, it is just some things that take a while. I do REALLY appreciate your ideas/advice. My thumb is only green in spots.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

For raised beds, you DON'T need to frame them up. If "waiting on your husband" is slowing you up, wait no longer, my dear! You can build your RB right on top of the ground, with sloped sides. When I do this, I lay news paper or cardboard on the sloped sides, and USUALLY cover that with flakes of hay. You can garden like this, and at a later time build your frame around the mound, if you decide to do so!

 

[HornyToadAcres]

Verrrry interesting, my dear~ Thank you very much!!!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

With your caliche clay (I have no experience with that!) You might trench down a couple of inches (to help hold any water that does go into the RB), before building your RB. RB serve a number of useful purposes: concentrating your soil building efforts in a smaller area, building over rocky, clay or other areas that can't be improved without a LOT of materials being brought in from off site, or over areas where the water table is high, or there is a lot of flooding rain fall. Our natural soil is: heavy clay with lots of rocks. Since we live in an area that most likely had a lot of glacial activity in the past, some areas may be totally studded with rocks and gravel, other areas will be beds of clay. I'm blessed to have outside input of sandy loam in my garden area. Even so, I do some raised beds there, b/c they heat up earlier in the spring, and the beds help me to focus my energy on soil improvement, and containing plants in a certain area. I tend to ALWAYS crowd my plantings. RB also prevent soil compaction.

Again, I have no experience with your soil or climate, but I suggest that you plant some areas that are destined to be future garden beds with succession crops of green manure. If you have any livestock animals, look up Greg Judy and his wonderful videos on "Mob Grazing". If I'm guessing right, all you have right now is bunnies? If that's the case, just use what you got. Bunny poop and hay. If you have access to any farms with hoof stock, bring in some of their used bedding. Just be sure their feed hay is harvested from "Herbicide free" pastures. An other wonderful brain stretcher is Paul Gautsche (? spelling) and his Back to Eden style gardening. Then, there's Lasagna Gardening (Patricia Lanza). Her technique is just what you need. Good soil building won't happen in a single season. But, this year's efforts will improve next year's efforts.

Even though your move to new property may not happen right away, it's not too soon to start building the soil there. You might even consider leasing some or all of it to an other farmer for mob grazing to improve that land.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

My husband is also the brains of this outfit. He's the builder, tends to think it out long and hard, then builds with the best of the best, over builds. Me: mickey mouse engineering all the way. He is totally not a farmer, so I have to keep bringing him back to the beginning, explaining why: such a plan is a wonderful idea, but it totally won't work because of the actual behavior and needs of the animal in question, or the seasonal aspects of the use of a particular piece of land or building.