The weather had been pleasant here. We had built one potato townhome (ours are 2'x6' instead of 2'x2' like many of the condo plans I've read, so I'll dub them with my own name to match my residence). It's fun - we bought strong 2x4s for the corners, but are recycling fence boards for the main part.
I also cut up most of the seed potatoes at that time. You do it a day or two ahead of time so they form a callus on the cut side. That means they won't rot when you plant them (I think that was my fatal mistake when I was little) and be a bit more protected from pests and diseases.
Then when we looked for an update in the weather, we saw that it was now slated for freezing temperatures and snow again. Sigh. I worried so much about planting them outside in those conditions, but also worried about these cut potato pieces sitting for too long.
Finally, I popped to the store to buy more soil and some peat pots. I potted up the seed potato pieces and placed them on cookie sheets and in plastic shoe boxes for easy transportation. I've escorted them up to my bedroom so I don't annoy the roommates. I did plant some pieces outside. We'll see what happens.
It's supposed to get better next week, so hopefully we can build more potato townhomes and plant these babies up.
In the meantime, I've got many pots and containers in my room. I like the smell of soil, but it's pretty strong in here right now. Whew!
What's the weather like where you are? Please say it's better than here :)
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3 comments:
Ooh! I'm about to do potatoes too. I didn't know about cutting them ahead of time, thanks for that.
Weather here (Reno) is beautiful today but it froze the other night and will probably freeze again this week. I'm aching to get stuff in the ground, though, so I might push my luck.
we are in denver, i think most frost danger is gone, i spent $300 at the garden store today. bought a beautiful hibiscus bush and a st johns wort bush which was the majority of the $$$ but i have been coveting both. I will harden off for the next week so the frost danger should be done by the time they are in the ground. got several rose geranium (love these I have a post about medicinal uses), some other potting plants and flowers and several more herbs plus seeds. we are gonna have a nice garden this year. friday is the mother's day sale so i will get some grasses and summer bulbs and maybe a few pre-potted flower displays
Jessica - I emailed you over at your site, but I'll leave the info here too:
If the potatoes are around golf ball size or smaller, keep them whole. Otherwise, you can cut them in half. Make sure each piece has a couple of eyes.
I set mine all on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. After a day or two, they're ready to plant. Put the cut side down when planting.
Dina - Ooh hibiscus are so pretty. Reminds me of home. It sounds like you are having all kinds of garden adventures already!
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