Trimming off the flowers is a good idea. Flowers produce mini potato buds that commercial growers use to breed new varieties, etc. Since home growers aren't into development, we should snip these off. Learned this tip a few years ago from a guy in the UK and my potato yields have improved.
I was very interested in this video as I am hoping to hear someone echo what my dad used to say years ago when growing crops. What he would say always and every time is as you said basically you need the 3 main 1's as you mentioned in different amounts for different crops. 1- phosphorus, 2- potassium, 3- Nitrogen. my dad always agreed with that but then he always said if ur looking for flavour, smell and taste these will not give you that what you need for that is the micro nutrients to provide that reason for the other properties, I can remember as a kid walking by the garden as it grew, I could tell what was growing by the smell alone, except for the potatoes but when we did the potatoes we then could smell them, as for carrots, and onions, turnip, cabbage parsnips, and so forth, we could tell just by walking by. Also I heard my dad say if you don't add these other nutrients the bugs and insects will eat every thing you grow. He also trimmed his potatoes and people laughed but in the fall he always had more and better crops than every 1 else. Cheers and have a abundance of crops.
We always burned a big fire and saved the wood ash ! We of course used hardwood and when we prepared our tater beds we’d incorporate the ash in the soil. It’s a GREAT source of potassium ! We would alway gather the ash before it got wet. My grandfather said once it got wet above ground it was way less effective. All I know is we always had great potato yields so I continue to do this. I do make my own bone meal trough out the year to feed my maters and taters !
I planted taters where an old compost pile had been and some in a rotting straw pile. We will see how that works. I did get them in late so may not get any! Havagudun gardener.
Thanks for that tip. So wood ash for potassium. Got som dry fallen branches I need to get rid of. Now I know how I'm going to ise them. I've been saving chicken bones for awhile to crush and make my own bone meal.
I'm a newer gardener, thank you for your video. It's so full of peace! I feel relaxed watching it! I'm sure you asked God to have it that way! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much for your comment, I enjoyed reading it. I am glad to hear the peace God has given me shows in this video. Thanks for watching. God bless.
Nice job on this video. I have often heard of cutting the flowers off of other plants. I don't know why there's any controversy with potatoes. I'm going to try it. Some of the comments are harsh. No need to say anything if it's not going to be nice.
I wish more people would incorporate Christ in these TH-cam channels as you do . We need him more and more in these times. We are so blessed more than anyone could ever imagine ! Thank You !
Good to know! Thank you. Im all about frugality, making each plant produce as much as possible and making things last as long as I can. I made my own blood / bone 'meal' from fish heads,I soaked them in water for about 6 weeks, strained the liquid, which is concentrated, I add it to a watering can and sprinkle root crop leaves on a sunny day. I make potassium tea from banana peels the same way. We have rabbit poo that goes around the plants for the roots ;)
Thank you Willie. And May the Good Lord keep blessing you. No place like being in Gods workshop. A garden. My first year growing potatoes. Great information. I’m just doing two 5 gal buckets this year. I just planted some potatoes sprout pieces. And they are growing very good. Thanks for the fertilizer heads up and the flower cutting. Potatoes are a very hardy strong plant. When I though last years try was dead. I just didn’t notice that they were still growing. When I emptied the bucket. There were still tiny potatoes in the bucket. So hoping this year to get more. With proper tending.
Cool video! The guitar was so sweet and sentimental. my happiest memories of childhood was with my Momma and brothers in the garden. Blessing to you & your family for a wonderful summer and new year.
Thanks for the video, potato is not a root crop but a stem crop. I've only worked in potatoes for 40 years and I don't think removing the flowers makes any sense.
Thanks for watching. The reasoning is that the tubers store nutrients for the potato plant. any nutrition not going to the flower and the small fruit it is producing will go into storage, and the tuber. I know this would not be practical on a large scale, but could help produce a larger potato. I'm sure you have a lot of insight to growing potatoes anything you could share would be great. Thanks for watching and for your comment have a blessed day.
@@williefarmshomestead I can also say, the chlorophyll of the flower stems and the flowers help to grow the tubers. After all, the tuber growth will have to come from the assimilation of the plant. I have no evidence for either claim. In any case, good to be busy with potatoes.
I often wondered about the trimming perhaps allowing more nutrients going into the potatoes. Thanks for your video. Your voice is calming and has peace. I just subscribed.
Enjoyed your video alot. Very relaxing to sit and watch it and your an easy going fella to listen to. Love the music. I watch other videos where younger people put them on and I swear they just did a line of cocaine before the video. Talk about hyper and high speed lol. I'm in northern Alberta. Grande Prairie county and we live a pretty laid back lifestyle when we aren't fighting wildfires lol. Nice to see others that enjoy a laid back life to.
Never planted potatoes in my life until last spring. Have a round metal "ring" like thing beside my house that is about 18" deep and 6' in diameter. Went to the garden center and bought a bunch of bags of the cheapest soil they had. Filled up the "ring" with the soil and bought a bag of "seed" potatoes and planted them in early June. Within four weeks the potato plants were a foot tall. They grew to be about two feet tall and looked very healthy. NEVER fertilized them and NEVER pruned them....just watered them and let them do their thing. Dug up the bed in the first week of October and literally got at least 100 beautiful potatoes the size of baseballs. They were fantastic. SO EASY....don't think fertilizer or pruning could possibly have increased my yield.
The soil you bought would have had a certain amount of nutrients in it. If you continue to use the same soil over time without adding fertilizer or compost to it, it will get depleted (from the plants absorbing the nutrients) and your future yields will be less. I say this from experience.
I just came across you channel.... you have a new subscriber here. You, sir, are right on! What a great video on fertilizers...and potatoes! Blessings from Texas. 🤠
My potatoes just started to bloom they are only about 45 days or so. You are the second person I saw on youtube that cut the flowers off their potatoes.
Don't the flowers produce a small fruit like a tomato that produces potato seeds??? Although seed potatoes are probably the best way to plant your potatoes as they are already sprouting when you put them in the ground. This is my first year growing potatoes and they are looking pretty good. The Yukon Golds did flower and produce a small fruit, that has seeds in it. I will probably give those seed a try next year along with my seed potatoes.
Thanks for watching. Yes they do produce a seed, I am wanting to hear from you about what happens with those seeds you got. Sounds like an interesting project. I know they will produce a potato plant, but would like to know what % germinate and how they develop. Thanks again, God bless.
I’m also very interested in your results! I would imagine they would be much slower to germinate and get going due to the small amount of energy that seed has compared to a whole potato. Depending on your zone, you may have time for another potato crop before it freezes again!!
@@YoooItsRex I am in Florida and should be able to replant again in August. Although I am expecting a pretty good harvest today or tomorrow. So, I may not need to plant again until Feb. I am also interested in producing my own seed potatoes. When I do replant I will plant one container using the Potatoes seeds that I harvested, but like you said, I will probably continue to use seed potatoes for the rest, as they will sprout much faster and probably produce a hole lot more then from seed. I have 4 - 10gal containers with Rustic Red Potatoes and 4 - 10Gal containers with Yukon Gold. The Yukon Golds are the ones that actually produced flowers and the seeds, that I will be using.
Not sure if trimming the flowers is a good idea.. never heard of that before. I will be adventurous though and try it with half my crop. Thank You for the video..
Peaceful video and great info-Thank You! Question:my potatoe stalks in raised beds are so tall they are falling over in to the walk way. Can they be pruned back by several inches. No flowers yet. Live in PNW. Appreciate any advise. Blessings🙏🙏🙏
I would not prune them. If the plants are healthy and not ready to mature ( 90-160 days depending on the variety ) You can hill them up by adding soil to the base of the plants to support and cover any tubers. You can also support them like you would tomatoes, be careful not to damage the forming potatoes. Hope this helps you. Thank you very much for watching and thank you for the comment. God bless.
Remember insects, if you take all potato flowers off, you should include flowers in your garden to attract and feed them to keep your garden healthy today and in the future
Generally I think trimming the flowers is a good idea, however, I'm in a new situation -- I'm having a hard time finding enough seed potatoes. I am thinking that when my potatoes flower this year, i will leave some of the flowers on so that I can gather seeds for the following season.
I collected mine last year but never planted them. There is a process to extracting the seeds which invloves fermenting them to break down a membrane that prevents sprouting. Also, potatoes from seed might not be the same as the plants it came from. Look up "True potato seed" You will need more growing time than starting from seed potatoes.
I only use manures, mostly rabbit. But I have horse cow chicken and pig. I just don't know what is the best for potatoes and tomatoes. So any tips on what manure is best would be helpful thanks
I wouldn't use pig manure in any form in the vegetable garden, for root crops I would use only composted cow, horse, rabbit or chicken manures. Rabbit is considered a cold manure but can contain E coil bacteria. Tomatoes will do great with rabbit droppings fresh or composted cow, horse or chicken. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching God bless.
I am sorry to hear that. Could be a number of things it most likely is a bacteria at work, like blackleg, a slimy black material around the base of the stem down to the potato or other bacteria. The soil may not drain well or is over watered. Make sure you get a certified disease-free seed potato, make sure soil drains well. I would not replant them in that spot for a couple of seasons if possible. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching God bless.
The first years of growing potatoes I never got flower heads on them and still got lots of potatoes. This year I have about 1/3 are flowering. Not sure why. Never heard of pruning potatoes.
Thanks for watching and sending in and taking time to send is a comment. When I was young we did not clip the flowers, and had plenty of potatoes. I have researched the trimming of the flowers, and it does make sense that the energy not putting into creating the flowers and the fruit will go into the actual potato. Potatoes will not always produce flowers, not sure why. But trimming the flowers off the potato stalks on a large scale is probably not going to be feasible or practical. Thanks again.
My potato plants never have flowers what am I doing wrong? My grandfather use to make 1 eye cutting and grow 4 lbs of new potatoes from each plant in Illinois. I make 1 eye cutting I only get 1 lb new potatoes from each plant it TN. I think TN 100° summer is too hot for potatoes except Red Pontiac they seem to like hot weather. My grandfather used 15-15-15 fertilizer, I use 6-12-12. This year I had 120 plants and grew 120 lbs of new potatoes. My grandfather would have gotten 480 lbs of new potatoes from 120 plants.
Potatoes are kind of finicky, if you plant too early cold weather will kill or stunt them, too late won't make potatoes or few. Potatoes needs temps at least 48 deg to grow high temps will stop them. So the trick is timing. Take your seed potatoes and let them start to green up for 3-4 weeks, in warm conditions (above 45) and get some sun or artificial light. Spray to keep moist. A day or so before you plant, cut your potatoes and let them scab over a day or two. Hope this helps. Thank you for your question and for watching.
@@williefarmshomestead My grandfather use to say, potatoes are tricky if you don't do them right you won't get many new potatoes, he lived 100 mile east of St Louis in Southern IL his soil was sandy and he got a 10 min hard rain every evening about 5 pm. My TN soil is hard lots of clay but I had truck load of ground up dead tree leaves from the recycle center my soil looks like potting soil but 100° f temperatures cooks my good coil away to clay again. TN is hot desert 1 or 2 small rains every month June to Oct. I tried irrigation black plastic tubing this year it did not help I still only get 1 lb of new potatoes from each 1 eye plant. This year I planted cutting closer 6" spacing that produce more potatoes per row but still only 1 lb of new potatoes from each plant. I used 6-12-12 fertilizer this year. I planted 120 cuttings and harvested 120 lbs of new potatoes. My grandfather would plant about 100 cuttings and we cut up 7 wheel barrels of potatoes about 400 lbs every summer. I planted Red Norland potatoes and Kennebec this year. Red Pontiac potatoes grow best in TN they love our hot weather I sometimes get 2 to 3 lbs of new potatoes but wife does not like red potatoes they don't cook well and don't taste the same as white potatoes. My grandfather hilled up potatoes but he did shovel soil on the plants about 2 times a week. He planted about 4 rows of cuttings side by side in a wide bed about 40 ft long. I have been growing potatoes 45 years and still can not get a large crop of potatoes like my grand father did. I might grow Kennebec potatoes 1 more time this spring 1 row 35 ft long. I have no luck with Russets most of the time there are no new potatoes.
@garyweaver317 I plant mine around Saint Patrick's day or Good Friday. I use 10 10 10 or whatever all purpose fertilizer on hand, bone meal, a very little bit of sulfur and rock dust if I have it. I water with fish fertilizer a few times the first month only, then I do an asprin per gallon of water once. The rest of the season, I do another application of fine bone meal after 6 or 7 weeks. Then I only water, except for an application of moringa /worm castings tea every two weeks. Always a bumper crop.
After watching the video, and reading the comments and an avid gardener, there's 2 things going on here, in regards to why and what. 1) The plants mission is to produce seed only. To insure future preservation of it's species. It doesn't know or care if we eat the fruit/veg that is potentially the seed. 2) Our mission, humans, is to grow vegetables for nourishment, and most/many, throw the seeds as waste. I've pinched flowers before with no really noticeable differences in results, and some varieties I've grown some that never flowered at all. It does make sense though to pinch them. That way all the energy goes to the tubers. We grow majority of ours in buckets. To hold in moisture we put an inch or more of straw mulch in each one. That also helps keep any growing near the surface from turning green. TYFS
In my decades of growing potatoes I've never cut the flowers off. All of the youtube videos I've seen nobody but you says to do this. I don't think I'll do it either.
That's okay, I understand. When I was younger we grew potatoes we didn't cut the flowers off and we had plenty of potatoes, but in the small area I have I'm going to do this to help increase the total weight of potatoes I get, at least that's the hope. Thanks for watching God bless.
Could be several causes. A fungal or bacteria, too much water or lack of water, low magnesium or heat stress. Being the lower leaves, I don't think it is heat. You will know if it is a moisture problem. I would say a fungal or bacteria. Is it just yellow or does it have spots, black or brown?
@@williefarmshomestead just yellow. I was watering too much. But we are in a drought and I have watered much since. The soil on top is dry but dig down it cooler but still kinda dry
A fungicide that contains copper. Remove all infected foliage, Do not compost them. If stems are infected cut off at ground. You do not want the blight in the soil.
Potatoes are NOT A ROOT CROP!!! Potatoes grow on stolons, which are outgrowths from the stem. You will never find a potato growing from below the stem.
@@backroadsusa6915 but nature does fertilize and water the garden. Leaves fall to the ground and makes compost. Water falls from the sky. It’s called rain. I’m surprised you aren’t aware of these things. 🤔🤔🤔
Trimming off the flowers is a good idea. Flowers produce mini potato buds that commercial growers use to breed new varieties, etc. Since home growers aren't into development, we should snip these off. Learned this tip a few years ago from a guy in the UK and my potato yields have improved.
Thank you very much for the comment and thanks for watching. God bless.
I was very interested in this video as I am hoping to hear someone echo what my dad used to say years ago when growing crops. What he would say always and every time is as you said basically you need the 3 main 1's as you mentioned in different amounts for different crops.
1- phosphorus, 2- potassium, 3- Nitrogen. my dad always agreed with that but then he always said if ur looking for flavour, smell and taste these will not give you that what you need for that is the micro nutrients to provide that reason for the other properties, I can remember as a kid walking by the garden as it grew, I could tell what was growing by the smell alone, except for the potatoes but when we did the potatoes we then could smell them, as for carrots, and onions, turnip, cabbage parsnips, and so forth, we could tell just by walking by.
Also I heard my dad say if you don't add these other nutrients the bugs and insects will eat every thing you grow. He also trimmed his potatoes and people laughed but in the fall he always had more and better crops than every 1 else.
Cheers and have a abundance of crops.
Thanks for watching.
Absolutely, micro nutrients are very important for a truly healthy crop.
Thanks for sharing this.
We always burned a big fire and saved the wood ash ! We of course used hardwood and when we prepared our tater beds we’d incorporate the ash in the soil. It’s a GREAT source of potassium ! We would alway gather the ash before it got wet. My grandfather said once it got wet above ground it was way less effective. All I know is we always had great potato yields so I continue to do this. I do make my own bone meal trough out the year to feed my maters and taters !
Thank you for watching and your comment. I love to hear what people are doing in their gardens and how it connects to their family.
God bless
I planted taters where an old compost pile had been and some in a rotting straw pile. We will see how that works. I did get them in late so may not get any! Havagudun gardener.
BTW new sub.
Thanks for that tip. So wood ash for potassium. Got som dry fallen branches I need to get rid of. Now I know how I'm going to ise them. I've been saving chicken bones for awhile to crush and make my own bone meal.
I'm a newer gardener, thank you for your video. It's so full of peace! I feel relaxed watching it! I'm sure you asked God to have it that way! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much for your comment, I enjoyed reading it. I am glad to hear the peace God has given me shows in this video. Thanks for watching. God bless.
Nice job on this video. I have often heard of cutting the flowers off of other plants. I don't know why there's any controversy with potatoes. I'm going to try it. Some of the comments are harsh. No need to say anything if it's not going to be nice.
Thank you for watching and for your supportive comment. Hope you keep watching and Keep the encouragement coming. Thanks again. God bless.
I wish more people would incorporate Christ in these TH-cam channels as you do . We need him more and more in these times. We are so blessed more than anyone could ever imagine ! Thank You !
Thank you very much for your comment. If Christ can't be in the center of what I am doing, then I don't need to be doing it. God bless.
No thanks, world has enough religious nonsense
@@chrisgale5634 never enough !! NEVER ENOUGH !
Good to know! Thank you. Im all about frugality, making each plant produce as much as possible and making things last as long as I can.
I made my own blood / bone 'meal' from fish heads,I soaked them in water for about 6 weeks, strained the liquid, which is concentrated, I add it to a watering can and sprinkle root crop leaves on a sunny day. I make potassium tea from banana peels the same way. We have rabbit poo that goes around the plants for the roots ;)
Oh that's great you're very resourceful, good information, thank you. Thanks for watching God bless.
Rabbit manure is one of the best manures if not the best. It won't burn plants so dosen't need aging like say horse or chicken manure.
Yes thank you for your knowledge! Great insights. Second year growing potatoes. Did not prune the plants last time so I will try this time around.
Thank you for watching, hope your potato crop is abundant. God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead yes me too! I already have three 5 gallon buckets and need to do another two buckets very soon. Thank you. God bless.
Thank you Willie. And May the Good Lord keep blessing you. No place like being in Gods workshop. A garden. My first year growing potatoes. Great information. I’m just doing two 5 gal buckets this year. I just planted some potatoes sprout pieces. And they are growing very good. Thanks for the fertilizer heads up and the flower cutting. Potatoes are a very hardy strong plant. When I though last years try was dead. I just didn’t notice that they were still growing. When I emptied the bucket. There were still tiny potatoes in the bucket. So hoping this year to get more. With proper tending.
Thank you for this comment. Genuinely appreciated. Thanks for watching and God bless.
Cool video! The guitar was so sweet and sentimental. my happiest memories of childhood was with my Momma and brothers in the garden. Blessing to you & your family for a wonderful summer and new year.
I love reading your comments thank you very much. Thank you for watching and may God bless.
I grew them last year but didn't know this! Im heading out right now to trim the flowers off. Thank you 💚
Thank you for the comment and for watching. Happy gardening and God bless.
Thanks brother, good tip to prune those potato flowers. Going get out there and do that now. God Bless.
Thanks for watching, God bless.
Thanks for the video, potato is not a root crop but a stem crop. I've only worked in potatoes for 40 years and I don't think removing the flowers makes any sense.
Thanks for watching. The reasoning is that the tubers store nutrients for the potato plant. any nutrition not going to the flower and the small fruit it is producing will go into storage, and the tuber. I know this would not be practical on a large scale, but could help produce a larger potato.
I'm sure you have a lot of insight to growing potatoes anything you could share would be great. Thanks for watching and for your comment have a blessed day.
@@williefarmshomestead For the enthusiasts, I breed new potato varieties on a small scale. I show this every week in a short video.
@@williefarmshomestead I can also say, the chlorophyll of the flower stems and the flowers help to grow the tubers. After all, the tuber growth will have to come from the assimilation of the plant. I have no evidence for either claim. In any case, good to be busy with potatoes.
I often wondered about the trimming perhaps allowing more nutrients going into the potatoes. Thanks for your video. Your voice is calming and has peace. I just subscribed.
Thank you for your comment. God bless.
Loved this video! Thank you for the info, we are going to try trimming the flowers on our potato plants immediately!😊
Thanks for the comment and watching. Hope you have a great potato crop.
God bless.
Thank you very much, love the music and of course the good information. God bless.
Thank you very much. I hope you continue to enjoy the channel.
Enjoyed your video alot. Very relaxing to sit and watch it and your an easy going fella to listen to. Love the music. I watch other videos where younger people put them on and I swear they just did a line of cocaine before the video. Talk about hyper and high speed lol. I'm in northern Alberta. Grande Prairie county and we live a pretty laid back lifestyle when we aren't fighting wildfires lol. Nice to see others that enjoy a laid back life to.
You don't know how much I appreciate your comment, good to hear. I thank you for watching and God bless.
Never planted potatoes in my life until last spring. Have a round metal "ring" like thing beside my house that is about 18" deep and 6' in diameter. Went to the garden center and bought a bunch of bags of the cheapest soil they had. Filled up the "ring" with the soil and bought a bag of "seed" potatoes and planted them in early June. Within four weeks the potato plants were a foot tall. They grew to be about two feet tall and looked very healthy. NEVER fertilized them and NEVER pruned them....just watered them and let them do their thing. Dug up the bed in the first week of October and literally got at least 100 beautiful potatoes the size of baseballs. They were fantastic. SO EASY....don't think fertilizer or pruning could possibly have increased my yield.
That's great. Thanks for watching. God bless.
The soil you bought would have had a certain amount of nutrients in it. If you continue to use the same soil over time without adding fertilizer or compost to it, it will get depleted (from the plants absorbing the nutrients) and your future yields will be less. I say this from experience.
Sounds great ...hope my potatoes do as well as your did
I just came across you channel.... you have a new subscriber here. You, sir, are right on! What a great video on fertilizers...and potatoes! Blessings from Texas. 🤠
Thank you so much for your comment and watching. God bless.
Good information. Nice sharing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you as I was not aware of any of this pertaining to the flowers of potatoes 👵🏻👩🌾❣️
Thank you for your comment and thanks for watching. God bless.
Thank you for the tips !
Thank you for the comment and for watching. God bless.
My potatoes just started to bloom they are only about 45 days or so. You are the second person I saw on youtube that cut the flowers off their potatoes.
Thanks for watching and the comment.
Love your video. It caught my attention because I am growing potatoes. I subscribed because I love your music!
Thanks for watching and the great comment. Thanks God bless.
Blessings to you!
Thank you. God bless.
awesome idol
Thank you
Don't the flowers produce a small fruit like a tomato that produces potato seeds??? Although seed potatoes are probably the best way to plant your potatoes as they are already sprouting when you put them in the ground. This is my first year growing potatoes and they are looking pretty good. The Yukon Golds did flower and produce a small fruit, that has seeds in it. I will probably give those seed a try next year along with my seed potatoes.
Thanks for watching. Yes they do produce a seed, I am wanting to hear from you about what happens with those seeds you got. Sounds like an interesting project. I know they will produce a potato plant, but would like to know what % germinate and how they develop. Thanks again, God bless.
I’m also very interested in your results! I would imagine they would be much slower to germinate and get going due to the small amount of energy that seed has compared to a whole potato. Depending on your zone, you may have time for another potato crop before it freezes again!!
@@YoooItsRex I am in Florida and should be able to replant again in August. Although I am expecting a pretty good harvest today or tomorrow. So, I may not need to plant again until Feb. I am also interested in producing my own seed potatoes. When I do replant I will plant one container using the Potatoes seeds that I harvested, but like you said, I will probably continue to use seed potatoes for the rest, as they will sprout much faster and probably produce a hole lot more then from seed.
I have 4 - 10gal containers with Rustic Red Potatoes and 4 - 10Gal containers with Yukon Gold. The Yukon Golds are the ones that actually produced flowers and the seeds, that I will be using.
I heard from David the Good that you can plant those and produce potatoes
@@lmgorbea1 What are the benefits of planting potato seeds ???
Very informative. ❤
Thank you and thanks for watching. God bless.
Glory to God in the Highest and bless to those who toil His Earth
Amen, ⬆⬆⬆💝🎉🎆
Thank you for teaching us 😘
Thank you very much for your comment I do appreciate it. Thank you for watching and God bless.
Not sure if trimming the flowers is a good idea.. never heard of that before.
I will be adventurous though and try it with half my crop.
Thank You for the video..
Thank you for watching. It's a good idea to use caution on something new.
God bless.
Would you let the flowers stay there a bit for it to be pollinated? Or just get rid of the flowers right away?
The flowers don't need to be there for suds to form, they only will produce a fruit above ground.
👍👍🇺🇸🙏 thank you for sharing..
Thank you for watching, God bless.
Peaceful video and great info-Thank You! Question:my potatoe stalks in raised beds are so tall they are falling over in to the walk way. Can they be pruned back by several inches. No flowers yet. Live in PNW. Appreciate any advise. Blessings🙏🙏🙏
I would not prune them. If the plants are healthy and not ready to mature ( 90-160 days depending on the variety ) You can hill them up by adding soil to the base of the plants to support and cover any tubers. You can also support them like you would tomatoes, be careful not to damage the forming potatoes. Hope this helps you. Thank you very much for watching and thank you for the comment. God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead Thanks and Wii stake-duhhhhh can't believe I didn't think of that🤣🤣🤣🤣
Just found your channel.. Thank you 🙏
Thank you.
I agree with removing the flowers!!
Thank you very much for your supportive comment. I do appreciate you watching. God bless.
Remember insects, if you take all potato flowers off, you should include flowers in your garden to attract and feed them to keep your garden healthy today and in the future
Thanks for watching. God bless.
I have learnt alot applicable to kataps farm
That is great, thank you for watching. God bless.
Generally I think trimming the flowers is a good idea, however, I'm in a new situation -- I'm having a hard time finding enough seed potatoes. I am thinking that when my potatoes flower this year, i will leave some of the flowers on so that I can gather seeds for the following season.
That is not a bad idea. If you don't mind keep us posted on that process. Thanks for watching and God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead I'll do that.
I collected mine last year but never planted them. There is a process to extracting the seeds which invloves fermenting them to break down a membrane that prevents sprouting. Also, potatoes from seed might not be the same as the plants it came from. Look up "True potato seed" You will need more growing time than starting from seed potatoes.
@@Wildwwill Thanks for the tips! I will look into that more.
I saw the test an more potatoes the more nitrogen
Thanks for watching. God Bless
I only use manures, mostly rabbit. But I have horse cow chicken and pig. I just don't know what is the best for potatoes and tomatoes. So any tips on what manure is best would be helpful thanks
I wouldn't use pig manure in any form in the vegetable garden, for root crops I would use only composted cow, horse, rabbit or chicken manures. Rabbit is considered a cold manure but can contain E coil bacteria. Tomatoes will do great with rabbit droppings fresh or composted cow, horse or chicken. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching God bless.
Good morning, Thanks for sharing. But i have a problem with my potatoes there got rotten under the soil, can you please tell me what to do pls pls😢
I am sorry to hear that. Could be a number of things it most likely is a bacteria at work, like blackleg, a slimy black material around the base of the stem down to the potato or other bacteria. The soil may not drain well or is over watered. Make sure you get a certified disease-free seed potato, make sure soil drains well. I would not replant them in that spot for a couple of seasons if possible. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead okay sir really appreciate this thanks alot
The first years of growing potatoes I never got flower heads on them and still got lots of potatoes. This year I have about 1/3 are flowering. Not sure why. Never heard of pruning potatoes.
Thanks for watching and sending in and taking time to send is a comment.
When I was young we did not clip the flowers, and had plenty of potatoes. I have researched the trimming of the flowers, and it does make sense that the energy not putting into creating the flowers and the fruit will go into the actual potato.
Potatoes will not always produce flowers, not sure why. But trimming the flowers off the potato stalks on a large scale is probably not going to be feasible or practical.
Thanks again.
My potato plants never have flowers what am I doing wrong? My grandfather use to make 1 eye cutting and grow 4 lbs of new potatoes from each plant in Illinois. I make 1 eye cutting I only get 1 lb new potatoes from each plant it TN. I think TN 100° summer is too hot for potatoes except Red Pontiac they seem to like hot weather. My grandfather used 15-15-15 fertilizer, I use 6-12-12. This year I had 120 plants and grew 120 lbs of new potatoes. My grandfather would have gotten 480 lbs of new potatoes from 120 plants.
What's your zone and average last frost date?
Potatoes are kind of finicky, if you plant too early cold weather will kill or stunt them, too late won't make potatoes or few. Potatoes needs temps at least 48 deg to grow high temps will stop them. So the trick is timing. Take your seed potatoes and let them start to green up for 3-4 weeks, in warm conditions (above 45) and get some sun or artificial light. Spray to keep moist. A day or so before you plant, cut your potatoes and let them scab over a day or two. Hope this helps. Thank you for your question and for watching.
@@williefarmshomestead I am zone 7 we are 30 miles south of Nashville TN.
@@williefarmshomestead My grandfather use to say, potatoes are tricky if you don't do them right you won't get many new potatoes, he lived 100 mile east of St Louis in Southern IL his soil was sandy and he got a 10 min hard rain every evening about 5 pm. My TN soil is hard lots of clay but I had truck load of ground up dead tree leaves from the recycle center my soil looks like potting soil but 100° f temperatures cooks my good coil away to clay again. TN is hot desert 1 or 2 small rains every month June to Oct. I tried irrigation black plastic tubing this year it did not help I still only get 1 lb of new potatoes from each 1 eye plant. This year I planted cutting closer 6" spacing that produce more potatoes per row but still only 1 lb of new potatoes from each plant. I used 6-12-12 fertilizer this year. I planted 120 cuttings and harvested 120 lbs of new potatoes. My grandfather would plant about 100 cuttings and we cut up 7 wheel barrels of potatoes about 400 lbs every summer. I planted Red Norland potatoes and Kennebec this year. Red Pontiac potatoes grow best in TN they love our hot weather I sometimes get 2 to 3 lbs of new potatoes but wife does not like red potatoes they don't cook well and don't taste the same as white potatoes. My grandfather hilled up potatoes but he did shovel soil on the plants about 2 times a week. He planted about 4 rows of cuttings side by side in a wide bed about 40 ft long. I have been growing potatoes 45 years and still can not get a large crop of potatoes like my grand father did. I might grow Kennebec potatoes 1 more time this spring 1 row 35 ft long. I have no luck with Russets most of the time there are no new potatoes.
@garyweaver317 I plant mine around Saint Patrick's day or Good Friday. I use 10 10 10 or whatever all purpose fertilizer on hand, bone meal, a very little bit of sulfur and rock dust if I have it. I water with fish fertilizer a few times the first month only, then I do an asprin per gallon of water once. The rest of the season, I do another application of fine bone meal after 6 or 7 weeks. Then I only water, except for an application of moringa /worm castings tea every two weeks. Always a bumper crop.
After watching the video, and reading the comments and an avid gardener, there's
2 things going on here, in regards to why and what.
1) The plants mission is to produce seed only. To insure future preservation of it's
species. It doesn't know or care if we eat the fruit/veg that is potentially the seed.
2) Our mission, humans, is to grow vegetables for nourishment, and most/many,
throw the seeds as waste.
I've pinched flowers before with no really noticeable differences in results, and
some varieties I've grown some that never flowered at all.
It does make sense though to pinch them. That way all the energy goes to the
tubers.
We grow majority of ours in buckets. To hold in moisture we put an inch or more
of straw mulch in each one. That also helps keep any growing near the surface
from turning green.
TYFS
Thanks for watching. God bless.
In my decades of growing potatoes I've never cut the flowers off. All of the youtube videos I've seen nobody but you says to do this. I don't think I'll do it either.
That's okay, I understand. When I was younger we grew potatoes we didn't cut the flowers off and we had plenty of potatoes, but in the small area I have I'm going to do this to help increase the total weight of potatoes I get, at least that's the hope. Thanks for watching God bless.
Why do some leaves on the bottom yellow?
Could be several causes. A fungal or bacteria, too much water or lack of water, low magnesium or heat stress. Being the lower leaves, I don't think it is heat. You will know if it is a moisture problem. I would say a fungal or bacteria. Is it just yellow or does it have spots, black or brown?
@@williefarmshomestead just yellow. I was watering too much. But we are in a drought and I have watered much since. The soil on top is dry but dig down it cooler but still kinda dry
The government can take your food and you will starve anyway thats what happened in the Russian revolution
Never seen potatoes grow so tall. Are they in part shade?
Thanks for watching. They do get some late afternoon shade.
God bless.
Greetings,
Can one prune some of the leaves for air flow?
Cheers,
Rachel
All I would trim would be the blooms. All the leaves are needed to soak up the sun and release CO2. Thanks for watching. God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead
Ty!
Ohana Music Group?🤙🤙
A recording studio here in Kentucky.
Thanks for watching, God bless.
Now called CCB of Kentucky
It's not natural to cut the blooms off the potatoes. But I hope it turns out good for you
Thanks for watching, God bless.
I have early potato blight. Any advise
A fungicide that contains copper. Remove all infected foliage, Do not compost them. If stems are infected cut off at ground. You do not want the blight in the soil.
Thanks for watching God bless.
Potatoes are NOT A ROOT CROP!!!
Potatoes grow on stolons, which are outgrowths from the stem.
You will never find a potato growing from below the stem.
Thanks for watching. God bless.
You are correct, technically it is not a root crop.
Not in my garden !
God bless.
Music while someone is talking is ridiculous.
.
🌈💚🍀
Thanks for watching
Your wasting your time cutting the flowers off
Thanks for watching
I like to follow nature when I can. If nature does not remove the flowers why should I? I’m inclined to leave the flowers alone.
Thank you for watching.
God bless.
@@smhollanshead using your logic you wouldn't water or fertilize your garden then either if nature doesn't do it right?
@@backroadsusa6915 but nature does fertilize and water the garden. Leaves fall to the ground and makes compost. Water falls from the sky. It’s called rain. I’m surprised you aren’t aware of these things. 🤔🤔🤔
Please turn off the background music. Too loud and very distracting.
I will work to keep it at a lower volume.
Thanks for watching. God bless.
@@williefarmshomestead TY, I will subscribe and look forward to future content. God Bless.
Well, if you admit you are not an expert and doing it for the first time, you should not be promoting a process to your readers. Sorry.
I have done my research on this. Thanks for watching. God bless.