We had an enormous amount of potatoes left after 2020 (because of covid. We usually give them away). So in 2021 my husband just replanted what we had and we ended up with buckets of potatoes. Free. It was great. We gave them to the kids and to the food pantry and still had enough to last us until about the beginning of February.
Dry the potatoes and shake the soil off when harvesting. Store in wooden boxes in a single layer on top of newspapers in a cool place. My family has done this for decades and we have almost no rot.
The potato peelings in my compost pile sprout and start vines before I turn the compost. My grandma just cut the eyes out of a few potatoes and planted the eyes. That's all you need.
Yes, ma'mam.. My Grandma grew up in the mountains of West Virginia. A Hatfield and that's what her Daddy taught her... I miss her canning for the winter. She would even use those red wagons for lettuce beds if needed to for the winter. Lol easy to move in and out for the Sunshine
I have literally just walked in from harvesting some potatoes here in Australia, thinking that maybe I should keep some to use as seed potatoes, and here is your video. Love synchronicity. Thank you.
@@andersonomo597 Yes, mud up to my ankles here in the Hunter Valley. Thought I had better dig the little spuds up before they got lost. So not looking forward to the next 48 hours. Stay dry and safe.
@@michellemoore2783 Small world! My SIL lives at Scotts Flat and said they surprisingly had sun yesterday! Their dams are all overflowing but hey 'droughts and flooding rain' is what we expect. Hope you escape the worst of it too - heartbreaking stories are coming out of the worst hit areas. Praying that the worst of it is over for everyone! Take care!
I left last year's potatoes in a closed cardboard box on the porch and forgot about them. Your video prompted me to see if any were usable, and almost all are good to go! Zone 7, so I guess I got lucky.
I'm in zone 7 and I have a spare bathroom that never gets used. I just line the tub with cardboard and lay the potatoes in. I keep it dark and cool and those that grow long sprouts just get cut half way down and planted. I only tend to loose a couple to rot. been going it for three years now without a problem.
I left mine in the cardboard box also all winter outside covered with a board and I looked at them today and they all have beautiful sprouts on them, zone 8. I have plenty of potatoes to plant now ready to go!!
I didn't have a huge harvest of potatoes last year, I left some in their grow bags just to see what would happen. They've been in my basement (60-65°) since the fall and I noticed last week there were some feelers reaching out like yours! I tossed some fresh soil and fertilizer, kicked on the grow lights and we are growing!!! 👏👩🌾🥔
after feeling around in my grow bag I knew there wasn't many potatoes (none of my potatoes flowered last year and I got a very small yield from other grow bags. It was a weird year for me with potatoes) so I left one set outside just too see what happens. There's a foot of snow right now so we shall see.
I live on The Oregon Coast. We grew lots of potatoes in case of supply change shortages. My storage room consisted of a rodent proof room that never got below 50 D. Every day I made it my chore to check for “sprouts.” I rub the sprouts off so they won’t keep growing. That seems to work well. Ones that have gotten ‘soft’, I place in a box outside the back door (out of the rain). Those will be the first ones to plant in late March or early April. If you break off the sprouts, they will still grow more. For several years I had those long sprouts like you have, but then I started rubbing them off and I saved more potatoes to eat that way. To prepare the potatoes for storage, I simply rubbed off most of the dirt carefully and stored in one or two layers of a cardboard box. No dirt or sand between. On Oregon Coast, we don’t get extreme temperatures. I would have liked to have a ‘cooler’ storeroom, but this one seems to work.
@@dilipanthonypinto1620 When I saw evidence of something eating the squash and potatoes, I basically freaked out. This room had been my "paper room" from the years that I had been a commercial printer. I had reams of paper in every conceivable space. Basically, I had to straighten it up. Finally I found the hole the rats had eaten through the sheetrock wall. I plugged that up and cleaned out the nest they had built between shelves of the bigger sheets of paper. Plus I glued a strip of wood under the door so nothing could squeeze between the floor and the door. I know that mice and sometimes rats can squeeze through some very small openings, so you just have to plug everything up.
Last year I had 2-10# bags of potatoes that I had put in a tote and covered. They had 3 foot long shoots on them. I just dug a trench *and laid them down along the row! They grew 3 feet tall and and all had flowers & little balls on top. I planted beans in with them & had NO bugs at all!
Hi Shirley, how did you plant the beans? Next to them or alternating? I wonder if you can't plant the potatoes and then when you mound them up plant beans on either side?
okay so i had some "raisin potatoes" last year that i had over-wintered, and many more that had started sprouting. i threw them unceremoniously in a bucket, threw dirt on top and set them outside in march (didn't water). they froze and the bucket got snowed on, so the shoots died off. when it came planting time they all were beautifully reconstituted and had root systems going. i planted the small ones and had a very high success rate. the big ones...we ate! they were good too.
I kept my green potatoes and tiny potatoes last year for planting this spring. I didn't do much with them--kept them in a spare refrigerator in the garage in a loosely tied plastic grocery bag until about two months before planting. At that point I brought them in and kept them at room temperature. They were pretty heavily sprouted when I planted, and are doing just fine in the garden, even the tiny marble sized ones. I don't recall any of them rotting.
That's encouraging to hear! I have a pot filled with small potatoes - Norlands, Purple Majesty, and Adirondacks tucked in the back of the frig. Do you think if I wait until constant cold weather below 40's that I can put them in a cooler with the lid open a tad in an unheated barn-shed?
We just did an experiment here in Melbourne, aus. I planted my potatoes smack bang at the start of feb, when I was told not to. They are thriving. So moving forward, I plan to harvest, pick my new seeds, wait a few weeks and just bang them into the ground. They grow all year here it seems.
@@its_not_it_apostrophe_s possible. During summer our days are on average 30 to 40C and nights 15C, winter its 15 to 20C and nights 4 to 10C. I find the potatoes do fine during our winters. And it seems our summers. I'd give it a go. Worse case it fails.
@@its_not_it_apostrophe_s I live in Bay area. Potatoes don't like December or January much, but if you harvest in November you can plant in December or January and they can grow through the winter.
Last year, I grew some potatoes in 5gal Homedepot buckets. After I was finished with the growing, I just reused those buckets to store the potatoes that I would use for seed. Ever since the storage room got cold, every Wed and Sun, I would open the lid to blow it for about 10 seconds. So far so good.
@@marthakratz7877 There are drainage holes at the bottom but I do not believe that enough fresh air gets into the bucket so I take the lid off and use the lid as a fan to blow some air into the bucket. Basically, get some air movement. It also helps control the moisture a bit as there are droplets at the sides all the time.
Hi Philip, you can store dried potatoes in the buckets and loosely cover them with the lid. That way you do not need to check them so often. Once monthly you can check if any are getting spoiled and throw those away. Potatoes do not like light (they turn green and are not good to use). I buy medium size potatoes in the store, put them in the garage and when they start to germinate I plant them in the garden. I grow them organically. Also I use my seeds from previous year and plant them as well. I plant them at different times, so I have fresh potatoes from June to November.
@@milenakalinic4084 Yes I put them on loosely with some weight on top to prevent mice from attempting to go in. I would still air it out and shift the tubers around so that in case there is a build up of moisture in one area, it doesn't cause any serious rotting.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with different methods. I'm in Mississippi and have never grown taters but, I can say that my store bought ones seem to sprout right in the bag I bought them in. Not sure when tater planting season is here but I'm gonna plant up some next go round like my Grandmaw used to do it. She just dug up some tater with eyes on them and planted only that part and there were many eyes just on 1 tater, so can you just imagine how her harvest turned out? The rest of the taters she had dug eyes from were always cooked up for a meal. I was raised by both of my Grandmaws under the same roof, but the one that did the planting back in her days on the family farm was born in 1898 right on the family farm! She was taught the old fashion way by the other family members and told me about her porch butter churning days using the old fashioned butter churn. Butter and taters...yummy! 🥔🥔🧈🧈
Thanks again for your awesome videos, I harvested about 35 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes last October, and stored them in 5 gallon buckets in my basement packed in Poplar shavings from my planer, I only have about 5 pounds left but they are still as fresh as can be after 5 months of storage. I don't know of the poplar shavings are the key to their longevity or if there is another factor, just thought I'd share this with you....Thanks ....Robert.
I followed your advice and I did not loose any potatoes! They loved it and now in Spring I found they had some growth and some had grown in size. Thank you!!!
Could you make something like a hardware cloth or chicken wire basket that fits inside the basket that would let you remove the potatoes while letting the sand sift out?
I live in Las Vegas Nv. My farm is in North West Indian. I grew potatoes last year first time turned out fine. This year I started About 20 lbs of Russet potatoes in Las Vegas in a tub one like they mix cement in, I use anything like sand, they are growing fine their in a bedroom with the heat off and we have very low humidity. I will take them to the farm may first. Am I doing ok ? I’m 80 last year was my first year gardening in 25 years. I really enjoy your show.
Just discovered your channel and I have always wanted to no how you keep your potatoes continuously giving so we don’t have to buy any. A bag of 8 in the shop cost $15 in New Zealand . Excited to try this
@@MIgardener So how do you recommend planting the ones that "got away from you"? I planted some like that last year and lay the growths horizontally in the tater trench. They seemed to do alright.
@@MIgardener You are in Michigan right? How can you winter your potatoes in a garage when the temps drop to -20 to -30? Doesn't Michigan get as cold as Wisconsin?
WRT the long sprouts. I was always told to snap off any sprouts that developed in the dark. To speed up sprouting, for early harvest, I get them out of dormancy by putting them in a warmer (15-20°C) and light place 6-8 weeks before planting them in the ground. It’s believed that exposing them to 20° for only 3 days and then keeping them around 10° would be better, but I don’t have such a place. The important part is the light.
Luke - Here I am, maybe a year too late to comment, sitting in sunny Santa Barbara just a kilometer from the beach smiling at your comment, "It's a glorious day. The snow is melting, it's in the high 30s (F) and spring is in the air." For me the "high 30s" is the dead of winter temperature once in a blue moon here in Zone 11b. Love the videos and your store. 🤠
For decades I always left the small/tiny potatoes in ground for the winter and every year they come up and then repeat. although.. Last year most of my potatoes were eaten by a bunch of voles... So I have to buy some seed potatoes this year.. darn it. Anyway happy gardening :)
I pulled about 60 potato in late November, cut several of them into fries and chips for freezing/Winter use and put the rest in a cardboard box and left that box inside but next to my sliding backdoor ... of the roughly 24 potato in that box, 3 rotted out, the rest have all grown their own fingers. I did not intend that result, but it is quite awesome I have 21 seed potato ready to go right now.
My daughter just gave me a ten pound bag of potatoes that I will be using for seed potatoes. She had forgotten about the bag that was stored under her kitchen cabinet. They are perfect for my needs; little sprouts and tiny roots are ready to go. I usually like to do the traditional St. Patrick's day planting here in zone 7B. They are sitting in my garage right now.
I don't think you should worry about the potatoes drying out. Last year I had some left over from my spring planting. I put in them in the ground in early July (zone 5a). They were very shriveled up, and grew fantastic. I harvested large Fingerings in October.
Mine are in the pantry sprouting right now. I have another month before I can plant outside. I may start them in a grow bag under grow lights inside then take them out. We will see
You can also just store them the same way you store the ones you wish to eat, and in the spring place what's left in egg cartons in sun before it's time to plant. That's what I do. :) I'm also very interested in true seed to add sinne new varieties.
that is what I do, now they are starting to sprout and I have them chitting in old egg crates that hold 2 1/2 dozen.. Also I read that some farmers plant potatoes at the end of fall before ground freezes and in the spring when the time is right they will just grow...I planted 3 dozen and will see how it goes
@@grandmananners if you have deep ground frost, it's not a great idea to plant them in fall. Potatoes don't like getting frozen.. So it works only if planting depth doesn't freeze.
Cultivarible is where I bought my true seed from. We're in zone 8 so the little taters I just put back in the garden and they come up when they are ready..
How are you doing with your potatoes Cori? I did the same thing. My plants are phenominal. WI. But it is important that we plant an abundance to have some left over after storage and have enough for seed potatoes.
Ah, I see. I never take off a half inch of potato with the peel. Gardening Channel- "If potato peelings are thick and contain one or two eyes, you can grow potatoes from the peelings. Use peelings from healthy potato specimens that are free from mold, soft areas, or green portions of skin. The peelings you plan to plant should maintain at least half an inch of attached potato flesh and have two eyes per peel."
I actually had a few full potatoes in my compost sprout, so I planted them, but my peelings don't typically sprout. That could be because bugs got to them. Id think you'd have to let them dry out a little first whenever you cut them, otherwise something will start eating the exposed meat of the potato.
Well, I followed Luke's method & got an awesome harvest from our Russets, Kennebecs & Yukon potatoes! So now I'm in the process of making more serd potatoes. I plan to grow 1 - 7gal cloth bucket of them in my atrium over the winter.
I layer mine in cardboard boxes with brown paper between the layers, then store in an unheated room. Works great for me. Can you do a video when you plant the ones with the long sprouts? I can't see how you will handle them and would like to know how. I don't get many like that, but there are usually a few that get like that.
It’s my first time saving potato seeds I take a look at them the other day and well they all look like touted raisins I’m not sure if they are still good
I did the same, left them in one layer in a box with lots of air circulation, but no light. And by the spring, I had a lot of seed potatoes that I cut and planted and were successful with. I kept them just in a dark area of one of the rooms in my house because I don’t have a cellar or a garage.
When I was a child we had a multi-family garden at my grandparents. We would meet others or take turns maintaining the garden over the growing season. Grandpa had an old Farmall with a tow behind potato harvester. After the potatoes were harvested we stored them buried in sand in a large wooden box that was built up off the ground in his Michigan basement.(dirt floor)
I am also in MI. I took my potato harvest and put them in a large cardboard box I had and kept it in the unheated garage. We used the potatoes as needed and we're now down to several dozen smaller ones that I plan on keeping for seed. They haven't started sprouting yet probably because of the dark and cool environment in the garage. I just took out about a dozen Russets from the store that started sprouting in our cabinet...we'll see if the cold and dark slows that down. May plant those as well in the spring.
Have had great luck storing them in the ground they were grown in. What I do, is take a drink cooler, drill holes in it, and bury it in the garden bed. The lid is right at the Earth's surface, and what I do is cover that up with a hay bale or a couple of bags of Dead Leaves to further insulate the cooler. I'm on the Front Range in Colorado, zone five. I can generally get 5 to 6 months of storage. Pulled my seed potatoes February 15th that were stored in a 5 gallon bucket with holes, and ended up losing a few. The bucket wasn't buried deep enough with only a few inches of soil over it, and didn't have a bag of mulch on top. Ended up losing the top layer, but the other 70 + potatoes in the bucket were fine. Experimented last year using dead pine needles in between the potatoes, and that seemed to work out okay. Just blanched and froze 15 or so pounds, but should have another month or more of storage, out of what's out there in the ground. Pulled potatoes tonight for dinner ( March 1st) and everything is still nice and firm. Harvested and cured October 15th.
I've become allergic to potato's and tomatoes and the other members of the Nightshade family, after eating alot of raw potatoes with skin on and also alot of green peppers. But I'm happy to hear this video as I'm going to grow potatoes anyway and store them. If times get hard, I can give or barter them to help other people.
The best way to store potatoes is to leave them in the ground until you need them. We never harvested potatoes all at the same time on the farm. Never had to plant them either.
Honestly here in Idaho we just set them out. Then when the eyes start to grow we cut them up. Just a couple eyes on each cutting. Let them sit till the cut sides dry out and then plant them. We set the potatoes out around this time of year. The sun encourages the growth to start. Not complicated at all.
@@synergy2222 I'm in N.East, MT and been told I'm #3 here yet in parts closer to Idaho I was told #4. Either way, if we keep getting wet blizzards every 2 wks., many of us will be having indoor gardening this season.
I’m definitely trying this fall. What worked for me this year was one of those metal buckets. I neglected to put aways my fall potatoes and kept them in the metal bucket I harvested from. I stored them in my basement (which is the only place I can store them). We hear with wood and it’s in our basement. All the potatoes stored in boxes didn’t keep. The only ones that kept doing were in the metal bucket. Will have to get more metal buckets for potatoes harvest.
You can also cut potatoes in pieces (each one needs to have at least one eye) and set them on the shelf for a few days so the cut surfaces can form a scab layer. This is called "corking over" and the old-timers who used to do this had "corking sheds" for the process. So you can propagate potatoes this way if numbers are limiting. For this process or any seed potato process, it pays to be very carful about sanitation, because if rot bacteria or fungi get into your stock it can spread all over the place and you can get lots of potato crop failures by hidden rotting invaders (bacteria or fungi) sneaking into any process (either what I just described or what was in the video). Safest thing is to grow potatoes (or most any crop) in a new patch of soil every year if you can, and don't come back to the same patch for several years (if you have space to swing it). Basically this is just a type of insurace, since with no precautions you might get away with it, but with the right precautions you can slant the odds in your favor. If you have different varieties or different sources, any one might be a source of contamination that could spread rot organisms to the other.
I am, by far, not a gardener, but I have never bought seed potatoes. I usually just buy a bag of organic potatoes from the store, used a few for dinner, let the others sit for 2-4 weeks then planted them. They grow and I harvest more than a bag of potatoes. I only recently found out you can grow more by cutting them in half and even quarter them. I cut 3 of them in half this time, and they are growing beautifully. Haven’t tried quartering them yet.
Forget the garage. You live in Michigan where the frost depth is 20". I live in Alaska and store my taters outside. Our frost depth is at 60". I dig a hole and cover it with wood chips, leaves and a tarp. The snow does the rest. Insulate the ground to favor the heat flux from the earth over the cold from the atmosphere. This creates a localized reduction in frost depth.
I bought some potato seeds to experiment with this year and was looking at the tiny sprouts wondering if I would get enough to do anything besides make seed potatoes from them. now I know how to store them this fall. \
I just kept mine in a drawer in my refrigerator. I live in a mobile home 5 acre homestead. No cool places except the fridge. Sprouted and I now have BEAUTIFUL potato plants.
I hope you do a video showing how you planted the potatoes that had the 5”-12” sprouts on them. Do you leave those below ground? Plants them with the spouts above the soil? Glad to hear you say don’t break or cut them off. You obviously stored these to grow seed potatoes, however had you not, and this happened to the ones you were trying to eat would you still eat them with sprouts? Have a great growing season and thanks for all of your videos!
for years my parents would buy 50 lb of red potatoes from a local farmer- they would never finish them- set them on their porch and ask me if i wanted them- i let them goto seed- free potatoes every yr- unfortunately they moved into an apt and the farmer is no longer in business however this year i tried something new by buying organic potatoes and letting them chit! success- can t wait to plant this spring
I'm curious if the sprouts alone would grow and produce potatoes if pulled off and stuck in potting soil (a bit like sweet potato slips)? Carla Emery says in The Encyclopedia of Country Living, "Many a desperate gardener has planted potato peelings that have eyes in them and gotten a fine crop", which kind of gave me ideas. I stored my potatoes in cardboard boxes in the cool basement pantry last fall, and many of them by now are starting to produce shoots like yours. It's too early to plant outside yet (zone 5b, and most of our snow is yet to come), but I'm trying an experiment sticking my potato "slips" into pots to see if they'll grow. No harm done if it fails, and if it succeeds, groovy! :)
@@guessagain3757 Well, as of now, they're happily growing in their pots, although they're begging to go outside in the ground! I plan to give them their wish in a couple days. Jury's still out as to whether they'll actually produce any kind of decent potatoes, but we shall see!
@@Wosiewose, If you think about it, the "eyes" on the pieces of potato that get planted are really the only part that reproduces. The original tuber really just gets composted back into the soil. You should be fine. Happy gardening!!!
I just picked my potatoes put them in bins that have slots along the sides and stack them up on the shelf out why my old tank room and I just put a little heater in there it just keeps it below 40° low 40° but keep them from freezing and for two years now I’ve done that they don’t even sprout hardly at all chip the red ones a little bit as long as you have it blacked out in there so you keeping the light out they keep perfectly well I didn’t even have one rotten potato in two years
Thank you I am glad you figured it out I’ve been trying to started last year someone rotted didn’t turn out right but saying I never thought about it this is great this is great thank you I’m from Indiana Indiana
I planted organic potatoes from the grocery store in 2020, when the produce sections were almost bare, and they did great and gave me lots of potatoes!
Sure....I even purposely grab "feeler" produce for just that reason. I have a bag of purple fingerlings sprouting up a storm. I've never grown them, but I love fingerlings best because I can leave them whole in my soups & stews.
Oh definitely. Seeders are better, because the store tries to stop eyes from growing,but plenty of people have successfully grown potatoes from the store (myself included)
I've tried all kinds of ways through the years. Keeping it simple is best for me. I can up a bunch for quick mashed potatoes and store the rest in a cool dark space. I usually have 5% shrivel up. The rest, I plant when the ground is ready. The most simple though I have found is to leave about 10% in my raised bed and they produce a new crop the next season!
I'm certainly no expert when it comes to storing. From the limited experience I have, it appears to be as much the climate as much as what you store them in. The other year I stored onions and potatoes in an outside shed just in hessian sacks. They remained perfect until the end of March/early April. Last year going into this year, my Onions were mouldy and going soft by Christmas, and the potatoes started chitting about a month ago. Same varieties of onions and potatoes both times stored exactly the same way. I have never tried storing in sand. I am in the UK.
@@southsidecarly7427 I dont know about that, maybe this is what went wrong this last year/going into this year. Maybe I was just fortunate the previous year. I will keep them apart when I store them next time and see if that makes any difference :)
I think growing conditions and climate play a part. I grow about 10-12 varieties each year, and include Kerrs Pink most years as they’ve pretty good blight resistance and excellent for storing. They’re normally among the last varieties to start to sprout. This winter they were the first variety to start to sprout. I had first earlies stored in sacks that stored a good two months longer without sprouting, which I wasn’t expecting at all. We had a drier than normal summer here so maybe that had something to do with it. Mine have been stored in a cool room, same storage conditions as every year, but the results were different.
I came here to find out what to do about my blue potatoes that have long shoots on them. I was going to rub them out then i see you say not to! I had mine in the pantry that is cooler than the rest of the house, but not as cold as needed to keep dormant. They are just in a cardboard box. When can I plant them? I grow my potatoes in buckets! I have the blue Magic Molly and the Ozark Blue’s. Absolutely love your Website and your channel! I’m in Oakland County south of you. I hope to take a drive up to visit someday soon. Road Trip!!!
I know you said the potatoes with some green on them are toxic and should not be eaten.....I was wondering....is it ok to save those for seed potatoes to plant in the next season or should I just throw them out all together? Thank you for your videos! They are so helpful!
Green potatoes are fine to use for seed potatoes, if they sprout--I've done that often with any of my harvest that got exposed to sun and turned green. Happy growing!
I just put a bunch of cured small potatoes in a closed up cardboard box. I put newspaper between layers of potatoes up to about a foot deep and stick it in the back of a dark cupboard. I've tried all the packing you mentioned and agree sand works best of the optiobs you listed but my newspaper box method works great for me.
@@hazztv6317 no dirt, I do the same with sweet potatoes until I'm ready to make slips then I plant them in a pot with soil, they make better roots faster than the toothpick in water method.
I’m new at this. I love all your videos with such good tips. This one I can do. Damp sand in an unheated garage. Check. Question: Approximately what is the harvest from one seed potato? I don’t have much room so I’m hoping to grow potatoes in containers, like big buckets from Lowes. Do you have a better suggestion? Thanks for all your help. 😊
I have great success with potatoes in pots. I use an organic fertilizer like bone meal and cover with 2 to 3 inches of straw. I had so many leftover potatoes, if it held soil, I planted potatoes 🥔 in it. Good luck, potatoes are fun to grow!
I bought potatoes from the grocery store cut them in fours let them dry out for three days then planted them . Now they're about 4 inches tall . I'm in zone 9
I'm in western ny which is the same growing conditions as michigan. I grow mine in big open bottom containers and I get two crops each year. Just leaving one or two very small potatoes in the container over winter and I get a very early crop and plant another in early summer.
I want to try this method with storing other tubers over the winter- dahlias, gladiolas, etc.. Thanks so much! What kind of sand did you use though, and how damp?
How many did you put in the bucket? Also, I know you said you harvested them in September. Did you put them in the bucket in September or wait until it got a little colder out?
How do you plant the ones that have the long sprouts. I left a milk crate of last years potatoes in our cold cabinet and there are quite a few with 12-20in sprouts in them.
I’ve been wondering if it’s okay to do this, or if they need like the entire cold winter to be able to properly germinate? If we bought the potatoes only 2-3 weeks ago are we still able to use them as seed potatoes?
I'm testing on a bag of grocery potatoes that sprouted before I could use any of them. Since it was too late in the season i just chucked them in the garage in the original bag. I figured if i stored them in a box it could grow mold. I just planted em and only 1 had some mold, but the majority looked perfectly fine with tons of roots. Edit* I live in texas so i figured the dry air was good enough
I was just home in Michigan last week. I forgot, what "spring is in the air" felt like. Not pleasant. Came back to SC and was met with blossomed out trees and near 80° this week!
I just save some really nice ones from my harvest and put them in a cardboard box with a lid and I put the box in an unheated bedroom. Every two or three weeks I open the box and knock off any sprouts. I do that until about the middle of February. At that time I just let the sprouts grow and then when it's time to plant them in around the middle of March they have nice sprouts on them and grow nicely and are healthy. I think the secret is to keep them in the dark and keep knocking sprouts off. I have been using this method for 3 years. I'm in Central Ohio. By the way the temperature in the unheated bedroom is usually about 58°.
@@midlifemama8420 the bigger ones I cut but leave a sprout on each chunk and the smaller ones I plant whole. I have only had a very few from time to time shrivel up a little bit
@@midlifemama8420 for the past 2 years I have been planting potatoes in November before the ground freezes. I plant them deep enough that they are not going to freeze. Last year I had every one of them come up except one and they did very well. So I often don't even use the ones I have saved in a cardboard box because I have no need for them. They are just my insurance policy in case the ones I planted in November don't come up
When you harvest the potatoes you are going to store leave them out to cure for a few days and the fresh air but not in sunlight. And don't wash them. Just knock the dirt off of them. Don't wash them!
There is a very good reason why you buy SEED potatoes. They are less likely to give you problems because they have been grown to be scab and blight resistent. If you grow potatoes from old stock you are putting your entire crop (and your neighbours crops ) at risk of all manner of problems. I agree you may save money short term but i guarantee you will end up paying more in the long run
This is Jimmy from Indiana. That's awesome 👌. My wife and I are planning on planting potatoes this year. Hope we can save some for next year's planting. Do you have a video on planting potatoes?
I tried to do this recently outdoors using a variety of very tiny purple potatoes available at a local market. But when I checked on them, some critter had stolen them all. I will have to try again but with a cover over them.
Did you cover the crate with anything? Also, any suggestions for us gardeners living on the South for root vegetable storage? No basements and garages don’t stay cool. 😀 Thanks
Baked my indoor soil to kill the gnats etc and the chemical smell was unreal.... commented on your video of it.... what could possibly be in the soil mix that would cause noxious fumes?
Yeah, I switched away from commercial soil because nothing would grow in it and little gnats hatched out. It was gross. I make a mix of yard soil, peat most or composted leaves, sand, vermiculite or perlite. My plants love it.
If you buy mosquitoe bits they will get rid of gnats pretty quickly. You just put a tablespoon in 1 gallon of water and then use that water to water your plants. Works on indoor and outdoor plants.
What if you just leave it in the ground? Potatoes I leave behind in the ground where I live it comes up along with the new ones I plant. I live in WA, zone 8b, constant rain
I have 2 questions please. What is the container made of?And do you plant your potatoes hole ,or do you cut them , and let the dry dlr a little bit then plant ? Thank you from Ontario
I've had success planting whole potatoes in 5 gallon Canadian Tire buckets (they are food grade) with holes drilled in the bottom, in Southern ON if that helps.
We store carrots in rain washed sand every fall. It works great. If it is moist sand collected in the rain it works best. Tap water contains bacteria if it is from a well and city/town water has chemicals.
We had an enormous amount of potatoes left after 2020 (because of covid. We usually give them away). So in 2021 my husband just replanted what we had and we ended up with buckets of potatoes. Free. It was great. We gave them to the kids and to the food pantry and still had enough to last us until about the beginning of February.
Wow that’s amazing! Nice of you to share with family friends and the food pantry! God bless!🙏😊
That is Awesome! GOD Bless you
How did you store them for the year?
@@Mrssandypeterson they were just in our basement. None of it was intentional. Lol
Or some old potatoes that sprouted from grocery store. Going to try and plant them out soon
Dry the potatoes and shake the soil off when harvesting. Store in wooden boxes in a single layer on top of newspapers in a cool place. My family has done this for decades and we have almost no rot.
How long do they last?
The potato peelings in my compost pile sprout and start vines before I turn the compost. My grandma just cut the eyes out of a few potatoes and planted the eyes. That's all you need.
yes and in fact too much potato in the ground increases the chance of rot
Yes, ma'mam.. My Grandma grew up in the mountains of West Virginia. A Hatfield and that's what her Daddy taught her... I miss her canning for the winter. She would even use those red wagons for lettuce beds if needed to for the winter. Lol easy to move in and out for the Sunshine
That's how we always do it too. I've never gone through so much trouble for potatoes. LOL! I just cut them and plant them and BOOM...potatoes galore.
Store bought potatoes are treated with Chemicals to keep them from sprouting an longer shelf life
@@dalejohns2758 wrong. I buy a 10# bag every month and they sprout before the bag is finished.
I have literally just walked in from harvesting some potatoes here in Australia, thinking that maybe I should keep some to use as seed potatoes, and here is your video. Love synchronicity. Thank you.
Did you have your floaties on? It's SO wet here in Sydney that my feet are squelching as I walk across the grass!!
@@andersonomo597 Yes, mud up to my ankles here in the Hunter Valley. Thought I had better dig the little spuds up before they got lost. So not looking forward to the next 48 hours. Stay dry and safe.
@@michellemoore2783 Small world! My SIL lives at Scotts Flat and said they surprisingly had sun yesterday! Their dams are all overflowing but hey 'droughts and flooding rain' is what we expect. Hope you escape the worst of it too - heartbreaking stories are coming out of the worst hit areas. Praying that the worst of it is over for everyone! Take care!
Hi, Michelle. My maiden name is Moore. 😊
Yeah coz the universe chose your potatoes over all the rest 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
I left last year's potatoes in a closed cardboard box on the porch and forgot about them. Your video prompted me to see if any were usable, and almost all are good to go! Zone 7, so I guess I got lucky.
I'm in zone 7 and I have a spare bathroom that never gets used. I just line the tub with cardboard and lay the potatoes in. I keep it dark and cool and those that grow long sprouts just get cut half way down and planted. I only tend to loose a couple to rot. been going it for three years now without a problem.
I left mine in the cardboard box also all winter outside covered with a board and I looked at them today and they all have beautiful sprouts on them, zone 8. I have plenty of potatoes to plant now ready to go!!
I didn't have a huge harvest of potatoes last year, I left some in their grow bags just to see what would happen. They've been in my basement (60-65°) since the fall and I noticed last week there were some feelers reaching out like yours! I tossed some fresh soil and fertilizer, kicked on the grow lights and we are growing!!! 👏👩🌾🥔
after feeling around in my grow bag I knew there wasn't many potatoes (none of my potatoes flowered last year and I got a very small yield from other grow bags. It was a weird year for me with potatoes) so I left one set outside just too see what happens. There's a foot of snow right now so we shall see.
Simple is best!
I live on The Oregon Coast. We grew lots of potatoes in case of supply change shortages. My storage room consisted of a rodent proof room that never got below 50 D. Every day I made it my chore to check for “sprouts.” I rub the sprouts off so they won’t keep growing. That seems to work well. Ones that have gotten ‘soft’, I place in a box outside the back door (out of the rain). Those will be the first ones to plant in late March or early April.
If you break off the sprouts, they will still grow more.
For several years I had those long sprouts like you have, but then I started rubbing them off and I saved more potatoes to eat that way.
To prepare the potatoes for storage, I simply rubbed off most of the dirt carefully and stored in one or two layers of a cardboard box. No dirt or sand between.
On Oregon Coast, we don’t get extreme temperatures. I would have liked to have a ‘cooler’ storeroom, but this one seems to work.
Thanks for sharing about rubbing the sprouts off!
Exactly how did you make the room rodent proof ?
@@dilipanthonypinto1620 No cheese
@@dilipanthonypinto1620 When I saw evidence of something eating the squash and potatoes, I basically freaked out. This room had been my "paper room" from the years that I had been a commercial printer. I had reams of paper in every conceivable space. Basically, I had to straighten it up. Finally I found the hole the rats had eaten through the sheetrock wall. I plugged that up and cleaned out the nest they had built between shelves of the bigger sheets of paper. Plus I glued a strip of wood under the door so nothing could squeeze between the floor and the door. I know that mice and sometimes rats can squeeze through some very small openings, so you just have to plug everything up.
@@Solarbeez ok thanks for the info
Last year I had 2-10# bags of potatoes that I had put in a tote and covered.
They had 3 foot long shoots on them. I just dug a trench *and laid them down along the row! They grew 3 feet tall and and all had flowers & little balls on top.
I planted beans in with them & had NO bugs at all!
Was it the beans that kept them from getting bugs?
Hi Shirley, how did you plant the beans? Next to them or alternating? I wonder if you can't plant the potatoes and then when you mound them up plant beans on either side?
No bugs, what a blessing!
@@midnitglory I planted the beans on the outside of the row so there was plenty of room to mound between the 2 bean rows.
What variety?
okay so i had some "raisin potatoes" last year that i had over-wintered, and many more that had started sprouting. i threw them unceremoniously in a bucket, threw dirt on top and set them outside in march (didn't water). they froze and the bucket got snowed on, so the shoots died off. when it came planting time they all were beautifully reconstituted and had root systems going. i planted the small ones and had a very high success rate. the big ones...we ate! they were good too.
I kept my green potatoes and tiny potatoes last year for planting this spring. I didn't do much with them--kept them in a spare refrigerator in the garage in a loosely tied plastic grocery bag until about two months before planting. At that point I brought them in and kept them at room temperature. They were pretty heavily sprouted when I planted, and are doing just fine in the garden, even the tiny marble sized ones. I don't recall any of them rotting.
An cheap o resistant fridge would be prefect for this. I knew back Target had one for like $20 or something like that.
That's encouraging to hear! I have a pot filled with small potatoes - Norlands, Purple Majesty, and Adirondacks tucked in the back of the frig. Do you think if I wait until constant cold weather below 40's that I can put them in a cooler with the lid open a tad in an unheated barn-shed?
We just did an experiment here in Melbourne, aus. I planted my potatoes smack bang at the start of feb, when I was told not to. They are thriving. So moving forward, I plan to harvest, pick my new seeds, wait a few weeks and just bang them into the ground. They grow all year here it seems.
I wonder if that would work in Southern California as well? No cold garages/root cellars here.
@@its_not_it_apostrophe_s possible. During summer our days are on average 30 to 40C and nights 15C, winter its 15 to 20C and nights 4 to 10C.
I find the potatoes do fine during our winters. And it seems our summers. I'd give it a go. Worse case it fails.
@@its_not_it_apostrophe_s I live in Bay area. Potatoes don't like December or January much, but if you harvest in November you can plant in December or January and they can grow through the winter.
That is my sort of gardening.
Last year, I grew some potatoes in 5gal Homedepot buckets. After I was finished with the growing, I just reused those buckets to store the potatoes that I would use for seed. Ever since the storage room got cold, every Wed and Sun, I would open the lid to blow it for about 10 seconds. So far so good.
I was thinking of doing the same thing, but what do you mean by opening the lid to 'blow them for 10 seconds'?
@@marthakratz7877 There are drainage holes at the bottom but I do not believe that enough fresh air gets into the bucket so I take the lid off and use the lid as a fan to blow some air into the bucket. Basically, get some air movement. It also helps control the moisture a bit as there are droplets at the sides all the time.
@@theurzamachine Thank you for explaining that and I appreciate the tip.
Hi Philip, you can store dried potatoes in the buckets and loosely cover them with the lid. That way you do not need to check them so often. Once monthly you can check if any are getting spoiled and throw those away. Potatoes do not like light (they turn green and are not good to use). I buy medium size potatoes in the store, put them in the garage and when they start to germinate I plant them in the garden. I grow them organically. Also I use my seeds from previous year and plant them as well. I plant them at different times, so I have fresh potatoes from June to November.
@@milenakalinic4084 Yes I put them on loosely with some weight on top to prevent mice from attempting to go in. I would still air it out and shift the tubers around so that in case there is a build up of moisture in one area, it doesn't cause any serious rotting.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with different methods. I'm in Mississippi and have never grown taters but, I can say that my store bought ones seem to sprout right in the bag I bought them in. Not sure when tater planting season is here but I'm gonna plant up some next go round like my Grandmaw used to do it. She just dug up some tater with eyes on them and planted only that part and there were many eyes just on 1 tater, so can you just imagine how her harvest turned out? The rest of the taters she had dug eyes from were always cooked up for a meal. I was raised by both of my Grandmaws under the same roof, but the one that did the planting back in her days on the family farm was born in 1898 right on the family farm! She was taught the old fashion way by the other family members and told me about her porch butter churning days using the old fashioned butter churn. Butter and taters...yummy! 🥔🥔🧈🧈
Thanks again for your awesome videos, I harvested about 35 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes last October, and stored them in 5 gallon buckets in my basement packed in Poplar shavings from my planer, I only have about 5 pounds left but they are still as fresh as can be after 5 months of storage. I don't know of the poplar shavings are the key to their longevity or if there is another factor, just thought I'd share this with you....Thanks ....Robert.
I followed your advice and I did not loose any potatoes! They loved it and now in Spring I found they had some growth and some had grown in size. Thank you!!!
Could you make something like a hardware cloth or chicken wire basket that fits inside the basket that would let you remove the potatoes while letting the sand sift out?
I live in Las Vegas Nv. My farm is in North West Indian. I grew potatoes last year first time turned out fine. This year I started About 20 lbs of Russet potatoes in Las Vegas in a tub one like they mix cement in, I use anything like sand, they are growing fine their in a bedroom with the heat off and we have very low humidity. I will take them to the farm may first. Am I doing ok ? I’m 80 last year was my first year gardening in 25 years. I really enjoy your show.
Just discovered your channel and I have always wanted to no how you keep your potatoes continuously giving so we don’t have to buy any. A bag of 8 in the shop cost $15 in New Zealand . Excited to try this
Wow that is pricy! Definitely keep your own!
@@MIgardener So how do you recommend planting the ones that "got away from you"? I planted some like that last year and lay the growths horizontally in the tater trench. They seemed to do alright.
@@MIgardener You are in Michigan right? How can you winter your potatoes in a garage when the temps drop to -20 to -30? Doesn't Michigan get as cold as Wisconsin?
WRT the long sprouts. I was always told to snap off any sprouts that developed in the dark. To speed up sprouting, for early harvest, I get them out of dormancy by putting them in a warmer (15-20°C) and light place 6-8 weeks before planting them in the ground. It’s believed that exposing them to 20° for only 3 days and then keeping them around 10° would be better, but I don’t have such a place. The important part is the light.
NO I don't snap off ANY sprouts. Just dig the potatoes VERY deep to cover the sprouts!! TONS of potatoes.
Luke - Here I am, maybe a year too late to comment, sitting in sunny Santa Barbara just a kilometer from the beach smiling at your comment, "It's a glorious day. The snow is melting, it's in the high 30s (F) and spring is in the air." For me the "high 30s" is the dead of winter temperature once in a blue moon here in Zone 11b.
Love the videos and your store. 🤠
A couple that used to have a channel stored all of their root crops in sand. As soon as Luke said sawdust, I yelled SAND! 😆 Great topic!! 💚🌞
When he said sawdust and compost I cringed, lol
For decades I always left the small/tiny potatoes in ground for the winter and every year they come up and then repeat. although.. Last year most of my potatoes were eaten by a bunch of voles... So I have to buy some seed potatoes this year.. darn it. Anyway happy gardening :)
What’s the usual depth that voles and moles trace underground? Maybe there is someway to dig a trench and put down some type of barrier.
I pulled about 60 potato in late November, cut several of them into fries and chips for freezing/Winter use and put the rest in a cardboard box and left that box inside but next to my sliding backdoor ... of the roughly 24 potato in that box, 3 rotted out, the rest have all grown their own fingers. I did not intend that result, but it is quite awesome I have 21 seed potato ready to go right now.
Great video. I am Canadian watching so I can't use all your ideas but a lot of them like this one.
My daughter just gave me a ten pound bag of potatoes that I will be using for seed potatoes. She had forgotten about the bag that was stored under her kitchen cabinet. They are perfect for my needs; little sprouts and tiny roots are ready to go. I usually like to do the traditional St. Patrick's day planting here in zone 7B. They are sitting in my garage right now.
I don't think you should worry about the potatoes drying out. Last year I had some left over from my spring planting. I put in them in the ground in early July (zone 5a). They were very shriveled up, and grew fantastic. I harvested large Fingerings in October.
Mine are in the pantry sprouting right now. I have another month before I can plant outside. I may start them in a grow bag under grow lights inside then take them out. We will see
You can also just store them the same way you store the ones you wish to eat, and in the spring place what's left in egg cartons in sun before it's time to plant. That's what I do. :)
I'm also very interested in true seed to add sinne new varieties.
that is what I do, now they are starting to sprout and I have them chitting in old egg crates that hold 2 1/2 dozen.. Also I read that some farmers plant potatoes at the end of fall before ground freezes and in the spring when the time is right they will just grow...I planted 3 dozen and will see how it goes
@@grandmananners if you have deep ground frost, it's not a great idea to plant them in fall. Potatoes don't like getting frozen.. So it works only if planting depth doesn't freeze.
@@grandmananners Did you see his video on doing just that? Calls it the Irish way of planting potatoes or something similar.
Cultivarible is where I bought my true seed from. We're in zone 8 so the little taters I just put back in the garden and they come up when they are ready..
I love this!! I've been experimenting with the "accidental volunteers" from organic store bought potatoes. I will be planting them within days!! 🤞🙏✌
How are you doing with your potatoes Cori? I did the same thing. My plants are phenominal. WI. But it is important that we plant an abundance to have some left over after storage and have enough for seed potatoes.
My mom used to throw her potato peelings into the soil, and they would grow potato plants from them.
I wonder why my compost bin isn't just a big potato patch?
I do the same thing.
Ours grow in compost bin because we throw our peelings in there.
Ah, I see. I never take off a half inch of potato with the peel.
Gardening Channel- "If potato peelings are thick and contain one or two eyes, you can grow potatoes from the peelings. Use peelings from healthy potato specimens that are free from mold, soft areas, or green portions of skin. The peelings you plan to plant should maintain at least half an inch of attached potato flesh and have two eyes per peel."
I actually had a few full potatoes in my compost sprout, so I planted them, but my peelings don't typically sprout. That could be because bugs got to them. Id think you'd have to let them dry out a little first whenever you cut them, otherwise something will start eating the exposed meat of the potato.
Well, I followed Luke's method & got an awesome harvest from our Russets, Kennebecs & Yukon potatoes!
So now I'm in the process of making more serd potatoes. I plan to grow 1 - 7gal cloth bucket of them in my atrium over the winter.
Or you can use onion bags and hang them in cool place, 42° to 45°, don't complicate what's not complicated 😉
I used store bought tators for seed. Got a crop growth in cardboard box just to try something new. So far so good
I layer mine in cardboard boxes with brown paper between the layers, then store in an unheated room. Works great for me. Can you do a video when you plant the ones with the long sprouts? I can't see how you will handle them and would like to know how. I don't get many like that, but there are usually a few that get like that.
Thanks for sharing your method! 🙂
Gosh I got lucky, just put them in shallow boxes in the pantry downstairs. Stays 40 and dark and a bunch are ready.
It’s my first time saving potato seeds I take a look at them the other day and well they all look like touted raisins I’m not sure if they are still good
I did the same, left them in one layer in a box with lots of air circulation, but no light. And by the spring, I had a lot of seed potatoes that I cut and planted and were successful with. I kept them just in a dark area of one of the rooms in my house because I don’t have a cellar or a garage.
When I was a child we had a multi-family garden at my grandparents. We would meet others or take turns maintaining the garden over the growing season. Grandpa had an old Farmall with a tow behind potato harvester. After the potatoes were harvested we stored them buried in sand in a large wooden box that was built up off the ground in his Michigan basement.(dirt floor)
I am also in MI. I took my potato harvest and put them in a large cardboard box I had and kept it in the unheated garage. We used the potatoes as needed and we're now down to several dozen smaller ones that I plan on keeping for seed. They haven't started sprouting yet probably because of the dark and cool environment in the garage. I just took out about a dozen Russets from the store that started sprouting in our cabinet...we'll see if the cold and dark slows that down. May plant those as well in the spring.
Have had great luck storing them in the ground they were grown in. What I do, is take a drink cooler, drill holes in it, and bury it in the garden bed. The lid is right at the Earth's surface, and what I do is cover that up with a hay bale or a couple of bags of Dead Leaves to further insulate the cooler. I'm on the Front Range in Colorado, zone five. I can generally get 5 to 6 months of storage. Pulled my seed potatoes February 15th that were stored in a 5 gallon bucket with holes, and ended up losing a few. The bucket wasn't buried deep enough with only a few inches of soil over it, and didn't have a bag of mulch on top. Ended up losing the top layer, but the other 70 + potatoes in the bucket were fine. Experimented last year using dead pine needles in between the potatoes, and that seemed to work out okay. Just blanched and froze 15 or so pounds, but should have another month or more of storage, out of what's out there in the ground. Pulled potatoes tonight for dinner ( March 1st) and everything is still nice and firm. Harvested and cured October 15th.
I wonder if the good response is due to your location in zone 5? I'm in Zone 8b/9a & we have very mild winters.
I've become allergic to potato's and tomatoes and the other members of the Nightshade family, after eating alot of raw potatoes with skin on and also alot of green peppers. But I'm happy to hear this video as I'm going to grow potatoes anyway and store them. If times get hard, I can give or barter them to help other people.
Hi Luke I love all your videos. I've learned so much from you!
The best way to store potatoes is to leave them in the ground until you need them. We never harvested potatoes all at the same time on the farm. Never had to plant them either.
I'm going to try it this year.
Honestly here in Idaho we just set them out. Then when the eyes start to grow we cut them up. Just a couple eyes on each cutting. Let them sit till the cut sides dry out and then plant them. We set the potatoes out around this time of year. The sun encourages the growth to start. Not complicated at all.
Vicky, I'm in Seattle zone 8b, what is your zone? I want to grow a lot of potatoes. I'm a first time vegie gardener!
@@synergy2222 I'm in N.East, MT and been told I'm #3 here yet in parts closer to Idaho I was told #4. Either way, if we keep getting wet blizzards every 2 wks., many of us will be having indoor gardening this season.
Luke that is wonderful !!! Have been looking forward to seeing you again!!!
I’m definitely trying this fall. What worked for me this year was one of those metal buckets. I neglected to put aways my fall potatoes and kept them in the metal bucket I harvested from. I stored them in my basement (which is the only place I can store them). We hear with wood and it’s in our basement. All the potatoes stored in boxes didn’t keep. The only ones that kept doing were in the metal bucket. Will have to get more metal buckets for potatoes harvest.
So happy that I can do this to my potatoes in the fall. Thanks!
I've been saving some of my potatoes when I harvest to replant and it's been working Gr8 🤩 Thanks for sharing your tips!
You can also cut potatoes in pieces (each one needs to have at least one eye) and set them on the shelf for a few days so the cut surfaces can form a scab layer. This is called "corking over" and the old-timers who used to do this had "corking sheds" for the process. So you can propagate potatoes this way if numbers are limiting. For this process or any seed potato process, it pays to be very carful about sanitation, because if rot bacteria or fungi get into your stock it can spread all over the place and you can get lots of potato crop failures by hidden rotting invaders (bacteria or fungi) sneaking into any process (either what I just described or what was in the video). Safest thing is to grow potatoes (or most any crop) in a new patch of soil every year if you can, and don't come back to the same patch for several years (if you have space to swing it). Basically this is just a type of insurace, since with no precautions you might get away with it, but with the right precautions you can slant the odds in your favor. If you have different varieties or different sources, any one might be a source of contamination that could spread rot organisms to the other.
I am, by far, not a gardener, but I have never bought seed potatoes. I usually just buy a bag of organic potatoes from the store, used a few for dinner, let the others sit for 2-4 weeks then planted them. They grow and I harvest more than a bag of potatoes. I only recently found out you can grow more by cutting them in half and even quarter them. I cut 3 of them in half this time, and they are growing beautifully. Haven’t tried quartering them yet.
Forget the garage. You live in Michigan where the frost depth is 20". I live in Alaska and store my taters outside. Our frost depth is at 60". I dig a hole and cover it with wood chips, leaves and a tarp. The snow does the rest. Insulate the ground to favor the heat flux from the earth over the cold from the atmosphere. This creates a localized reduction in frost depth.
I just put them one layer deep in a paper bag on a shelf in a metal cabinet, in my cool Michigan basement...no issue at all..
I bought some potato seeds to experiment with this year and was looking at the tiny sprouts wondering if I would get enough to do anything besides make seed potatoes from them. now I know how to store them this fall.
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
I just kept mine in a drawer in my refrigerator. I live in a mobile home 5 acre homestead. No cool places except the fridge. Sprouted and I now have BEAUTIFUL potato plants.
I hope you do a video showing how you planted the potatoes that had the 5”-12” sprouts on them.
Do you leave those below ground? Plants them with the spouts above the soil?
Glad to hear you say don’t break or cut them off.
You obviously stored these to grow seed potatoes, however had you not, and this happened to the ones you were trying to eat would you still eat them with sprouts?
Have a great growing season and thanks for all of your videos!
Awesome! Thank You!
for years my parents would buy 50 lb of red potatoes from a local farmer- they would never finish them- set them on their porch and ask me if i wanted them- i let them goto seed- free potatoes every yr- unfortunately they moved into an apt and the farmer is no longer in business however this year i tried something new by buying organic potatoes and letting them chit! success- can t wait to plant this spring
I'm curious if the sprouts alone would grow and produce potatoes if pulled off and stuck in potting soil (a bit like sweet potato slips)? Carla Emery says in The Encyclopedia of Country Living, "Many a desperate gardener has planted potato peelings that have eyes in them and gotten a fine crop", which kind of gave me ideas. I stored my potatoes in cardboard boxes in the cool basement pantry last fall, and many of them by now are starting to produce shoots like yours. It's too early to plant outside yet (zone 5b, and most of our snow is yet to come), but I'm trying an experiment sticking my potato "slips" into pots to see if they'll grow. No harm done if it fails, and if it succeeds, groovy! :)
I believe they should grow no problem. Let me know how you did!!!
@@guessagain3757 Well, as of now, they're happily growing in their pots, although they're begging to go outside in the ground! I plan to give them their wish in a couple days. Jury's still out as to whether they'll actually produce any kind of decent potatoes, but we shall see!
@@Wosiewose,
If you think about it, the "eyes" on the pieces of potato that get planted are really the only part that reproduces. The original tuber really just gets composted back into the soil. You should be fine.
Happy gardening!!!
I just picked my potatoes put them in bins that have slots along the sides and stack them up on the shelf out why my old tank room and I just put a little heater in there it just keeps it below 40° low 40° but keep them from freezing and for two years now I’ve done that they don’t even sprout hardly at all chip the red ones a little bit as long as you have it blacked out in there so you keeping the light out they keep perfectly well I didn’t even have one rotten potato in two years
Thank you I am glad you figured it out I’ve been trying to started last year someone rotted didn’t turn out right but saying I never thought about it this is great this is great thank you I’m from Indiana Indiana
Potato raisin! Love it!
Very cool. For sure will do this come fall. Do you think it would work with organic potatoes purchased from grocery store?
YES! I've always gotten my "seed" potatoes from the produce section of the store....ginger also 😉.
I planted organic potatoes from the grocery store in 2020, when the produce sections were almost bare, and they did great and gave me lots of potatoes!
Sure....I even purposely grab "feeler" produce for just that reason. I have a bag of purple fingerlings sprouting up a storm. I've never grown them, but I love fingerlings best because I can leave them whole in my soups & stews.
Oh definitely. Seeders are better, because the store tries to stop eyes from growing,but plenty of people have successfully grown potatoes from the store (myself included)
new subscriber, good tip! I am trying my first batch of potatoes this year. just planted them last week. I guess Texas is a little warmer than MI!
I've tried all kinds of ways through the years. Keeping it simple is best for me. I can up a bunch for quick mashed potatoes and store the rest in a cool dark space. I usually have 5% shrivel up. The rest, I plant when the ground is ready. The most simple though I have found is to leave about 10% in my raised bed and they produce a new crop the next season!
Now you wait just a minute, you wascally wabbit, you!
That's MY RUclips moniker and YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!
PS: You say potahto, so SCREW YOU!
🥰
I'm certainly no expert when it comes to storing. From the limited experience I have, it appears to be as much the climate as much as what you store them in. The other year I stored onions and potatoes in an outside shed just in hessian sacks. They remained perfect until the end of March/early April. Last year going into this year, my Onions were mouldy and going soft by Christmas, and the potatoes started chitting about a month ago. Same varieties of onions and potatoes both times stored exactly the same way. I have never tried storing in sand. I am in the UK.
I have heard that you shouldn’t store your potatoes next to your onions
@@southsidecarly7427 I dont know about that, maybe this is what went wrong this last year/going into this year. Maybe I was just fortunate the previous year. I will keep them apart when I store them next time and see if that makes any difference :)
@@g.y.o5419 Happy Gardening
I think growing conditions and climate play a part. I grow about 10-12 varieties each year, and include Kerrs Pink most years as they’ve pretty good blight resistance and excellent for storing. They’re normally among the last varieties to start to sprout. This winter they were the first variety to start to sprout. I had first earlies stored in sacks that stored a good two months longer without sprouting, which I wasn’t expecting at all. We had a drier than normal summer here so maybe that had something to do with it. Mine have been stored in a cool room, same storage conditions as every year, but the results were different.
Thanks Luke! God Bless and stay safe.
I came here to find out what to do about my blue potatoes that have long shoots on them. I was going to rub them out then i see you say not to! I had mine in the pantry that is cooler than the rest of the house, but not as cold as needed to keep dormant. They are just in a cardboard box. When can I plant them? I grow my potatoes in buckets! I have the blue Magic Molly and the Ozark Blue’s. Absolutely love your Website and your channel! I’m in Oakland County south of you. I hope to take a drive up to visit someday soon. Road Trip!!!
I know you said the potatoes with some green on them are toxic and should not be eaten.....I was wondering....is it ok to save those for seed potatoes to plant in the next season or should I just throw them out all together?
Thank you for your videos! They are so helpful!
Green potatoes are fine to use for seed potatoes, if they sprout--I've done that often with any of my harvest that got exposed to sun and turned green. Happy growing!
I just put a bunch of cured small potatoes in a closed up cardboard box. I put newspaper between layers of potatoes up to about a foot deep and stick it in the back of a dark cupboard. I've tried all the packing you mentioned and agree sand works best of the optiobs you listed but my newspaper box method works great for me.
Thanks for sharing. I might try this!!
No dirt? Thankyou 😊
@@hazztv6317 no dirt, I do the same with sweet potatoes until I'm ready to make slips then I plant them in a pot with soil, they make better roots faster than the toothpick in water method.
I’m new at this. I love all your videos with such good tips. This one I can do. Damp sand in an unheated garage. Check. Question: Approximately what is the harvest from one seed potato? I don’t have much room so I’m hoping to grow potatoes in containers, like big buckets from Lowes. Do you have a better suggestion? Thanks for all your help. 😊
I have great success with potatoes in pots. I use an organic fertilizer like bone meal and cover with 2 to 3 inches of straw. I had so many leftover potatoes, if it held soil, I planted potatoes 🥔 in it. Good luck, potatoes are fun to grow!
@@melissac3313 Thanks! I appreciate your great tip!😊
A good harvest is 10x in pounds that you plant, but don't expect this, potatoes are a "surprise" crop, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
I bought potatoes from the grocery store cut them in fours let them dry out for three days then planted them . Now they're about 4 inches tall . I'm in zone 9
I'm in western ny which is the same growing conditions as michigan. I grow mine in big open bottom containers and I get two crops each year. Just leaving one or two very small potatoes in the container over winter and I get a very early crop and plant another in early summer.
I want to try this method with storing other tubers over the winter- dahlias, gladiolas, etc.. Thanks so much! What kind of sand did you use though, and how damp?
What type of sand do you use?
Regular $5 playground sand. Don't make it hard.
Good job
How many did you put in the bucket? Also, I know you said you harvested them in September. Did you put them in the bucket in September or wait until it got a little colder out?
How do you plant the ones that have the long sprouts. I left a milk crate of last years potatoes in our cold cabinet and there are quite a few with 12-20in sprouts in them.
Plant the potato where the sprout is horizontal in the dirt. It'll automatically redirect itself.
Thank you! Wonderful information! I much prefer that result to a bag full of mush, which is what I would have gotten without your insights!
Thanks for the awesome tip!
For the last 2 years, I’ve used my store bought organic potatoes that sprouted in my pantry. Now I have starts from the last harvest.
I’ve been wondering if it’s okay to do this, or if they need like the entire cold winter to be able to properly germinate? If we bought the potatoes only 2-3 weeks ago are we still able to use them as seed potatoes?
@@sjtherese6011 yes. I have just used what's sprouting in my pantry. Bought organic at the market this past winter.
@@whitestone4401 Do the potatoes need the long cold period over winter to become good plants?
@@sjtherese6011 no, I have used potatoes that I have purchased just a month or so prior that have started to sprout.
Absolutely Brilliant, thank you so much for this!
I'm testing on a bag of grocery potatoes that sprouted before I could use any of them. Since it was too late in the season i just chucked them in the garage in the original bag. I figured if i stored them in a box it could grow mold. I just planted em and only 1 had some mold, but the majority looked perfectly fine with tons of roots.
Edit* I live in texas so i figured the dry air was good enough
Thank you. Now all i need is to create a place with consistent cool temperature.
I was just home in Michigan last week. I forgot, what "spring is in the air" felt like. Not pleasant. Came back to SC and was met with blossomed out trees and near 80° this week!
lucky you!
I just save some really nice ones from my harvest and put them in a cardboard box with a lid and I put the box in an unheated bedroom. Every two or three weeks I open the box and knock off any sprouts. I do that until about the middle of February. At that time I just let the sprouts grow and then when it's time to plant them in around the middle of March they have nice sprouts on them and grow nicely and are healthy. I think the secret is to keep them in the dark and keep knocking sprouts off. I have been using this method for 3 years. I'm in Central Ohio. By the way the temperature in the unheated bedroom is usually about 58°.
Do you cut the potatoes to plant or plant whole?
@@midlifemama8420 the bigger ones I cut but leave a sprout on each chunk and the smaller ones I plant whole. I have only had a very few from time to time shrivel up a little bit
@@midlifemama8420 for the past 2 years I have been planting potatoes in November before the ground freezes. I plant them deep enough that they are not going to freeze. Last year I had every one of them come up except one and they did very well. So I often don't even use the ones I have saved in a cardboard box because I have no need for them. They are just my insurance policy in case the ones I planted in November don't come up
Nice and simple 👍 This is the method I’m going to try, thanks!
When you harvest the potatoes you are going to store leave them out to cure for a few days and the fresh air but not in sunlight. And don't wash them. Just knock the dirt off of them. Don't wash them!
Excellent content as always- Thank you.
There is a very good reason why you buy SEED potatoes. They are less likely to give you problems because they have been grown to be scab and blight resistent. If you grow potatoes from old stock you are putting your entire crop (and your neighbours crops ) at risk of all manner of problems. I agree you may save money short term but i guarantee you will end up paying more in the long run
This is Jimmy from Indiana. That's awesome 👌. My wife and I are planning on planting potatoes this year. Hope we can save some for next year's planting. Do you have a video on planting potatoes?
We have several growing guides on growing potatoes. Check them out! :)
I tried to do this recently outdoors using a variety of very tiny purple potatoes available at a local market. But when I checked on them, some critter had stolen them all. I will have to try again but with a cover over them.
Thank you this is really helpful. I was struggling with saving my own seed potatoes 🥔 .
Love your enthusiasm and excitement for seed potatoes! Great information ~ damp sand 👍😁awesome !!
Did you cover the crate with anything?
Also, any suggestions for us gardeners living on the South for root vegetable storage? No basements and garages don’t stay cool. 😀
Thanks
Baked my indoor soil to kill the gnats etc and the chemical smell was unreal.... commented on your video of it.... what could possibly be in the soil mix that would cause noxious fumes?
Yeah, I switched away from commercial soil because nothing would grow in it and little gnats hatched out. It was gross. I make a mix of yard soil, peat most or composted leaves, sand, vermiculite or perlite. My plants love it.
If you buy mosquitoe bits they will get rid of gnats pretty quickly. You just put a tablespoon in 1 gallon of water and then use that water to water your plants. Works on indoor and outdoor plants.
@@elizabethmorales3923 What are "mosquitoe bits"? and "Orford plants"?
Tap those maples! It's time here in the lower peninsula!
You can plant those now
Im planting here in BC
You want 2 weeks before last frost
What if you just leave it in the ground? Potatoes I leave behind in the ground where I live it comes up along with the new ones I plant. I live in WA, zone 8b, constant rain
I have 2 questions please. What is the container made of?And do you plant your potatoes hole ,or do you cut them , and let the dry dlr a little bit then plant ? Thank you from Ontario
i've got the same pot an it is plastic. looks whole.
I've had success planting whole potatoes in 5 gallon Canadian Tire buckets (they are food grade) with holes drilled in the bottom, in Southern ON if that helps.
@@naurekk thanks yes it helps
This is great! I will be doing this?
Excellent
We store carrots in rain washed sand every fall. It works great. If it is moist sand collected in the rain it works best. Tap water contains bacteria if it is from a well and city/town water has chemicals.