our pathetic potato patch, how did it do?

We planted gifted seed potatoes late in the season, directly into clay. as much as the plants (aboveground portions) were looking pathetic the whole time, our yield was surprising - better than worst, for sure!

[@Ash-fd8ww]

You may have had better luck if you put the potatoes onto the clay, then buried them with some dirt or compost or mulch (prevents moisture loss through evaporation). Plants in that family love a lot of ambient moisture (not being sopping wet, but wet enough), and nutrients tend to flow downhill. If you save the big ones and replant them, they will grow a larger bunch the next year. A harvest is always wonderful when you expect the worst and it surprises you. For me that would be considered a decent sized one, haha. :)

[@AgnesMariaL]

@@Ash-fd8ww Thanks, yes, I'm generally pretty good at growing potatoes, but we're still fairly new to this land and the soil is pretty much the opposite of what we had at our previous home. Our first year the potatoes were horrible, because we planted on flat ground - clay has no drainage, turns out! We will be using that same spot next year, and will be adding A LOT of organic matter!

[@Ash-fd8ww]

@@AgnesMariaL I'm not familiar with clay but I can share what I've seen. Clay for generations was considered the most fertile soil, but I hear it has to be cottled or it can become too good at its job. Gary Matsuoka here on YT will say that turning too much compost DIRECTLY into a clay soil can create a "root rot" environment, where if you do it in sand it wouldn't be so bad, but to instead use it like a top dressing. The reasoning is that Oxygen in the soil is eaten up very fast in these conditions, as how potting soils seem to stress plants much faster now; holding onto too much water and nutrient in the wrong places, for way too long causes stagnation. I hope some of these tips may help you like they did for me. 🌹🌹

[@AgnesMariaL]

@@Ash-fd8ww Noted! Yes, I prefer to top-dress myself, but for other reasons. I think we'll be okay with mixing-in for next year's potato patch in the same location, because it is a slope so any deluges we get (which the few summer rains tend to be) will run off rather than overly-saturating the ground - this is my thought, anyway ;) We do experience extreme drought with extreme heat (high 30's/low 40's is normal for our microclimate) during the summers, so we plan for that when planting :)