Planting potatoes

Just looking to hear how others go about planting potatoes different techniques. Heard of stories of some people planting them in old tires just seeing how everyone does it. RICK

have the growing eyes facing up and not too deep. like nestor pestor said about his chickens, mrs. must have planted them too deep.

My grandpa's method: Spade up an area about 36 inches in diameter (clay ground). Use a garden rake to mellow out an area as round as the rake is long. Place a cut slice with a good EYE or sprout on this surface. Put granular fertilizer in a circle at least 6 inches away from the cutting, (no more than a fist full). Mound up soil to 3 inches deep and tapering all around to a 3 foot diameter. Water about a gallon. The mounds should be edge to edge and the same apart.
The tire method does work, but can result in many smalls. Start as above and place a used tire over the plant as it grows to 10 inches. Put soil in to the top of the new tire. Narrow tires are better than wide! wait until the growth is again above the tire substantially, and put on another. I would put on no more than 3 tires such that the plant has a chance to grow a solid leaf and stem structure. The buried stems develop roots when covered, and because this enhances nutrient absorption, the plant thrives. Good luck. Jim

Last year I tried an experiment. I took 5# of seed potatoes and laid them in a row on the area of my lawn that produces the worst grass. I have a lot of mulched maple leaves, so I used that for my mulch; covering them and adding more as the plants grew. I just mowed the lawn around them. In the fall I harvested 25#, some were large, but most were about the size of tennis balls or a little smaller. I didn't fertilize at all, and rainfall last year was about ideal. After that I planted grass which grew better than the surrounding lawn. I intentionally went for the worst case to see what would happen. This year I'm going to add some compost to try for a bigger yield.

I have a raised bed with straw in it On St. Pats day I will throw my seed taters on top of that straw then cover them with fresh straw. Then in the fall when i dig taters I just grab the plant and pull up and or rake the straw aside

you need nice soft ground for potatoes I hauled in old rotted cow manure like dirt , some peatmoss and sand. roto till it all in. potatoes don't like hard ground. and will get poor crop. once growing about 10-12 inches then you hill them . the higher the hill the more potatoes. then in fall you can just reach in and pull some out by hand without destroying the whole plant. plus natural fertilizer is all you need.

Obviously the method we used when I was growing up is not satisfactory so I'm calling the expert farmer, Mike Bloomburg, for instructions. LOL
Seriously, we had a hand planter and a burlap bag. Seed potatoes were cut into 2 or 3 sometimes even 4 pieces, each with viable "eyes".
The burlap bag had a piece of twine about 12" long tied at one corner of the bottom and at the top of the same side. We slung this over our left shoulder with the bag hanging on our right side. (being right handed) and inserted a 12" stick just below the twine knot on the open end of the bag. This held the bag open to access the seed potaoes.
With the right hand holding the planter up close to the bag, the left had dropped a seed into it.
The planter was then placed on the ground in the marked row and using the left foot, step on the planter to push it into the ground.
We then pushed the handle forward which opend the bottom of the planter letting the seed drop out. Now we picked the planter back up to the bag for another seed while the right foot slid dirt into the hole and applied pressure to firm the dirt. As the right foot stepped on the just planted seed, the planter came down to the next spot with the left foot immediately onto it. Repeat about 30-32" apart in rows 32" wide.
Once practiced, a neat fluid rhythm could be established.
Our soil was a sandy loam here in SE Michigan.
My property is clay and not so good and I don't even plant a garden anymore.

Excellant! My last planting on sandy loam (about 38 years ago) was soil that had been fallow for about 10 years. I hauled some "mature" manure onto it and plowed it down. After working it down nicely I planted 20 pounds of seed about the 15th of April. I harvested about 400 pounds with a lot of 2 fisted potatoes.

I have always tossed the seed spud in the hole any way it would land. They always came up and produced with a near 100 percent stand. Last spring when I was tossing them in the hole Marilyn freaked out and told me they should be planted with the eyes up. So for the rest of the row I planted them eyes up. When they came up the eyes up spuds came up a few days sooner and they all came up on the same day where the tossed seed potatoes took three or four days to get a full stand. I have never seen the commercial potato guys plant but I doubt if they align the eyes up for millions of plantings.

Here in Oregon, I can buy them cheaper than I can grow them. Any kind, any time of year. From 'New" potatoes to cooking potatoes to big Baking Taters, by the bags full. Reds, Whites, Yukon Golds to Russets, etc.

I farm fresh market, table stock varieties of potatoes. Been doing it for 20 years. Farm is environmentally verified, no restricted use chemicals. I use a mechanical cup style planter, and a John Deere pto digger. All potato seed are in furrow treatment at planting.

My Dad told me that back in the Depression, "poor" people would plant the peels and eat the potatoes.

We used to plant a couple hundred lbs. of potatoes when I was a kid. We would spend an afternoon or evening cutting them (had o have an eye in each piece0 WE let them lay a couple days for the cuts to kin over then plant. Now that the wife an I are retired, we jut plan a few in a rear tractor tire that has the sidewall cut out of it. It is filled with pure horse manure. Get some pretty good sized ones but the wife likes to "gravel" out the small ones for her green beans that we grow the same way.

Planted mine and son's family's the way I always do.
Did them last week.
Get the soil worked up and run my JD H with the homemade middle buster and drop the cut up potatoes in the furrow.
Don't worry which way the eyes are.
They all come up.
Then cover with JD H and sweeps on cultivator.
Son had put chicken litter on just before preparing soil.
Pics from years past.
Richard in NW SC