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| I sprayed the potato beetle infestation a few days ago. |
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| You might look at this and think "Pretty nice potato patch" |
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| It would be if all the green were potato vines. this is what one row looks like after weeding. While it is nice weather for weeding (70F and no sun) it is poor light for photography. I am a third done. |
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| Some of the gaps have slow starting potatoes in them. I accidentally pulled one up and the cause for their slow growth is that I did not plant them deeply enough. They struggled to find moisture. |
Now I have a dilemma. What can I plant in the gaps? I am leaning toward root crops.
Bonus pictures
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| If Ham Operators were beetles |
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| Are there any entomologists out there who want to tell me what these two species are? |
Note: 12:20 and it is 79 and the sun is out. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that.
I am 2/3 done and will hit it again later today.
With my much more limited space of my backyard, I find my double rows of potatoes down my 4 foot wide beds really help in shading out the weeds once the plants get big enough. The first weeding is done with the hilling. The next is just some hand pulling among the spuds and the use of my push hoe in the narrow paths.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I've never seen a potato beetle in my corner of the world. We have late blight though.
The one with the jaws is a stag beatle, the other is a white spotted sawyer.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! I have great readers.
Delete79 out? I should be so lucky. Just checked the weather station on the back deck. At 2 PM, it's 85 degree and 99% relative humidity, making for a "feels like" of a temperate 107. Sun is in and out, seems like about a 1:1 ratio, but also seems to be trending toward more sun.
ReplyDeleteWhat's missing from those feels like numbers is that, at that humidity level, sweating does almost no good at all. It can't evaporate; the moisture has no where to go, other than unspeakable places on your body. My solution is to go out early and late while siesta-ing the midday inside in the AC. I had my fill of working outside in all weather years ago.
Summer in the South. :-)
I hear you, I I’m KY and it was about that hot here, weeded the beans, corn and winter pumpkins dug a few hills of early potatoes and picked raspberries and blueberries. By 1o:30 AM I was soaked, thirsty and tired.
DeleteI hear you, I I’m KY and it was about that hot here, weeded the beans, corn and winter pumpkins dug a few hills of early potatoes and picked raspberries and blueberries. By 1o:30 AM I was soaked, thirsty and tired.
DeleteOn the western end of Ky we hit 95 today and if this is the trend for summer I'm not looking forward to this at all.
DeleteMrs ERJ picked her first Sugar Snap Peas yesterday.
DeleteI was mowing the lawn and it was high 80's here in the upstate of SC. Got three quarters done before a thunderstorm moved in and I had to quit for the day, although the last 30 minutes was pretty breezy and cool pre storm.
ReplyDeleteMy garden is doing good, if I can keep the doggone chipmunks out of it. Already relocated 3 Raccoons and one Possum.
I weeded tomatoes earlier this week. I'll do it again this week. It hits 75 around here at daylight. Tomorrow's low is supposed to be 78. Summer is here. With 80% humidity, it's like working in low pressure steam.
ReplyDeleteI've been in the garden all day. I planted 500 feet of potatoes this spring and they are looking good. Late last fall I planted 400 feet. I put them in deeper than normal and then mulched them with hay to protect them over the winter. The issues in your Remnant story are why I did that. I didn't want to have them in storage so I put it in the ground where they would be secure and hiden. I raked off the mulch early this week and they came up and are looking good. Even ahead of the newly planted ones. When I have gaps I just put in some more potatoes that comes from the grocery store. When using potatoes from the store for seed you need to make sure that they are alive as some are treated to kill the eyes [buds] for storage. No different from "seed potatoes" you pay big bucks for at the nursery/garden store.---ken
ReplyDeleteOddly, seed potatoes at the elevator are cheaper than the ones in the grocery store.
DeleteOf course, they come in fifty pound bags and are not washed. One advantage of "seed potatoes" is that they are less likely to be infected with virus.
I only needed about 2lbs to fill in the gaps and it's a 40 mile round trip to the feed and seed store so I used the kitchen supply. I never had a problem with virus..I don't think. And it's good to know alternatives exist which is what I was passing on. I've had several people tell me that they didn't know you could plant grocery store potatoes. In fact I'd bet that most people don't know that.--ken
DeleteMy grandparents were spud farmers in Tulelake CA. Most supermarket potatoes are treated with "sprout nip" to keep then from sprouting. They will eventually sprout but not as readily.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of that Ron. And had it happen to me once when I had some potatoes we got at a chain store. But we only buy from local stores and try to buy potatoes grown locally so it is not an issue. I guess that where you live , and shop, makes the difference. So I plead ignorance about potatoes most people would get at Walmart or other chain stores. I could see that being an issue. All the more reason to buy local. Just for your own sake and safety.---ken
DeleteHow bout Cabbage in the blank spots.
ReplyDeleteComplimentary gardening says cabbage and potatoes get along fine, and that crop will be harvested later in the fall.
I will give that a try.
DeleteI had some extra tomato plants so I stuffed those into some of the holes. I don't bother unless I have a string of three or more missing potato plants.