Curiosity got the better part of me, so being real careful I tipped a potato seedling out of its pot. Most of the soil spilled away from the roots. In this 16 oz cup were three or four pea sized spuds. and I was able to replant this plant.
I am going to out plant the plants into the garden. Most likely the middle of February, that is if all the tops still look nice and green. If the tops are fading I will finish them in the pots.
There are two beds that I harvest spuds out of. Most of these spuds are volunteers but there are also some small seed potatoes that are planted on an occasion to fill in holes.
The bed is mulched every year and when the seeds are planted there is a handful of alfalfa pellets placed at the bottom of the hole.
These beds have remained in spud production for several years. I have not seen any disease build up. In fact last year was my largest harvest with the largest spuds harvested. There was a 22 oz spud and a dozen or more of a pound or larger. In years past I was lucky to get spuds much larger than 4 oz.
I attribute this size change to a soil treatment that I am using to combat root knot nematodes. This treatment also works on soil borne diseases too. Thyme oil is the main ingredient.
The product is called Promax and it is from Humagro. All of their products are approved for organic use. It sells for around $100 for 4 liters. It is administered through a drip system at a rate of 6 oz per 100 sf. It is advised (with RKN) to use it every 14 to 20 days.
I have used this stuff garden wide and have noticed increases in harvests garden wide. Last year going into winter I had near 400 pounds of sweet potatoes. So needless to say I still have an abundance of sweets. Because of Promax I plan to only plant 3 beds of sweets this year instead of 4.
I suspect that this stuff would help with any gardeners harvests.
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