The FIRST Potato Harvest Out of My No Dig Garden Bed!

I have been absolutely in love with potatoes for as long as I can remember. In this video, I share with you the process of creating my first ever no-dig potato bed, planting 7 different varieties and comparing the results come harvest time. This is one of the videos I have been most excited to create and share with you all here on youtube. I do want to apologize for the delay in releasing content this last month. Fall time is busy time and I got swept up in the chaos!

West Coast Seeds (I'm not sponsored but they're great)

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[brianwhite]

For being your first time, I think you did well. You didn't get skunked, you gained valuable experience, you have good insights, and you have enough potatoes to make many, many, delicious meals. Overall, a great job! :)

[tedk]

Thanks for documenting your potato harvest . I live in East Central Florida coastal region where it is hot and humid. I'm told its isn't ideal for growing potatoes however there are a few varieties that can be successfully grown. I am a novice also and just starting above ground gardens here. We had a sweet potato from the local grocery that had eyes developing right In the kitchen potato basket so I planted it and it is growing so well.. So here, too much water is the issue. I have so much to learn, started a compost pile two weeks ago so baby steps I guess. Thanks again for sharing. Ted in Sebastian, Fl.

[Kanel__Bulle]

This past month I've been preparing and planting my first ever crop of seed potatoes and what I read in my research is that it's perfectly fine to cut off the flowers/bulbs. The plant will essentially redirect resources/energy from the tubers to the flowers/bulb so that can result in smaller tubers. I'll be trimming the flowers and bulbs on mine and hopefully it'll result in larger potatoes.

[smallbore]

I planted some chieftain’s today. I hope they turn out good.

[georgecarlin]

To grow bigger potatoes one needs to understand that potato tubers are big repositories for P and K (phosphorus and potassium) in bio-available (BA) form.
Regular soil even if somewhat amended with compost usually doesn't have enough BA P & K to grow huge potatoes.
"Bio available" is key - every soil type and even the Sahara Desert sand has a lot of P & K (not joking), but usually it's not in organic or BA form. The average soil has ~4% of OM (organic matter) and even less in BA form, so about 96% of your soil's nutrients are locked away from your plants in petrified non-organic form. You probably know this from Elaine Ingham if you watched her videos.
So here's the catch - how does one add a lot of P & K that the potatoes could absorb right away, that is, in BA form. The partial answer is ashes (I'll explain why "partial" in a moment).
When the potatoes are flowering that's the ideal time to start introducing extra P & K because that's when the tubers in the ground start growing.
You do it by adding a layer of say 1-4 cm of ashes on top of the soil of each potato bush and water it in so that as much as possible gets into the ground so the plant's roots can absorb it.
And here's why it's not a good enough solution: ashes are basically OM but not yet in BA form (see PS: for explanation). And to turn as much of the ashes as possible into BA form you need to compost them, either make a separate compost pile that will have a lot of ashes in it or layer the ashes into a separate pile with a lot of green grass in between layers, within a few months it should do its job if it stays moist and the weather is warm. And it's this kind of "ashes" that you want to use with your potatoes. Just ashes also works but not nearly as well, plus the "raw" ashes are more/very alkaline.
And mulching of course.

PS: The nutrients in the soil are roughly in any of these 3 stages: non-organic, organic and BA form, which basically means water soluble - plants' roots only absorb water soluble nutrients, they can't eat OM (the bacteria and fungi do). When you do a soil test at a lab they're usually telling you the BA amount of nutrients in your soil, no word of the other like 99% of the nutrients that are also there (in non-organic and organic form).
1. The pebbles and the non-organic soil in your ground are typical non-organic matter that has 50+ types of minerals including P & K (IIRC except for N).
2. Throw say some green grass into the soil - that's OM, but it's not BA to the plant's roots yet.
3. When the bacteria or fungi eat that grass (within 1-14 days in a warm climate) inside your soil they poop it out and thus transform the OM into BA form which is what the plant's roots can absorb right away.

Yes, youtube keeps suggesting your videos even the watched ones.
There's a Russian youtube channel called "Гордеевы" that grows huge potatoes and teaches this as well. You don't have to understand what they're saying - watching a few potato videos would do the trick. Can't post the link cause youtube usually bans such comments.

[ponyrang]

Wow, Beautiful Upload friend. keep it up. Thank you for sharing this to us. Greetings from Korea

[adventurestothehomestead]

haha I love gardening in my bare feet. Just the feel of the soil is grand

[Dinger]

Your soil needs a lot of organic matter mixed into it because it's not retaining moisture. I have an old gardening book from 80 years ago that states "the French salad farmers add 50 tons of well rotted horse manure per acre into their land every year". Note - every year. Potatoes and onions are heavy feeders and need lots of food and water or they only produce small harvests. Next year will be better if you do this. Good luck.

[robertrangel]

Great content.... subscribed .... nice smile😬

[mildredwilkins]

Adding in straw and shredded paper/
cardboard/leaves. layered on top of the cardboard would have kept them more moist a ND helped with makiNG the soil more L oose. I built a first time bed about 8" deep layering allthat. Stuff.

Yes. It held the moisture better for you. You are off to a good start.

Add potash. Increase the depth to at least 6-7 inch.

Add sweet potatoes. You're so emotional you'll lose your mind.

You're right about the water. You're fun to watch.... 😊😊☺️

[chinatownboy]

Aunty, thanks for the video. I liked how you showed your process from beginning to end. Here where I live, potato have grown wild in my yard for decades. Every time I turn around, there's another potato plant. I dig them out occasionally. But I can never get rid of them. They keep coming back. Lucky me. Free french fries. Yeah.

[pmeaw]

I hope you save some of your harvest for planting next spring. Seeds potatoes here in the USA are getting expensive. My favorite potatoes are the french fingerling.

[carolparrish]

What location are you in ? I didn't hear you say you added any fertilizer. Potatoes need a little fertilizer and YES they need moisture. I think you said you started them in April and dug them is Sept.Potatoes take between 90 to 120 days to mature depending on variety. You did OK for the firts time. You will learn as you grow. A coninuous learning journey. I love your enthusium. Don't give up.

[mildredwilkins]

Mulch with the shredded items asap. Like now. It will make you happy. You've got maybe 3-4 seasons before you need to move them.

[dpirene]

Is the area shaded? If so, that might have impeded their growth. Good harvest though.

[debgarnett]

I grow 40 or so varieties but aggressively downsizing. No need to buy seed potato, I find no difference really, unless you want a variety you don’t have. Get your hands on some pink fir apple and some other heirloom spuds. I’m in Edmonton and we had record temps as well this summer and spuds were very thirsty. Russian blues love very soft moist soil. I once filled a five gallon bucket from two plants when I grew them in the right spot. Just a warning, if you leave the berries on the patch, you’ll have tps (true potato seed) growing next year. ....unless you want to breed your own. If you ever get to Edmonton, look me up, I’ll pass on some cool varieties. Bananas are heavy producers and create a very dense flesh....I grew them for many years and still grow a plant or two, but they’re not my fav for a fingerling. If you can get some French fingerling, pink fir apple, or purple Peruvian, you’ll get the most flavourful roasting spuds, you’ll ever taste. 🥔❤Deb