Planting potatoes in winter

Cleaning up, at the bottom of the pantry, I discovered egg cartons filled with small potatoes that, too small to eat at harvest, I tucked away, but now they're happily sprouting away.

I'd planned to try to use them as 'seed potatoes' anyway, thinking that they'd be in the dark, etc.

sprouting potatoes
Yikes, I thought, even though the weather's mild, it's way too early even in the South to put out potatoes, although there are alternative folks who start them in the fall, based on my internet searches.

But something else I found was this informative post by Barbara Pleasant, an excellent and knowledgeable garden writer and vegetable gardener. 

What she suggests is what I'll be doing tomorrow with my sprouted potatoes, as soon as I can mix up some potting mix with the coir bricks that I've still got in my garden shed. 

I'll be tucking them into double paper lunch sacks filled with potting mix and keep them inside until I plant them outside, probably in early March.

Comments

  1. I am fascinated by this unconventional approach to growing potatoes, but I see the logic. I'll bet it would work for dahlia tubers up here in Massachusetts to give them an early start. I am going to try and remember - and do my own experiment.

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  2. I have been thinking about planting potatoes so I will keep this technique in mind. Love your blog.

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  3. I just put the 'seed' potatoes in the paper bags this afternoon. I'll keep you posted about the results.

    Pat, I'll bet you're right and that the same technique can be used to push early starts for overwintering tubers, corms, rhizomes, etc.

    John, thanks for the nice comment about the blog.

    Lisa

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