I love that you show concrete results. Seems a given however there’s many youtubers showing the planting and you don’t hear about harvest much! Anyhow, I tried planting spuds from the groceries I had leftover in the pantry, versus some I bought from the nursery. Turns out grocery out grew the others at least twice as much! Thanks for countless tips and hours of entertainment.
he didnt tho, he fudged the numbers at the end to skew the results, just because 2 you planted "dont make anything" doesnt mean they just magically never existed
The compost thing may not be enough to fix all your needs but it is great for you viewers that probably have a smaller garden and that much compost would be all they needed So it's good seeing how the process goes
I did same experiment with red potatoes a few years ago . Planted 25 lbs of cut vs 25 lbs of whole and in the end it was the same yield per plant within margin of error
Commercial potato planters use whole potatoes because of the time of cutting them would be prohibitive.They would need a machine to cut them.Then have to worry about the cut side scabbing over and no disease getting into that scab.I love you scientific experiments!!
Thanks for sharing your results. I got taters in grow bags will be thrilled to get a few out. Hilled them up yesterday so something is better than nothing.
I am into the 6th year of my Potato experiment. Started out with a 35 gallon plastic tub which I was growing tomatoes. Had a rough skin russet potato that had sprouted, just for a lark I planted it in this tub. I then actually started learning about the evolution of the potato plant in the semi-arid foothills of the Andes mountains in S. America. I have since then tried to reproduce the soil conditions found there, interestingly our climate here in the lower Ohio Valley kind of mirrors that found there, including trace volcanic minerals which some had to be substituted because of rarity. I just went out today (Ironic about your topic), untouched and un-dug except for some soil amendments and weeding, I have 2 potato plants still growing from that original russet burial 6 years ago. One of these days I'll dig it up and see but right now I'm content to just let it come back every year.
@@LazyDogFarm are you on facebook, etc., I'd love to send you a photo to show my truthfulness, anyone can ask my wife about it, she isn't the type that'll let me get away with any Tom Foolery.
Sounds like a fun interesting tader experiment project. I always have potatoes come back every year from ones left in the ground that I missed while digging the year before. Planted the original seed potatoes whole and deep in that plot 10 years ago and they are still giving this many years later from ones I miss pulling out the year before.
I need to flip mine also, it's been a couple of months , I did pick a huge tomato today 1pound 9.5 ounces from my big zac plants. I gave it to my mother in law and she couldn't believe her eyes , when she cut it , one slice covered the entire sandwich. I've never grown the large tomato breeds before , it's awesome to see them on the plant.
Absolutely fascinating experiment and took all the guess work out of to cut or not to cut. The fact that whole spuds yield more but the cut ones give you more plants to work with hence more spuds is spot on. Thanks for all the scientific and mathematical explanations.
Last night I harvested my potatoes that I planted from the peels of store bought potatoes. I made sure each piece of the peel had an eye on it, planted and was pleasantly surprised by the three different varieties that were successful.
I planted seed potatoes in two large plastic storage bins this year. I’ve already harvested them and was surprised to get about 20 lbs from the two bins. It was an experiment. I used Raised bed soil, Black Kow, mushroom compost. The bottom layer I put down grass clippings and clippings from shrubs I trimmed. Next layer was a flake or two of straw. Then added all the soil. Mixed the straw in with some of the soil. The potatoes loved it. Keeping the soil moist but not too wet along with the straw did the trick. Not the ideal way to grow taters but you gotta work with what you have. I was fascinated by your experiment. Makes total sense. Take care
It would be a good idea to compare weight of seed taters to weight of harvest. Was the weight of the cut ones more or less than the whole? I go by size, if my seed taters Re egg sized or smaller, I leave it whole. If it is larger, I cut it. Mine are just blooming, so I will know in about 6 weeks what I've got.
It's fair to assume that you'll use at least half the weight of seed taters when you cut them, if not more -- just depending on how many times you cut eat one.
Hey Trav. Great job on the taters and looks like you had a good harvest from both methods. Ideally you will want to keep your compost bins watered a lot more. Best practice is to have the bins in a shaded area where they don’t get blasted by the sun and get dry. Microbes and bacteria need that moisture to thrive and to breakdown the organic matter. A good hot compost pile won’t have ants because the heat prevents them from setting up shop. One option is to add a simple tin roof over the bin area to keep the sun off. Keep up the great work and looking forward to Friday’s installment!!
The larvae in the second bin are black soldier fly larvae. Not only are they excellent at breaking down compost, but they are good chicken treats. Regarding the Geobins: if you need a lot of capacity, you can hook two of them together using the keys to make a giant circle with more capacity than the two separately. I have two Geobins that I combine like this to handle fall leaves.
Interesting experiment. I wound up in a time crunch since I broke my ankle 3 weeks ago. I was doing an experiment comparing grow bags to laundry baskets. I decided after my little accident to just put in the whole seed potato instead of cutting them up. Good thing I did because I didn't get it all planted until Monday and by then, what was left was starting to go bad. So I kind of just started shoving them in the grow bags where I could with the soil I had (I kept running out and wasn't supposed to be lifting the big heavy bags of potting soil I had previously). The ones I planted over a month ago are doing great in the laundry baskets. I guess we'll see if it's worthwhile. I have no one to help me out besides a 5 year old, at least he can help pull my yard cart when I take the bags of soil to the backyard.
@@teresak1732 I used paper grocery bags and recycled brown paper i got in packages. Then filled with dirt. Anything to keep it from coming out the holes.
Good Saturday Mornin' Everyone!!!! Got taters in the bucket. My favorite method of maintaining a sustainable pantry and stockpiling items long term for the whole family and the family dog and the family cat is what I consider to be the most practical, utilizing every type of food storage methods and technology available, both old and new. . Except for the fruits and vegetables that get canned, I keep perishable items like meat, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products in the refrigerator on a short term basis until I'm ready to use them for a big family meal - and for even longer term sustainable storage, a large separate freezer, which can store a half side of beef with plenty of room left over for homemade ice cream etc. . I'm considering upgrading to a walk-in freezer at some point.in the near future, if my plans to open a bed and breakfast come to fruition. Sometimes, however a nice round of cheese can do well for quite awhile on a pantry shelf at room temperature - and doesn't mind even if it has to stand there alone.😁 Store bought canned goods get shelves.in the large pantry closet - several for canned meat like corned beef hash, spam and sandwich spread and another for canned vegetables Bread, rolls, grains, homemade pasta, cereals and the like are stored in special humidity controlled bins I order from Amazon Prime - which usually get delivered to my doorstep about an hour after I order them. . Stuff from the family garden and orchard, like onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, cucumber, pumpkins, carrots, corn celery,, potatoes and yams, cherries, blueberries and strawberries get canned in Mason Jars and stored in the cool, root cellar of this wonderful rambling former farmhouse (circa 1867) I share with my extended blended family and several rambunctious dogs raised on table scraps from the some of the finest food from a plethora of sources both commercial and home based. . There's even a special separate "summer kitchen" which I converted to store butter and ice cream churns, pots, pans, utensils, extra storage containers, foil, bags, cutlery, and other meal related accoutrement. Out back in the woods, just beyond the big pile of wood I maintain all year, (for use in an antique woodstove I keep on hand, in case the power goes out) there's even an old rusting vintage still where my great grandfather made some of the finest corn whiskey for miles. Next to it is the rusting hulk of the Ford Model A he used to transport that powerful hootch by the light of the moon on soft summer nights to his eager customers in a tri-county area. Further into this verdant forest of mostly sycamore, oak, pine and scrub, runs a cool stream into which I occasionally cast a rod or net to catch some Brook Trout, Bluntnose Shiners, or whatever takes the bait (just earthworms for the most part). And yes, hunting season means wild turkey, deer, and even an occasional wild boar. Next week, I'm planning on filing for a permit to 3-D print a smokehouse in order to be able to create gourmet artisan handcrafted, beef, bacon, turkey, and beef stick jerky, which interested local merchants can private label for other people to share with their families and their family dogs. Unfortunately, i had to break the bad news to my free range hens today that due to expected egg shortages regretfully numbered are their days of laying a couple of eggs and then basically taking the rest of the day off with ranging privileges' within the parameters of a few very nice rural acres - parts of which are rich with fat grubworms. There's even a short dirt road between the main barn and the farmhouse which they're free to cross to get to the other side as often as they'd like. My rooster Ben overheard me and he ain't too happy either, knowing full well that due to oncoming egg shortages, he'll be "workin' overtime to make sure there's plenty of eggs for me an the family. Thank you Potato Experiment for allowing me to share!!!
Nice work on the potato comparison. Looking forward to the Kennebec results. My compost bins get loaded with worms...AFTER they cool down to ambient temperature. I added worms a few years ago but after that, they migrate from 1 bin to another all on their own. There is always 1 bin that is cool enough for them to take over. In my case, I think it's likely that most of the worms that are in there now are actually local native worms and not the red wrigglers I originally put in. All you need now is a compost thermometer.
I've got one of those cement slabs out by the front gate. It's a good ways from the garden & water though. When the compost gets aromatic, might help keep unwanted visitors from stopping by. :)
I put one large piece of doubled up cardboard on top of compost bin contents. Lift off to add more components and that seems to help compost from drying out too much Travis. Also keep some of our taters to plant out so don't bother cutting. Really enjoy your channel! 🌱👍
What an interesting instalment! I watch a channel from England called Castle Hill, Cliff uses whole potatoes but rubs out some of the sprouts to control potato size. I think he usually keeps three sprouts per potato. You are making more than enough compost to keep those round steel beds you are using happy and probably for your fig trees too! Klaus
Appreciated the results of you tater experiment. Thank you. The Taters I’m growing this year are German Butterball and Magic Molly (a purple variety). Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA - 6/1/2022.
Best part about composting on dirt is that this year I had two free squash plants, and a cucumber plant, sprout from the ground around the piles. I will see what they are later on. I had wondered how that tater test would turn out, thanks for showing the results. I planted both cut, and whole tater seeds, but not organized like you did. I figure to recover the seed tater, and see. We are a month behind you up here in zone 7.
I put some rotten store bought potatoes in my in ground compost pike. Got a huge plot of potatoes growing in the compost. NO work needed. They just volunteered. Will harvest soon.
Had tater time myself today; not as fun as watching your family do it.Followed your lead with the mustard and radish cover and my potatoes were perfect. Ran into underground bumble bees (didn't know there was such a thing) and it was hard work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Will always grow taters, mustard first.
A trick I found from professional potato breeders is put the knife you are cutting the potatoes with in a Lime Water solution to avoid fungal contamination across all your cuts. My own experience is don't cut the seed potatoes too small and to let the cut faces dry three days before tossing in the furrow: whole if small size, half if medium size, thirds if large size seed potatoes; just like you might do if boiling potatoes for supper.
I bought the bins after your first video and need to flip also. Glad you shared so I could see how easy it is. I hate fire ants so thanks for the warnings 🙏😎🏖🏝
I mostly planted whole potatoes this year, but not the same way you did. I saved all the green potatoes and little dime-sized potatoes as seed potatoes. I kept them in the refrigerator until about eight weeks before planting so they wouldn't dry out too much, and they were heavily sprouted by planting time. Any larger green ones got cut. The tiny ones took a while to get going and are still smaller plants, so that may turn out to be a disadvantage, but they have been growing decently. I'm in a colder winter climate than south Georgia, so I probably won't be harvesting for another month (planted in the first week of April). I also have some diploid potatoes growing from true potato seed, but that's a different story entirely.
I did the same experiment this year. I have a four foot by sixteen foot raised bed. I planted two rows of cut and two rows of whole potatoes. They are not even close to harvest yet. I let you know the results when they are ready.
Online taters = $5 lb (cheapest $3, most expensive $10) local seed & feed = $1 a lb, grocery store = varies wildly by type but on sale average 40¢ a lb. Honestly, I usually do all 3. There's are some varieties that I like to try that I can't find locally. And I always have a few taters that sprouted from the grocery store. My circle always loves when I have extra abundance. I plant way more than I can store. Zone 8b it's hard to keep taters from one season to the next. Plans are to eventually build a root/storm cellar. Maybe they'll keep longer in that. I have two of those geo bins. Only problem is if they're not full they fold in on themselves. Maybe they were designed that way to always keep them full. I have a usable 18" on the bottom for this spring! Always enjoy your content.
I’ve done some composting, but I just keep the waste in a pile and turn it with my tractor’s loader occasionally. …and I keep mine on a slab too, as moving it with the loader is easier on concrete.
Compost looks good! If I were you I would buy 1 more of the compost bins and leave it empty so when you flip out of one bin you can go into an empty one instead of taking it apart and you can continue this process with the others because you will always have an empty bin. You will probably flip more often with this system as well
Great Video... Tater variety for climate, spacing, soil type, nutrients, hills or mulched, weather and water all affect taters, water being on top of my list. Since I usually save seed taters, I separate out the smaller to medium size taters as seed. Something about the size of a jumbo Chicken egg. I used to do double rows, but this year I went single rows and kept spacing at least 12" due to the fact I cannot irrigate. In drier climates you may want to go 18". Can never have enough taters.
Interesting you say water is most important for you. We find that taters are one of the least thirsty crops we grow. We usually have a much better tater year in a dry spring because leaf moisture is reduced and thus diseases are less prevalent.
@@LazyDogFarm Correct, Different climates and rainfall amounts. I'm in Northern PA and we are in a mild Drought this year and some of my taters are still sitting chitted in the ground with no growth above. This happened to us 2 years ago as well. Yet anther reason to plant 2,3 or 4 times more than you need.
We talked about that a good bit back when we were cutting these in February at planting time. We don't put anything on ours after cutting. We just let them heal for 2-3 days prior to planting.
As far as taters go, I prefer to cut them. I bought a 50 lb bag of Pontiac Reds this year, and I'd have only been able to plant about 2 or 2 1/2 thirty foot rows if I planted them whole. I got a full 5 thirty foot rows by cutting them. My budget is tighter than a gnat's a$$ stretched across a telephone pole, but I did manage to get one of those Geo Bins. I'm amazed at how fast things start breaking down in that thing!
I have always had the best success and results from whole potatoes and have never seen a difference in yield between large or small potatoes. My best harvest has come when I must have missed small potatoes the year before and had a number of volunteers come up in the garlic beds that next spring. I follow my potatoes with my garlic in the fall and added compost and cover with about a foot of straw or hay for the long cold winter of Northwest Minnesota so the missed potatoes were also well protected with the garlic all winter. Each volunteer produced as much from one plant as I typically get from three to four plants. So last fall I decided to intentionally plant some potatoes back in the fall and cover like I do my garlic to see how many come up and how well they produce. If this works out as well as the volunteers did I will continue to plant in the fall when I plant garlic and just keep chasing garlic beds with potatoes and potato beds with garlic every year. Been following potatoes with garlic for years now with great success.
@@LazyDogFarm - I can’t imagine trying to turn it with a tractor on dirt. Also, if directly on dirt, it would definitely have weeds growing into it. Your way is perfect for small volumes. I mix mine with mushroom compost that I buy by the dump truck load. I can’t believe you have 8 plots and don’t have a compact tractor. But then again, I’m 60, and you…are ….
I made something similar to those bins with chicken wire and t-posts, but instead of compost I do a lasagna layer(hay and compost) and grow my potatoes in it to save ground space
I turn my compost at least once a week. I add water as I turn it and it gets pretty hot. Once it stops heating up, the worms take over and it's great. I started this pile in the fall with 8 large trash cans of leaves and some chicken coop litter. It will be ready in the fall, just in time to start the next pile.
Well in my opinion it's a gamble when you cut them because depending on the weather, they could rot in the ground. My family had a commercial potato farm and they had this issue before they stopped cutting theirs many years ago. They mostly did chip potatoes and bags as well.
I did a Johnson Su last year. I found that the material on the outside doesn't break down. I sifted it and used what I could. Now I have 5 pallet bins. I don't have time to turn it. But anytime you move the outside to the inside, it breaks down faster.
My compost bins are made of pallets. Probably some 15 years old now. Not much left of them now. Time to redo them. I like the idea of these geo bins but the amount of openings around the perimeter isn't allowing the breakdown of the outer sides. Maybe not so many openings would help in this case. Will take a look at. Covering them up will allow things to heat up more and speed up the process. I like you videos. I have used several of your ideas in my own garden.
Just looked these up on Amazon. $100 Canadian. Yes I'm up in Canada. I have a more cost effective method. I have some drain board, what is used for waterproofing foundations. I can make that work along with some fencing wire.
Great video. Have you seen the accidental 70lbs from peelings put in a compost pile? The guy from UK that knows a lot about potatoes is where you can find that video.
I have seen that video. I had some sprout in my compost pile last year, but the heat got them. Probably works better in the UK where the climate is milder.
This year due to time constraints and taking care of my wife with her knee replacement, I needed to put mine in the ground so I planted the whole potato. We will see the results in May. My potatoes last year from cut pieces I found were small-med ones. So I will see the difference this year.
I just planted my first 'cut' potatoes last month. Been planting whole in 4 gallon pots for over a year and average what I planted. Hope this 'cut' method works better
IMHO composting systems work best with as little "system" as possible. Just pick a spot in the yard out of the way and pile everything up. Flip occasionally (or don't, who cares) and leave it alone over winter. Dig out the black stuff from the bottom to top dress your beds next Spring, you're set!
Your compost operation is looking great. That concrete pad is the perfect spot! You shouldn't need to unwrap the Geobin. You should just be able to pick it up and move it to another spot. Love the tater experiment. I cut my large seed potatoes and leave the small ones whole, but I should probably pay more attention to how many eyes each has. I love Wood Prairie. All of the varieties I got from them have grown well. I even got a good harvest of russet potatoes, both Caribou and Butte Baker, and russets supposedly don't do well here (zone 9A). I'm looking forward to hearing what your favorite variety is.
@@LazyDogFarm Thank You. I'll have to remember that for the fall. I may forget the variety, but I won't forget to come back to your video before I place a fall order!
Definitely too hot for worms out in the sun like that. I'm using worm bins made from 3 stacked plastic storage bins kept in full shade. The bottom serves to collect worm tea and the top two rotate every couple months. I'm making probably 5 gallons of worm casting every couple months from scraps from the kitchen and 4 - 4x8 vegetable beds. Also for every gallon of water that filters through the upper 2 storage bins, each gallon gets thinned with 5 gallons of tap water to make a worm tea that I use on any plants around the garden, especially if they seem to be struggling. Started with 500 red wiggler worms bought on line 3 years ago. Many more now. They seem to like eating out of the garden as much as we do!
Those bins are so big, you need something the size of a kiddie pool! If you put those bins in the shade of your woods and on the ground, it wouldn't take long for mother nature to provide worms for free. Then put it in some kind of reservoir to catch the tea after you've collected all the worms you need. I've read that red wigglers are the best for making compost, but if you can attract nightcrawlers into you bin, you might accomplish the production of castings, tea, and have a free source of bait for fishing. No respectable fish would ever consider taking a hook for a lowly red wiggler!
Interesting. I guess it is worth the effort to cut them up as you will get more plants. I will definitely have to do this in the fall. How close would be the closest that you would plant them together? I have 2 of the Geobins. They work well. My only issue with them is that nothing is flat in my yard so they only hold their shape as well as you level them.
@@LazyDogFarm That works for me. I have about a 12'x12' "potato field". I may just try cramming as many in as possible with knowing that the ones in the middle will sit until the outside ones are ready to harvest.
The Georgia Red Wiggler (Eisenia foetida) is the worm you'll want. No need to buy them online 'cause they'll ship out of Georgia anyway. Many worm breeders sell red wigglers for composting and African nightcrawlers for fishing. Your favorite bait shop should be able to help locate a local worm breeder. They'll stay out of the hottest part of the compost pile and feed around the cooler margins. Keep 'em moist. Try a pound per bin to start. 800-1000 wigglers per pound.
An old farmer told me once that taters and squash need a massive amount of phosphorus. He used 0-40-0. Here in Northwest Florida, you can't buy high phosphorus fertilizer anymore. The farm supply stores say the state is telling them not to sell it because of our soil type. It is too hot now for growing taters. However, I just bought some 0-46-0 from Amazon and plan to do a micro experiment heavily fertilizing taters in one tote with 0-46-0 and treating the other with regular 10-10-10 or liquid fertilizer. As for worms, I do vermiculture and vermicomposting. It is 1000 times easier than composting. You do need a quality red worm breed...cause not all breeds are the same. Plastic drums or plastic water storage containers (the kind that is reinforced with a metal cage) work wonderfully. The pitfall is pests, shade, and acid levels. So, I make sure my worms have shade at all times and I invest heavily in ant poison at the base of my bins. Everytime I feed the worms, I pour a good dusting of egg shell powder. They break down the food faster if you break down the food into a paste or slurry...but it isn't necessary. A drain line is needed for excess water drainage. Keep that drainage fluid...it is liquid gold as a fertilizer. Also, vermiculture is difficult for many because most people don't realize worms need a thriving biome to live. So, you just can't toss a bunch of worms in a compost bin and expect them to live. You need at least 20% bedding material to food in order to start a new colony of worms...50-60% is preferable. The beauty of worms is each cocoon/egg usually has about 4 worms. Practically, every 90 days the colony will double in population.
@@LazyDogFarm just start small. Make a small worm tower with 5-gallon buckets. It'll take a year or more before the colony will need to expand out of the bucket with about 200 red worms to start with. Make your mistakes early when the scale of the colony is small enough to be affordable should something go wrong.
Have you tried planting potatoes in March? We are zone 8b here and Everyone I know plants mid to late February plantings except my father in law said he planted some one year in February and some in March and the March potatoes did better. So I did the same. Mid February and mid March. My mid March planting I pulled only two weeks later that my mid February planting so they got two weeks less growing time but my March planting grew much bigger potatoes and a lot more weight. I didn’t weigh them but it was obvious. My theory is the frosts we got stunted them even though I covered them . I’ll plant February potatoes again but my main crop will forever be planted mid to late March because that’s what my father in law does. 😀
I have planted them in early March and done just fine. Just depends on the weather. Some years it's too wet in mid to late February, and our planting gets delayed.
I love that you show concrete results. Seems a given however there’s many youtubers showing the planting and you don’t hear about harvest much! Anyhow, I tried planting spuds from the groceries I had leftover in the pantry, versus some I bought from the nursery.
Turns out grocery out grew the others at least twice as much!
Thanks for countless tips and hours of entertainment.
Nice! Grocery store taters for the win!
he didnt tho, he fudged the numbers at the end to skew the results, just because 2 you planted "dont make anything" doesnt mean they just magically never existed
The compost thing may not be enough to fix all your needs but it is great for you viewers that probably have a smaller garden and that much compost would be all they needed So it's good seeing how the process goes
Good point! We hope we can encourage more folks to give it a try.
I did same experiment with red potatoes a few years ago . Planted 25 lbs of cut vs 25 lbs of whole and in the end it was the same yield per plant within margin of error
I put weed barrier fabric under mine. When I flip it …when I get down to the bottom I just pick the fabric up & dump it into the bin. Easy peasy😁
Good idea!
Commercial potato planters use whole potatoes because of the time of cutting them would be prohibitive.They would need a machine to cut them.Then have to worry about the cut side scabbing over and no disease getting into that scab.I love you scientific experiments!!
Makes perfect sense.
this was a great thorough video. ty
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video.. Solid and explanatory...
Thanks Harry!
Thanks for sharing your results. I got taters in grow bags will be thrilled to get a few out. Hilled them up yesterday so something is better than nothing.
Nice! Hope you have a bountiful harvest!
I am into the 6th year of my Potato experiment. Started out with a 35 gallon plastic tub which I was growing tomatoes. Had a rough skin russet potato that had sprouted, just for a lark I planted it in this tub. I then actually started learning about the evolution of the potato plant in the semi-arid foothills of the Andes mountains in S. America. I have since then tried to reproduce the soil conditions found there, interestingly our climate here in the lower Ohio Valley kind of mirrors that found there, including trace volcanic minerals which some had to be substituted because of rarity. I just went out today (Ironic about your topic), untouched and un-dug except for some soil amendments and weeding, I have 2 potato plants still growing from that original russet burial 6 years ago. One of these days I'll dig it up and see but right now I'm content to just let it come back every year.
That’s wild that it’s still growing!
@@LazyDogFarm are you on facebook, etc., I'd love to send you a photo to show my truthfulness, anyone can ask my wife about it, she isn't the type that'll let me get away with any Tom Foolery.
Sounds like a fun interesting tader experiment project. I always have potatoes come back every year from ones left in the ground that I missed while digging the year before. Planted the original seed potatoes whole and deep in that plot 10 years ago and they are still giving this many years later from ones I miss pulling out the year before.
@@Titus-as-the-Roman Yes, we are on FB and IG.
I need to flip mine also, it's been a couple of months , I did pick a huge tomato today 1pound 9.5 ounces from my big zac plants. I gave it to my mother in law and she couldn't believe her eyes , when she cut it , one slice covered the entire sandwich. I've never grown the large tomato breeds before , it's awesome to see them on the plant.
Nice. I haven’t gotten any of those ripe yet, but I’m ready when they are!
So jealous just got tomatoes in ground waiting game for anything up here. Awesome size on that tomato!
Absolutely fascinating experiment and took all the guess work out of to cut or not to cut. The fact that whole spuds yield more but the cut ones give you more plants to work with hence more spuds is spot on. Thanks for all the scientific and mathematical explanations.
Thanks!
Thanks Karen!
Last night I harvested my potatoes that I planted from the peels of store bought potatoes. I made sure each piece of the peel had an eye on it, planted and was pleasantly surprised by the three different varieties that were successful.
Nice!
@@LazyDogFarm whoosh
Can't wait to see the results for the next rows
What a wonderful we ful experiment.❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
I planted seed potatoes in two large plastic storage bins this year. I’ve already harvested them and was surprised to get about 20 lbs from the two bins. It was an experiment. I used Raised bed soil, Black Kow, mushroom compost. The bottom layer I put down grass clippings and clippings from shrubs I trimmed. Next layer was a flake or two of straw. Then added all the soil. Mixed the straw in with some of the soil. The potatoes loved it. Keeping the soil moist but not too wet along with the straw did the trick. Not the ideal way to grow taters but you gotta work with what you have. I was fascinated by your experiment. Makes total sense. Take care
Sounds like a winning formula!
It would be a good idea to compare weight of seed taters to weight of harvest. Was the weight of the cut ones more or less than the whole?
I go by size, if my seed taters Re egg sized or smaller, I leave it whole. If it is larger, I cut it. Mine are just blooming, so I will know in about 6 weeks what I've got.
It's fair to assume that you'll use at least half the weight of seed taters when you cut them, if not more -- just depending on how many times you cut eat one.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the great content, I seem to learn something from every one of your videos
I appreciate that!
Being my 3rd yr of gardening I've been using my compost in planting potatoes in buckets so it work good this yr.
Great 👍
Space is time, so using cut potatoes may stretch your seed stock, but it'll still take twice the space and twice the harvest time. Cool experiment.
Y’all got any weights on the yellow tomato contest?
Had several posted on Instagram that were around 1.5 lbs
Hey Trav. Great job on the taters and looks like you had a good harvest from both methods. Ideally you will want to keep your compost bins watered a lot more. Best practice is to have the bins in a shaded area where they don’t get blasted by the sun and get dry. Microbes and bacteria need that moisture to thrive and to breakdown the organic matter. A good hot compost pile won’t have ants because the heat prevents them from setting up shop. One option is to add a simple tin roof over the bin area to keep the sun off. Keep up the great work and looking forward to Friday’s installment!!
I might go for a piece of cardboard on top for the time being as one commenter suggested. I do agree that a roof would probably be ideal.
The larvae in the second bin are black soldier fly larvae. Not only are they excellent at breaking down compost, but they are good chicken treats.
Regarding the Geobins: if you need a lot of capacity, you can hook two of them together using the keys to make a giant circle with more capacity than the two separately. I have two Geobins that I combine like this to handle fall leaves.
Might do that in the fall when we have much more material to put in there.
Interesting experiment. I wound up in a time crunch since I broke my ankle 3 weeks ago. I was doing an experiment comparing grow bags to laundry baskets. I decided after my little accident to just put in the whole seed potato instead of cutting them up. Good thing I did because I didn't get it all planted until Monday and by then, what was left was starting to go bad. So I kind of just started shoving them in the grow bags where I could with the soil I had (I kept running out and wasn't supposed to be lifting the big heavy bags of potting soil I had previously). The ones I planted over a month ago are doing great in the laundry baskets. I guess we'll see if it's worthwhile. I have no one to help me out besides a 5 year old, at least he can help pull my yard cart when I take the bags of soil to the backyard.
Sorry to hear about your ankle. Get well soon!
Did you just put the dirt in the laundry baskets or did you line the badket with anything .
@@teresak1732 I used paper grocery bags and recycled brown paper i got in packages. Then filled with dirt. Anything to keep it from coming out the holes.
I can’t wait to see how my potatoes experiment worked.
I would love to try those bins!! Seems like the way to flip compost. I have used Bins made of pallets and they were a beast to flip!
I use a garden fork to flip my compost, it works better at breaking up and aerating those clumps.
Wow, that black gold looks nice! I made compost for fun too. It's nice to experience something and to learn the skills.
Love the potatoe experiment we are talking about this write now .
Was just asking myself this question the other day, thanks for the video
Glad to help!
Thanks for the data!
Quite informative. Great experiment. Thanks for your efforts.
Thank you!
Good Saturday Mornin' Everyone!!!! Got taters in the bucket. My favorite method of maintaining a sustainable pantry and stockpiling items long term for the whole family and the family dog and the family cat is what I consider to be the most practical, utilizing every type of food storage methods and technology available, both old and new. . Except for the fruits and vegetables that get canned, I keep perishable items like meat, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products in the refrigerator on a short term basis until I'm ready to use them for a big family meal - and for even longer term sustainable storage, a large separate freezer, which can store a half side of beef with plenty of room left over for homemade ice cream etc. . I'm considering upgrading to a walk-in freezer at some point.in the near future, if my plans to open a bed and breakfast come to fruition. Sometimes, however a nice round of cheese can do well for quite awhile on a pantry shelf at room temperature - and doesn't mind even if it has to stand there alone.😁 Store bought canned goods get shelves.in the large pantry closet - several for canned meat like corned beef hash, spam and sandwich spread and another for canned vegetables Bread, rolls, grains, homemade pasta, cereals and the like are stored in special humidity controlled bins I order from Amazon Prime - which usually get delivered to my doorstep about an hour after I order them. . Stuff from the family garden and orchard, like onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, cucumber, pumpkins, carrots, corn celery,, potatoes and yams, cherries, blueberries and strawberries get canned in Mason Jars and stored in the cool, root cellar of this wonderful rambling former farmhouse (circa 1867) I share with my extended blended family and several rambunctious dogs raised on table scraps from the some of the finest food from a plethora of sources both commercial and home based. . There's even a special separate "summer kitchen" which I converted to store butter and ice cream churns, pots, pans, utensils, extra storage containers, foil, bags, cutlery, and other meal related accoutrement. Out back in the woods, just beyond the big pile of wood I maintain all year, (for use in an antique woodstove I keep on hand, in case the power goes out) there's even an old rusting vintage still where my great grandfather made some of the finest corn whiskey for miles. Next to it is the rusting hulk of the Ford Model A he used to transport that powerful hootch by the light of the moon on soft summer nights to his eager customers in a tri-county area. Further into this verdant forest of mostly sycamore, oak, pine and scrub, runs a cool stream into which I occasionally cast a rod or net to catch some Brook Trout, Bluntnose Shiners, or whatever takes the bait (just earthworms for the most part). And yes, hunting season means wild turkey, deer, and even an occasional wild boar. Next week, I'm planning on filing for a permit to 3-D print a smokehouse in order to be able to create gourmet artisan handcrafted, beef, bacon, turkey, and beef stick jerky, which interested local merchants can private label for other people to share with their families and their family dogs. Unfortunately, i had to break the bad news to my free range hens today that due to expected egg shortages regretfully numbered are their days of laying a couple of eggs and then basically taking the rest of the day off with ranging privileges' within the parameters of a few very nice rural acres - parts of which are rich with fat grubworms. There's even a short dirt road between the main barn and the farmhouse which they're free to cross to get to the other side as often as they'd like. My rooster Ben overheard me and he ain't too happy either, knowing full well that due to oncoming egg shortages, he'll be "workin' overtime to make sure there's plenty of eggs for me an the family. Thank you Potato Experiment for allowing me to share!!!
Thanks for sharing Richard!
@@LazyDogFarm You're quite welcome. If there's one thing a farmer appreciates, it's the value of the soil.
Nice work on the potato comparison. Looking forward to the Kennebec results. My compost bins get loaded with worms...AFTER they cool down to ambient temperature. I added worms a few years ago but after that, they migrate from 1 bin to another all on their own. There is always 1 bin that is cool enough for them to take over. In my case, I think it's likely that most of the worms that are in there now are actually local native worms and not the red wrigglers I originally put in. All you need now is a compost thermometer.
Great video!
A compost thermometer would definitely help.
Very interesting, I like seeing real world results and information! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
I love Kennebec potatoes. The favor is second to none.
They’re definitely a solid variety.
I've got one of those cement slabs out by the front gate. It's a good ways from the garden & water though. When the compost gets aromatic, might help keep unwanted visitors from stopping by. :)
It would surely do that!
Love this!!! I can potatoes i need more at planting season!!
Thanks Sherry!
aaggghhhh, too many numbers. now i have a headache. lol
I put one large piece of doubled up cardboard on top of compost bin contents. Lift off to add more components and that seems to help compost from drying out too much Travis. Also keep some of our taters to plant out so don't bother cutting. Really enjoy your channel! 🌱👍
I have some big pieces of cardboard I've been waiting to shred, but I like that idea. Might try that.
good job on the compost
Thanks Poodle!
Great Travis 👍 as always thanks!!
Thanks for joining us Julian!
What an interesting instalment! I watch a channel from England called Castle Hill, Cliff uses whole potatoes but rubs out some of the sprouts to control potato size. I think he usually keeps three sprouts per potato. You are making more than enough compost to keep those round steel beds you are using happy and probably for your fig trees too!
Klaus
For sure! It will at least come in handy in the raised beds.
Thank you. I hope you do a planting trial with and without your compost when the time comes. Again, thanks for trying it. :)
We probably will.
Appreciated the results of you tater experiment. Thank you. The Taters I’m growing this year are German Butterball and Magic Molly (a purple variety). Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA - 6/1/2022.
Hard to hear German Butterball. Never tried Magic Molly.
Thanks for doing this experiment. I have wondered about this.
Our pleasure!
The concrete is hot and helps it breakdown a little quicker I’d imagine 😊
Best part about composting on dirt is that this year I had two free squash plants, and a cucumber plant, sprout from the ground around the piles. I will see what they are later on.
I had wondered how that tater test would turn out, thanks for showing the results. I planted both cut, and whole tater seeds, but not organized like you did. I figure to recover the seed tater, and see. We are a month behind you up here in zone 7.
Yeah you should be able to tell from the seed piece.
I put some rotten store bought potatoes in my in ground compost pike. Got a huge plot of potatoes growing in the compost. NO work needed. They just volunteered. Will harvest soon.
Love your composting system! I will definitely try it!! Good looking taters too!!
I think you'll enjoy it! If anything, you put less in the trash can.
Had tater time myself today; not as fun as watching your family do it.Followed your lead with the mustard and radish cover and my potatoes were perfect. Ran into underground bumble bees (didn't know there was such a thing) and it was hard work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Will always grow taters, mustard first.
Glad the mustard worked for you. Don’t know that I’ve ever encountered underground bees.
Many native bees nest in the ground.
A trick I found from professional potato breeders is put the knife you are cutting the potatoes with in a Lime Water solution to avoid fungal contamination across all your cuts. My own experience is don't cut the seed potatoes too small and to let the cut faces dry three days before tossing in the furrow: whole if small size, half if medium size, thirds if large size seed potatoes; just like you might do if boiling potatoes for supper.
I like that idea!
If you had a bagger for your mower you could add your grass clippings and leaves to your compost bins to up the compost volume.
True, although I'm not sure they make a bagger for my mower.
Boom! Math! Science! Love it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great information
I bought the bins after your first video and need to flip also. Glad you shared so I could see how easy it is. I hate fire ants so thanks for the warnings 🙏😎🏖🏝
Enjoy your compost flipping!
I use a pitchfork when I am flipping my compost bins, I think it is easier than a shovel.
I thought about using the pitchfork, but I wouldn’t be able to scrape the concrete with it.
I mostly planted whole potatoes this year, but not the same way you did. I saved all the green potatoes and little dime-sized potatoes as seed potatoes. I kept them in the refrigerator until about eight weeks before planting so they wouldn't dry out too much, and they were heavily sprouted by planting time. Any larger green ones got cut. The tiny ones took a while to get going and are still smaller plants, so that may turn out to be a disadvantage, but they have been growing decently. I'm in a colder winter climate than south Georgia, so I probably won't be harvesting for another month (planted in the first week of April). I also have some diploid potatoes growing from true potato seed, but that's a different story entirely.
We are planted tiny taters on our German Butterballs this year and have some massive plants. Hopefully the harvest will be too!
Thanks for the updates on taters and composting. I’d love to try composting. So enjoy your channel!😀🌺
Glad you’re enjoying it!
Thanks for the info you provide in your video. Where do you buy your red river peas and Sudan grass seeds thx..
Got them from Green Cover Seed online.
I did the same experiment this year. I have a four foot by sixteen foot raised bed. I planted two rows of cut and two rows of whole potatoes. They are not even close to harvest yet. I let you know the results when they are ready.
Definitely share when it’s all said and done.
Online taters = $5 lb (cheapest $3, most expensive $10) local seed & feed = $1 a lb, grocery store = varies wildly by type but on sale average 40¢ a lb. Honestly, I usually do all 3. There's are some varieties that I like to try that I can't find locally. And I always have a few taters that sprouted from the grocery store. My circle always loves when I have extra abundance. I plant way more than I can store. Zone 8b it's hard to keep taters from one season to the next. Plans are to eventually build a root/storm cellar. Maybe they'll keep longer in that. I have two of those geo bins. Only problem is if they're not full they fold in on themselves. Maybe they were designed that way to always keep them full. I have a usable 18" on the bottom for this spring! Always enjoy your content.
Well done. Thank you 😊
I’ve done some composting, but I just keep the waste in a pile and turn it with my tractor’s loader occasionally. …and I keep mine on a slab too, as moving it with the loader is easier on concrete.
Compost looks good! If I were you I would buy 1 more of the compost bins and leave it empty so when you flip out of one bin you can go into an empty one instead of taking it apart and you can continue this process with the others because you will always have an empty bin. You will probably flip more often with this system as well
Yeah I probably should add one more.
Great Video...
Tater variety for climate, spacing, soil type, nutrients, hills or mulched, weather and water all affect taters, water being on top of my list.
Since I usually save seed taters, I separate out the smaller to medium size taters as seed.
Something about the size of a jumbo Chicken egg.
I used to do double rows, but this year I went single rows and kept spacing at least 12" due to the fact I cannot irrigate.
In drier climates you may want to go 18".
Can never have enough taters.
Interesting you say water is most important for you. We find that taters are one of the least thirsty crops we grow. We usually have a much better tater year in a dry spring because leaf moisture is reduced and thus diseases are less prevalent.
@@LazyDogFarm Correct, Different climates and rainfall amounts. I'm in Northern PA and we are in a mild Drought this year and some of my taters are still sitting chitted in the ground with no growth above. This happened to us 2 years ago as well.
Yet anther reason to plant 2,3 or 4 times more than you need.
Very useful info on those taters. Thank you for the info
Our pleasure!
6:00 Marking this for future reference.
A lot of people playing farmer right now you should explain about healing
We talked about that a good bit back when we were cutting these in February at planting time. We don't put anything on ours after cutting. We just let them heal for 2-3 days prior to planting.
Blessings ❤️
As far as taters go, I prefer to cut them. I bought a 50 lb bag of Pontiac Reds this year, and I'd have only been able to plant about 2 or 2 1/2 thirty foot rows if I planted them whole. I got a full 5 thirty foot rows by cutting them. My budget is tighter than a gnat's a$$ stretched across a telephone pole, but I did manage to get one of those Geo Bins. I'm amazed at how fast things start breaking down in that thing!
😂 Glad the Geobin was a good investment for you!
I have always had the best success and results from whole potatoes and have never seen a difference in yield between large or small potatoes.
My best harvest has come when I must have missed small potatoes the year before and had a number of volunteers come up in the garlic beds that next spring.
I follow my potatoes with my garlic in the fall and added compost and cover with about a foot of straw or hay for the long cold winter of Northwest Minnesota so the missed potatoes were also well protected with the garlic all winter.
Each volunteer produced as much from one plant as I typically get from three to four plants.
So last fall I decided to intentionally plant some potatoes back in the fall and cover like I do my garlic to see how many come up and how well they produce.
If this works out as well as the volunteers did I will continue to plant in the fall when I plant garlic and just keep chasing garlic beds with potatoes and potato beds with garlic every year.
Been following potatoes with garlic for years now with great success.
Great video thanks for sharing
I compost on a big slab using a tractor loader where I turn it every week or so. I have a sprinkler on it to keep it wet, if it doesn’t rain.
Nice!
@@LazyDogFarm - I can’t imagine trying to turn it with a tractor on dirt. Also, if directly on dirt, it would definitely have weeds growing into it. Your way is perfect for small volumes. I mix mine with mushroom compost that I buy by the dump truck load. I can’t believe you have 8 plots and don’t have a compact tractor. But then again, I’m 60, and you…are ….
@@davidwho8215 37
Trees go crazy for homemade compost
Im a big fan of Diego Footers compost system for people who can't compost good.
I save my seed potatoes every yr. so I'll keep using whole potatoes but it was a good experiment.
Good plan if you have your own seed stock!
Good video I enjoyed it… thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
I made something similar to those bins with chicken wire and t-posts, but instead of compost I do a lasagna layer(hay and compost) and grow my potatoes in it to save ground space
I had rats dig up my potato slices so I think I will do something similar to what you described this time to protect the mounds from critters
I turn my compost at least once a week. I add water as I turn it and it gets pretty hot. Once it stops heating up, the worms take over and it's great. I started this pile in the fall with 8 large trash cans of leaves and some chicken coop litter. It will be ready in the fall, just in time to start the next pile.
I forgot to mention that we've added some chicken bedding in there as well. Figured it couldn't hurt.
Well in my opinion it's a gamble when you cut them because depending on the weather, they could rot in the ground. My family had a commercial potato farm and they had this issue before they stopped cutting theirs many years ago. They mostly did chip potatoes and bags as well.
It is a bit of a gamble, but worth it if you can keep things relatively dry after planting.
I did a Johnson Su last year. I found that the material on the outside doesn't break down. I sifted it and used what I could. Now I have 5 pallet bins. I don't have time to turn it. But anytime you move the outside to the inside, it breaks down faster.
Seems like ours might have been that way too. I guess the solution is just to turn more often.
Nice compost hack
My compost bins are made of pallets. Probably some 15 years old now. Not much left of them now. Time to redo them. I like the idea of these geo bins but the amount of openings around the perimeter isn't allowing the breakdown of the outer sides. Maybe not so many openings would help in this case. Will take a look at. Covering them up will allow things to heat up more and speed up the process.
I like you videos. I have used several of your ideas in my own garden.
You could always put a tarp or plastic around the outside to keep it insulated more.
@@LazyDogFarm And that would work as well. Thank you.
Just looked these up on Amazon. $100 Canadian. Yes I'm up in Canada. I have a more cost effective method.
I have some drain board, what is used for waterproofing foundations. I can make that work along with some fencing wire.
QUESTION: I have a tremendous amount of small potatoes this year. Do they do well as seed potatoes?
Red potatoes
Yes they will! Those make perfect seed taters!
Great video. Have you seen the accidental 70lbs from peelings put in a compost pile? The guy from UK that knows a lot about potatoes is where you can find that video.
I have seen that video. I had some sprout in my compost pile last year, but the heat got them. Probably works better in the UK where the climate is milder.
This year due to time constraints and taking care of my wife with her knee replacement, I needed to put mine in the ground so I planted the whole potato. We will see the results in May. My potatoes last year from cut pieces I found were small-med ones. So I will see the difference this year.
I just planted my first 'cut' potatoes last month. Been planting whole in 4 gallon pots for over a year and average what I planted. Hope this 'cut' method works better
IMHO composting systems work best with as little "system" as possible.
Just pick a spot in the yard out of the way and pile everything up. Flip occasionally (or don't, who cares) and leave it alone over winter.
Dig out the black stuff from the bottom to top dress your beds next Spring, you're set!
Hey Mr Travis. Did you ever find out what was going on with your tomatoes?
Haven’t lost anymore since the temps cooled a little and we got some rain. We’ll re-address it on Monday’s video.
@@LazyDogFarm awesome. Looking forward to it 👍👍👍
Your compost operation is looking great. That concrete pad is the perfect spot! You shouldn't need to unwrap the Geobin. You should just be able to pick it up and move it to another spot. Love the tater experiment. I cut my large seed potatoes and leave the small ones whole, but I should probably pay more attention to how many eyes each has. I love Wood Prairie. All of the varieties I got from them have grown well. I even got a good harvest of russet potatoes, both Caribou and Butte Baker, and russets supposedly don't do well here (zone 9A). I'm looking forward to hearing what your favorite variety is.
If I had to pick one variety, I’d say the Baltic Rose is probably my favorite from this year.
@@LazyDogFarm Thank You. I'll have to remember that for the fall. I may forget the variety, but I won't forget to come back to your video before I place a fall order!
Hi Travis,
I’m a first year potato grower I zone 6B.
Should I pick the flowers off the plants or leave them be? Thanks in advance
We picked the flowers this year after reading a study about it improving yields.
can you pull the compost plastic container off with out taking a part ?
You might could. But I wanted to show the ease of disassembling then if necessary.
I’m about to get some rain for the next 4 days. My yukon gold potatoes are not really dying back. Should I pull asap?
If the plants still look good, I’d leave them.
I pulled the biggest one. Definitely to early.
Love the science!
How'd you keep critters from getting in the compost bins?
🐈 and 🐕
What did you coat or treat the cut edges of the potatoes with? Or did you?
We didn’t put anything on them. Just let them heal and scab over for a few days.
@@LazyDogFarm Thank you, then I did right just letting them dry up a bit.
Definitely too hot for worms out in the sun like that. I'm using worm bins made from 3 stacked plastic storage bins kept in full shade. The bottom serves to collect worm tea and the top two rotate every couple months. I'm making probably 5 gallons of worm casting every couple months from scraps from the kitchen and 4 - 4x8 vegetable beds. Also for every gallon of water that filters through the upper 2 storage bins, each gallon gets thinned with 5 gallons of tap water to make a worm tea that I use on any plants around the garden, especially if they seem to be struggling. Started with 500 red wiggler worms bought on line 3 years ago. Many more now. They seem to like eating out of the garden as much as we do!
I need to figure out a way to conserve the "tea" that runs off from the bottom of mine during a good rain.
Those bins are so big, you need something the size of a kiddie pool! If you put those bins in the shade of your woods and on the ground, it wouldn't take long for mother nature to provide worms for free. Then put it in some kind of reservoir to catch the tea after you've collected all the worms you need. I've read that red wigglers are the best for making compost, but if you can attract nightcrawlers into you bin, you might accomplish the production of castings, tea, and have a free source of bait for fishing. No respectable fish would ever consider taking a hook for a lowly red wiggler!
Interesting. I guess it is worth the effort to cut them up as you will get more plants. I will definitely have to do this in the fall. How close would be the closest that you would plant them together?
I have 2 of the Geobins. They work well. My only issue with them is that nothing is flat in my yard so they only hold their shape as well as you level them.
We usually space the cut taters 8” apart, but you might could get by with 6” spacing.
@@LazyDogFarm That works for me. I have about a 12'x12' "potato field". I may just try cramming as many in as possible with knowing that the ones in the middle will sit until the outside ones are ready to harvest.
Bro...great video.
Great looking tater you harvested!!! I always enjoy your experiments 👍🏻.. ✌🏻
Thanks Mark!
The Georgia Red Wiggler (Eisenia foetida) is the worm you'll want. No need to buy them online 'cause they'll ship out of Georgia anyway. Many worm breeders sell red wigglers for composting and African nightcrawlers for fishing. Your favorite bait shop should be able to help locate a local worm breeder. They'll stay out of the hottest part of the compost pile and feed around the cooler margins. Keep 'em moist. Try a pound per bin to start. 800-1000 wigglers per pound.
Thanks Mark!
An old farmer told me once that taters and squash need a massive amount of phosphorus. He used 0-40-0. Here in Northwest Florida, you can't buy high phosphorus fertilizer anymore. The farm supply stores say the state is telling them not to sell it because of our soil type. It is too hot now for growing taters. However, I just bought some 0-46-0 from Amazon and plan to do a micro experiment heavily fertilizing taters in one tote with 0-46-0 and treating the other with regular 10-10-10 or liquid fertilizer.
As for worms, I do vermiculture and vermicomposting. It is 1000 times easier than composting. You do need a quality red worm breed...cause not all breeds are the same. Plastic drums or plastic water storage containers (the kind that is reinforced with a metal cage) work wonderfully. The pitfall is pests, shade, and acid levels. So, I make sure my worms have shade at all times and I invest heavily in ant poison at the base of my bins. Everytime I feed the worms, I pour a good dusting of egg shell powder. They break down the food faster if you break down the food into a paste or slurry...but it isn't necessary. A drain line is needed for excess water drainage. Keep that drainage fluid...it is liquid gold as a fertilizer. Also, vermiculture is difficult for many because most people don't realize worms need a thriving biome to live. So, you just can't toss a bunch of worms in a compost bin and expect them to live. You need at least 20% bedding material to food in order to start a new colony of worms...50-60% is preferable. The beauty of worms is each cocoon/egg usually has about 4 worms. Practically, every 90 days the colony will double in population.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’d like to have a worm farm one of these days.
@@LazyDogFarm just start small. Make a small worm tower with 5-gallon buckets. It'll take a year or more before the colony will need to expand out of the bucket with about 200 red worms to start with. Make your mistakes early when the scale of the colony is small enough to be affordable should something go wrong.
Have you tried planting potatoes in March? We are zone 8b here and Everyone I know plants mid to late February plantings except my father in law said he planted some one year in February and some in March and the March potatoes did better. So I did the same. Mid February and mid March. My mid March planting I pulled only two weeks later that my mid February planting so they got two weeks less growing time but my March planting grew much bigger potatoes and a lot more weight. I didn’t weigh them but it was obvious. My theory is the frosts we got stunted them even though I covered them . I’ll plant February potatoes again but my main crop will forever be planted mid to late March because that’s what my father in law does. 😀
I have planted them in early March and done just fine. Just depends on the weather. Some years it's too wet in mid to late February, and our planting gets delayed.