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Vegetables & Fruits

Information about growing edibles.

Vegetable Gardening: Time to Plant Potatoes?

March 11, 2020

St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally a reminder that it is time to plant potatoes (although anytime between March 15th and April 15th is fine in Western North Carolina). Another link between potatoes and the Irish, however, is the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s—the late blight that caused that catastrophe is an important reason to think carefully about potato plantings. What are the pros and cons of growing your own?

Potato eyes

What potatoes want
Potatoes will grow well in the ground—and even in containers—in WNC if you give them:
• Fast-draining soil
• Full sun
• Slightly acid conditions (pH from 5.5 to 6.5)
• Keep them well-fertilized—don’t overdo nitrogen fertilizers or you’ll get more green foliage than tubers—10-10-10 or 10-20-20 are usually fine!
• Weed regularly.

Choosing varieties
Potatoes have a relatively long growing season—at least 70 days, and as long as 150 days from planting—and plants likely potential yield can be as low as less than one pound per plant! Even high yielding varieties produce only 3 to 4 pounds per plant, so consider how much time and space you are willing to devote to a crop that is readily available at local markets.

In NC, varieties recommended for home gardens include ‘Kennebec’ (high yield, main season), ‘Red Pontiac’ (high yield, late season), and ‘Yukon Gold’ (medium yield, early main season)—all of which store well.

Container planting

How to plant
Purchase seed potatoes, rather than potato seed—which will take much longer to produce potato tubers. Only certified seed potatoes are guaranteed to be free of disease, so do not risk introducing disease into your garden by using potatoes you purchase for eating! Seed potatoes may be whole potatoes or potato pieces that have “eyes”—indentations from which the plant foliage will grow. Your seed potatoes should NOT be shriveled or have sprouts before planting.

• Cut seed potatoes into pieces that weigh about 2 ounces—ideally with two or more eyes.
• Plant these pieces about 3 to 4 inches deep and about 12 inches apart.
• If you choose container planting:
o Use at least a five-gallon container with drainage holes.
o Plant 3 to 4 inches deep, but start with soil only 8 inches deep
o For larger, wider containers—such as bushel baskets—plant more than one piece about 8 inches apart from each other.
• Hill up earth around garden plants and add soil depth to container plantings once the stems grow 4 to 6 inches tall. Continue to hill up/add depth as the plants grow.

Colorado Potato Beetle Egg Mass
Colorado Potato Beetle Larvae

Concerns
Insect pests—aphids, Colorado potato beetles, and flea beetles—may damage your plants’ foliage and affect your harvest. Seek out and destroy Colorado potato beetle eggs and larvae to avoid total defoliation!

Diseases are a much greater risk for your crop—and the long-term health of your garden. Potatoes may suffer from fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode-introduced diseases. Although planting certified seed potatoes and rotating the place you plant potatoes each year may help avoid most diseases, late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is a disease that is devastating to potatoes, and may impact tomatoes, too!

Late Blight on Potato

Potatoes late blight lifecycle
Late blight can survive year-round only on plant material, so late blight typically only begins affecting plants in our area once it moves north from frost-free areas in the south. Unfortunately, if you leave infected potato tubers in the ground, late blight may overwinter here and then infect your tomatoes earlier in their growing season. Although it may seem easy to remove all tubers from the ground, anyone who has grown potatoes will know that it is very easy to miss tiny tubers that will sprout again the next spring.

Bottom line: to avoid the risk of introducing late blight into your garden, think carefully about planting potatoes!

Article by Debbie Green, Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

For more information:

De Jong, H., J.B. Sieczka, and W. De Jong (2011). The Complete Book of Potatoes: What Every Grower and Gardener Needs to Know. Portland, OR: Timber Press.

Potato varieties grown in NC:https://ncpotatoes.org/varieties/

Potato late blight: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/potato-late-blight

General advice about vegetable gardening: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening

 

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Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags colorado potato beetle, container gardening, garden planning, late blight, potato plants, vegetable gardens

Soil Temperature: Know Before You Plant

February 17, 2020

This time of year I get anxious to plant my vegetable garden. I look out at the sunny days and think that I should be working in my plot; but sunny, warm days can be deceiving! I need to take a step back and consider other important environmental factors before I begin.

Soil temperature is probably the most critical indicator of when to plant. I have found out the hard way that seeds do not germinate—and transplants won’t grow—if I plant when the soil is too cold.  A soil thermometer is now an essential component in my gardening toolbox.

Soil Thermometer

Factors that affect soil temperature measurement:

Time of day

  • Soil temperatures tend to be coolest between 6 and 8 a.m. in the morning, so use temperatures at this time as a guide as for planting early season crops.
  • In the heat of summer, soil temperatures are highest between 3 and 5 p.m., so use temperatures at this time as a guide for planting late season crops.

Depth of thermometer

  • Take soil readings for seeds at a depth of 1 to 2 inches.
  • Take soil readings for transplants at a depth of 4 to 6 inches.

How to measure soil temperature:

  • Push the thermometer into the soil to the depth of planting.
  • In dense soil, you can use a screwdriver to make an initial hole to the right depth to avoid bending your thermometer.
  • Follow the directions that came with the thermometer as to how long to leave the thermometer in the soil to get an accurate reading.
  • Record the temperature and then move it to another part of the garden.
  • Record measurements from 3 to 4 different places in your planting plot.
  • Take soil temperatures daily for a few days and average the temperatures to be sure your soil is the right temperature for planting

Soil temperatures vary for each type of vegetable plant!

Greens_Billtacular_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0_Flickr
Arugala and mixed lettuces

A list of soil temperature data for some vegetable seeds’ germination:

  • Lettuce: minimum 32℉; optimum range 60 to 75℉
  • Peas: minimum 40℉; optimum range 65 to 75℉
  • Snap beans: minimum 60℉; optimum range 75 to 85℉
  • Pumpkins: minimum 60℉; optimum range 85 to 95 ℉

If you check the soil temperature rather than the air temperature or only the calendar date, you can increase your chance of your seeds sprouting and thriving!

Article by Bob Wardwell, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

Interactive Soil Temperature Map for North Carolina: https://climate.ncsu.edu/map/

Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination:

https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/files/164220.pdf

Range of possible planting dates: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/western-north-carolina-planting-calendar-for-annual-vegetables-fruits-and-herbs

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Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags early planting, garden planning, seeds, soil temperature, spring planting, vegetable gardens

Warm Season Vegetables: Just Because They Are for Sale Does NOT Mean it is Time to Plant Them!

April 25, 2019

In late April, walking through the garden section of many stores you’ll see tomato, pepper, squash, and cucumber plants for sale. Does this mean it is safe to plant them now?

Freeze Dates: Data on last spring freeze dates in Western North Carolina are critical to the survival of the warm season plants. In this region of the state, tomatoes, peppers—and often cucumbers and squash—are grown from transplants, not direct seeding.  Immediately after planting, they are exposed to the see-sawing air temperature fluctuations that occur during this time of year.

Frosted Leaves

The dates after which there is only a 10 percent chance of a spring freeze (32° F) based on data collected by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1981-2010 for selected locations in Buncombe County Western North Carolina are:

Downtown Asheville          April 27

Asheville Airport                 May 4

Fletcher                               May 7

Black Mountain                  May 11

Swannanoa                        May 12

Bent Creek                         May 13

To be safe, then, Buncombe County Extension Master GardenersSM recommend not planting these crops in the ground until Mother’s Day each year. For your specific location and the weather forecast for any particular year, you may choose to plant earlier or later!

If you do choose to transplant earlier, be prepared to provide some type of frost protection when the temperature is expected to go below 36° F.  Techniques for frost protection include covering growing beds or rows with a floating row cover (supported by stakes or wire to keep the material from directly touching the plants). Protect individual plants with plastic milk jugs with the bottoms removed, paper caps, or water-holding walls.

Floating row cover tunnel_Carol Jacobs-Carre_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0_Flickr
Floating row cover

We also recommend “hardening-off” to toughen up your plants before putting them into the ground. Gently stroking your plants a few seconds every day while they are still indoors is helpful. Starting about seven days before you intend to plant, on warm days place your transplants—while still in their growing containers—in the general vicinity of the garden in a protected area to expose them to your intended growing conditions. This is especially important for any plants grown under greenhouse conditions.  You will need to make sure they have adequate water and bring them indoors at night to ensure their survival.

Article by Bob Wardwell, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

Learn more:

Hardening off

https://polk.ces.ncsu.edu/2019/03/simple-but-necessary-hardening-off-vegetable-seedlings/

Western North Carolina Planting Calendar for annual vegetables

https://extensiongardener.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NC-Vegetable-Planting-Guide-1.pdf?fwd=no

US Normals Data (1981-2010) for Buncombe County Weather Stations:

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/orders/cdo/1712624.pdf

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Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags freeze, garden planning, tomatoes, vegetable gardens

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