ThrowawaySobriquet

Unintended Experiments: Peas and Terra Cotta (plus bonus taters)

https://lemmy.world/post/16385791

Unintended Experiments: Peas and Terra Cotta (plus bonus taters) - Lemmy.World

The heat is starting to climb, so the early season stuff is starting to struggle a bit. Looks like terra cotta beats plastic and big beats small. There you go, empirical evidence of a fact everyone already knew: plants prefer the expensive pots [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a8e526e1-7bf3-4ab8-ab48-ef2c6f29a9dc.jpeg] Bonus tater towers killing it. Love how well this is working out so far (we will revisit these words in some months)

Jun 10, 2024 at 4:12pmWeb
Show threadThrowawaySobriquetJun 10, 2024

Bonus tater towers killing it. Love how well this is working out so far (we will revisit these words in some months)

Show threadClay_pidginJun 10, 2024
What is a tater tower!? These look awesome.
Show threadThrowawaySobriquetJun 10, 2024

An attempt at vertical gardening with potatoes. A hoop of cattle fencing with a bit of landscaping fabric on the bottom to hold in a grow medium, then straw up as the seed potatoes send up the shoots

At the start of the season, I was excited to try a next step from potatoes the previous season that were grown in plastic tubs. Got a lot more than I was expecting, but also a lot of rotten potatoes since the drainage was bad

So, to remedy the drainage issues, here we are. I’ve since read a bunch of stuff about how towers are bad, especially for determinate potatoes (some are), so we’ll see how things come along

Show threadClay_pidginJun 10, 2024
I’ve never considered growing potatoes because I don’t have much space, and a crop of 6 potatoes doesn’t seem worth the effort! How many taters do you get from a planter that size?
Show threadIMALlamaJun 10, 2024

Not OP, but here’s what I harvested after growing potatoes in a 5 gallon home cheapo bucket with holes drilled on the bottom. They’re not particularly big, but it was somewhere between 3-5 pounds worth. The decision to grow a potato was very spur of the moment, not well researched, and last minute (I think we started it toward the end of June).

Effort to yeild ratio was very favorable. Other than adding a few inches of dirt every few weeks I didn’t so a thing to the plant.

Show threadClay_pidginJun 11, 2024
That sounds doable! Did you plant a potato with sprouted eyes, or what?
Show threadIMALlamaJun 11, 2024
Yeah, it was a potato that had spent a little too much time on the counter and had eyes forming. Like I said, it was a very spur of the moment decision.
Show threadClay_pidginJun 11, 2024
Seems like it worked out. Great job!
Show threadcallccJun 10, 2024
Damn, I really need more straw in my life.
Show threadThrowawaySobriquetJun 10, 2024
Best mulch ever in my opinion. Stays loose enough for carrots to sprout through, but can be laid on thick enough to grow potatoes. Then at the end of the season you can pull the top layer back and work in the rotten bits to feed the beds. Just watch where you get it so you don’t create a weed problem for yourself!
Show threadIMALlamaJun 10, 2024
Where do you buy it? I have no idea where to find it around me :(
Show threadThrowawaySobriquetJun 10, 2024

I usually will ask a client to order extra straw when they put in an order in and pay for the extra bales which I know is not helpful

Tractor Supply is a good have-to-have-it stop, but you can get it cheaper at feed supply or garden centers. A particularly helpful garden center or nursery might order some for you if they don’t already carry it

Go to your local farmer’s market and hit up a market farmer, ask around a bit. Failing that, Craigslist is still surprisingly useful and I still ain’t never been stabbed in the liver once

Show threadSchmidtGeneticsJun 10, 2024

Love it, do you water the smaller ones more though? They would dry out faster, the terracotta also provides an insulating effect as it has air pockets in it.

I’m curious if my cloth bag ones are gonna do better than my plastic myself, the air pruning they give the roots is supposed to be better than any hard shell ones, BUT they dry out faster so need more water. Tradeoffs with everything it seems.

What’s “heat” in your neck of the woods, springs barely made it, summers 2 weeks away and we are supposed to be 25c (77f) which is already bolting territory for a bunch of stuff if I’m not mistaken.

Show threadThrowawaySobriquetJun 10, 2024

I don’t. I do water my potted stuff more, but these guys are on the lines, so it’s equal across. I definitely should have considered that, but these were the pots I had when I was setting up, so we ran. Turned into a nice little advertisement for large terra cotta

Always trade-offs. The bags will absolutely dry out faster in my experience, but they do avoid anything related to drainage issues and hey, can’t beat how well they store. Still looking for one that can last as long as a pot, but they make a lot of sense in market gardens

Right now we’re getting mid-80’s (~30C) for highs, but by July/August, we’ll be flirting with 100 (37.8C) most days. My lettuce and broccoli are already bolting. Bout time to take a break from brassica til late July when I put down my first fall starts

Show threadSchmidtGeneticsJun 10, 2024

Definitely gives justification to get more since it works for your grow/life style haha.

I’m the other way, my pots usually break, they get brittle with hot cold cycles so I don’t like buying expensive ones, and I don’t want to store them indoor, garage at most. I do rinse them off, but still less critter chance the better.

Ughh that’s too dang hot, we average 25s all summer, but it’ll get up to high 30s sometimes. The shitty throng is, there’s like no spring as you’ve seen, so we could easily get mid 30s here in the next couple weeks even. So straight from winter into the fire, but those aren’t frequent atleast, and they typically bring afternoon thundershowers. The hail and other shits another story haha.

Show threadcheesymoonshadowJun 10, 2024

I worked at a garden center for a couple of years and I always recommended terra cotta to our customers, for both indoor and outdoor plants.

Terra cotta breathes well and helps counteract overwatering, which is the #1 killer of houseplants.

For plants outside, plastic pots, especially the black ones, tend to get really hot in the sun, essentially baking the roots of the plant.