How a Potato Plant Grows. Pictures Speak!

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ZELNG 21 August 2009 How a Potato Plant Grows
Potato growing test box was opened today. The pictures literally speak for themselves. Clearly there is no advantage in carrying out excessive hilling when growing potatoes. The purpose of hlling is to insure the tubers are covered. For comparison one Pontiac Red was dug in the same row, which was almost identical to the test box potato in appearance.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?PotatoS Summary: Potato Test Box

[Chris H]

I didn't get back to the garden until last evening to get the pictures of my potato plant I dug last week. We've had several rains and the one stem I commented about having new stolons up the stem of the plant with potatoes beginning to grow has new leaves peeking from the ground from those potato buds. I didn't want to disturb the plant, so no pictures of it.
However, there were two potato plants in that hill. (I was in a hurry when planting and cut the potatoes as I planted. I leave two eyes per piece when doing this.) Anyway, I examined the second plant and noticed small potatoes had begun to grow from two stems that had been half covered during the hilling process. You will notice them in the left center of the pictures. The largest potato is dime sized. I don't know if they would have developed into useable potatoes if the conditions were right. In this case the potatoes had just been in the ground just over two months and this plant was showing some leaf curl.

I tried to post pictures but I need 15 posts before I can do that. You can find pictures in my album named 'Chris H'

[Chris H]

Finally enough posts to post a picture!
The potato leaf stems in the left center of the pictures show where two stems had developed stolons with small potatoes beginning to develop. The largest was only dime sized.

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Chris H

Finally enough posts to post a picture!
The potato leaf stems in the left center of the pictures show where two stems had developed stolons with small potatoes beginning to develop. The largest was only dime sized.

We will have to improve on that before submitting to National Geographic.

[Chris H]

Haha, definitely! But I'm anxiously waiting until the rest of plants have died down to dig them! I will have my camera in hand.

[Durgan]

http://lifehacker.com/5202849/grow-1...-4-square-feet

Have a look at his science fiction nonsense.
Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet. Indeed?
This monkey never grew potatoes in a container.

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QHBIN 21 August 2009 How a Potato Plant Grows
There is a great deal of information on the Internet about growing potatoes in tires, boxes and indicating that large quantities of new tubers can be produced with high vertical hilling. Often some article accompanied with a doctored picture indicating massive amounts of potatoes is shown. The view propagated is that potatoes grow from branches all along the main stalk. This is utter nonsense, as the pictures indicate. New tubers are formed around the seed potato and always slightly above it.

My potato growing test box was opened today. The pictures speak for themselves. Clearly there is no advantage in carrying out excessive hilling when growing potatoes. The purpose of hilling is to insure the tubers are covered, since light affects potatoes producing a green appearance, which is an indication of solanine, which is harmful if ingested in large quantities.. For comparison one Pontiac Red was dug in the same row, which was almost identical to the test box potato in production.