I need help with Fingerling Potatoes. I have 10 that have come from Burpee. The instructions on their website is nothing for Fingerling, just regular potatoes. So, I looked around the net and saw some cut them up but most plant them whole but they should have some eye growth on them to do that, right? They have nothing. Maybe two have some little bit at their ends but I'm not at all sure that is the start of new growth.
I'm going to plant them whole but what do I have to do before that since there are no eyes producing growth?
I have worked today to fill black pots with potting soil mix so I can transplant plants from the greenhouse. It is sunny and gets hot when one is working but this is nothing compared to what it will be so the pots have to be done now. I have many more pots to fill.
Aha! The seeds I planted last Monday in Espoma seed starter are coming up already. I knew they would in that starter. I have two types of sunflowers peeking up and Homemade Pickle cucumbers breaking through the soil. I really need those T squash seed to hurry up and grow.
The first squirrel appeared yesterday. As a result, I had to cover everything with net and spent time trying to separate a huge mound of netting. I finally got two large amounts folded and ended up tossing a mound of net that would never be untangled. I must have ordered an amount to cover the entire world. Plants are to the left and to the right on the deck and both sections are now covered with net. I have some metal plant support stakes and stuck a few of those around under the net to hold the net above the plants. I got those especially to do that as the metal is thin and will stick through the small holes between the planks on the deck to hold them up.
Since the under the roof deck has been cleared I have room out there for two people to sit and have room to move around, I ordered a Craftsman work station, not large but with a top to work on and shelf underneath to hold the various tools I use in the garden. I had them on the dining table out there but that wasn't great to have tools facing you as you sat there. Plus, having no real place to put something meant I couldn't find what I needed at the time I needed it. I spent 15 minutes today looking for the scissors I use out there. When that station gets here, that will be the place for my garden tools.
If you have planted Fingerling potatoes, please tell me what to do with these in order to plant them. I am at a loss right now with those.
Ok. I planted some fingerling potatoes about a month ago. Here’s what I did. I put them in in a bright spot (but not direct sun) for several days. Then I looked for the eyes. Many fingerlings won’t have more than 2 or 3 eyes per potato. Need at least 2 on each seed piece. On potatoes that have 4 or more eyes try to divide them up as evenly as possibly wrt the eyes leaving as big a chunk of ‘potato’ with each set of eyes as you can. Next I took a dinner plate, put several layers of paper towels on it, and then put the cut potatoes on the plate and back in the bright spot for 2 or 3 days. Then Planted them just like regular potato planting.
As of right now I have pretty close to 100% germination from the pieces I planted. These weren’t ‘seed’ potatoes either but some I got at Kroger. YMMV.
I haven’t ever planted fingerlings. However you need to take potatoes out of the sack and let the eyes sprout. Cool temps of 40-50 degrees are desirable.
It will take about 2 or 3 weeks for the potatoes to be ready. If sprouts are visible, then a little light will help speed up the process.
With my fingerlings, if it has distinct “knobs” to it that are longer than an inch and a half each, I cut it between the knobs. Otherwise I plant them whole.
(With mine, the eyes are just tiny dots, so they can be hard to find.)
I would put those fingerlings in a brown bag and stick it in your pantry, you should see some eye growth and could plant then after that. I would not plant them without any.