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Sometimes a moment in the
garden
lets us reflect on what we are thankful for. |
Before the hustle and bustle of Christmas,
Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to remember all the things we are
truly thankful for. From beautiful flowers to
bountiful vegetable gardens, or good health to growing families, whatever
you are thankful for, stealing a quiet moment in the
garden can be the perfect way to reflect and keep things in perspective. At
Kerby's we are especially thankful for each and every one of our customers.
Kerby's wouldn't be here without you.
Thank you for making Kerby's the place where you [connect with your garden]. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and remember that
planting a few beautiful flowers is a
great way to burn off some of those extra calories from thanksgiving dinner.
Happy
Thanksgiving,
The Kerby's Nursery Family
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In This Issue
Featured Plant
Growing Potatoes in Florida
Seed
Potatoes are In
Red Potatoes
Cool Season
Annuals are In
Pansies, Snapdragons, Lobelia & Petunias
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Growing Potatoes in Florida
Potatoes are delicious and a great side dish for every meal.
Follow these steps for growing great potatoes right in your backyard. In a
few short months, you'll be harvesting yummy potatoes.
1. Cut
Potatoes into Seed Pieces
- Seed potatoes come as whole potatoes. To plant, they first need to be
cut into seed pieces about the size of an egg, with at least two eyes per
piece. Small potatoes can be planted whole. After cutting, leave in a warm
dry place for a day or two to let the cuts dry. Before planting, you may
want to dust the seed pieces with Captan fungicide to help prevent disease.
2. Plant
Potatoes - Plant potatoes in a well drained soil mixture at a
depth of about 4 inches, with the eyes pointing upwards. We like to add
vermiculite or perlite to our soil mixture to make it nice and light. Space
potatoes about 2 feet apart. Water potatoes every other day at first, making
sure that they never sit wet. Adjust watering as plants grow. Fertilize
monthly with Kerby's 8-4-8 to encourage good growth.
3. Hilling - This is an important step for maximizing harvests. As potato plants grow
mound soil up around the base of the plants. This will encourage more roots to grow which leads to more potatoes. There are some cool methods for growing potatoes in old tires that
really lets you pile up the dirt and get lots of potatoes from just one plant. Typically the average plant will have 6 - 10 potatoes. Be sure to cover any tubers that come to the surface.
4. Harvesting - Red potatoes will harvest in 80 to 100 days. To harvest potatoes that will store well, you'll want to let
the tubers mature. Once plants have grown and flowered, they will die off. At this point, cover the potato plants with plastic to allow soil to dry. Leave them in the ground for two weeks.
Harvest by carefully digging the tubers up, but avoid damaging them. Wash lightly and dry completely before storing. Any tubers which are small and green should be discarded.
Potatoes store in a cool, dry place for months, so you can enjoy them well
into the summer.
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