When I first posted about planting potatoes, I fully intended on posting regular updates on how things were going, especially since I chose a rather unusual container to plant them in (home-sewn burlap sacks). It’s been two and a half months since then and so far the results have been mixed.
Initially, my homemade bags worked wonders: water drainage was good and the plants looked quite healthy. When planting potatoes, you’re supposed to periodically cover the leafy plant with additional amounts of dirt. (I’m sure there is a good explanation on why potatoes should be tended this way but I’m not sure of what it is.) I was worried the burlap bags would be difficult to unfold and unstable when fresh dirt was added. And of course there was always the looming threat that one of the bags would just split apart.
We hadn’t seemed to have any problems until one fateful day when Nate decided that one of the bags looked off-kilter and decided to straighten it. The seam ripped and dirt spilled out everywhere. I have to say that I’d be lying if I said that things weren’t tense between us for a few minutes there! He rigged something up so that hopefully the plant can continue growing and so far it looks like it may make it through. We’ve also noticed that the bottoms of the burlap bags have deteriorated significantly. If we were to move them, all the dirt (and potatoes) would fall out the bottom. Thankfully, they are just fine where they are!
That hasn’t been the end of our potato problems, unfortunately. The past few days have been unusually hot around here, pushing 100 degrees F. The excellent drainage that was such a bonus in the Spring has not been doing a great service to the potatoes in this weather. The plants are visibly dry and wilted but, short of watering them constantly, not much can be done. One plant died out completely; we checked the soil to find a handful of little Russian banana potatoes, so things are going as planned in that direction!
