2020-2021 Winter Potato Experiment

Over the winter between 2020 and 2021 I conducted a winter potato experiment. I found that Yukon Gold potatoes could be grown in Zone 9b over the winter, howbeit they don’t enjoy it much. That being said they did a lot better than I would have thought. The main concern that would take place is that the health of the foliage would decline over January and February. This is likely because of the minimal amount of light at that time of year.

 

 

 

For anyone who resides in a moderate climate where the yearly low hovers around freezing (between 30 and 32), I decided to try growing potatoes over the winter of 2020. I'm in Northern California Bay Area 9b. I began with organically-grown disease-free potatoes. For context, I planted into 3 different plots in different locations. I mainly grew Yukon Gold. So this is what I learned:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1: Potatoes can grow over the mild winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2: As soon as they are damaged by a light frost, the above-ground growth will stop, but the below ground growth will continue. On a related note, once frost damage has occurred, the potato tubers do not send out additional growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3: Squirrels leave the potatoes alone! (=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 4: If you have a sheltered area with lots of radiant heat in the evenings, you may be able to grow potatoes without any concerns. Though a few potato plants in my raised bed garden received a little damage, the majority are still growing. (The other two plots did freeze, but not a hard frost).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5: As a summer gardener, I plan to start my next potatoes in September/October instead of November/December.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps those of you who live in areas where you would like to grow potatoes, but have summers that are too hot to grow them.

Happy Spring

So, gardening in California is quite a bit different than gardening back in Tucson. For one, if I were to have left the ground the way it was (just dirt) it would have been completely unworkable because of all the rain we have been having. Unlike Tucson dirt (which has a high amount of sand in addition to its mineral content) the dirt around here is mostly clay. This means that the dirt compacts a lot more and is not workable as early in the season as sandy soil. Though the clay does have a lot of good nutrients, its structure does not make an ideal soil in an intensive garden bed.

My Garden in January

The Peach Tree in my front yard

Apple Blossom

Then, we have been blessed with so much rain. Because of the rain, I have been having difficulty with slugs and cool weather. The cool weather is always something I can find a work-around with but the slugs have been pretty difficult to combat. Because of all the rain we received over the winter, the spring pollen has been so intense that I have to use my windshield wipers to remove it in the morning – and my car is not under a tree!

My Early March Garden

Perennial Kale or Tree Chard

Finally, because I did mostly replace the native dirt with compost, the soil I am using in my garden is taking a while to develop. This means that the plants and seeds I put into the ground are slow to grow and require nutrients as well as native dirt to be tilled back in, along with time for the soil bacteria to take over the garden. It usually takes a while for a garden’s digestive flora to take hold, so I will be happy if I am here in a few years to see how wonderful the plants uptake nutrients.

Garden Mid-March

Lettuce and Marigolds - post slug

So, that is my update for now. I am truly grateful for the beautiful climate I now live in. At times, we are blessed a little too much. With all the blossoms my plants are putting on, if even 1/4 of them develop I will most likely have to pick a lot of fruit off my trees to keep the trees from breaking branches! In the near term, I am planning on trialing some determinate tomato varieties as well as growing the light Carosello Polisello variety this spring.

Garden in Late March

Growing Regular Potatoes in the front yard

I hope you get a chance to go outside and enjoy gardening this spring!

-Jay