Spud-tacular Potatoes

From its humble beginnings in the Andes Mountains of Peru, the potato has become one of the world’s staple foods. Baked, fried, mashed, or stuffed - you name it, and people will eat it. The average American consumes 126 pounds of potatoes each year. Sounds like a lot until you hear about the 745 pounds per capita consumption in Belarus!

The potato is a great vegetable. It is rich in protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin and Vitamin C. And by selecting the right colored varieties you can add antioxidants.

Varieties commonly grown in Mississippi include: ‘Red LaSoda’, ‘LaRouge’, ‘Superior’, ‘Atlantic’, ‘Norchip’, ‘Kennebec’, and ‘Yukon Gold.’ These all have white flesh except ‘Yukon Gold’ which is buttery yellow.

If you want to be the star of the potato patch this spring, plant some ‘All Red’ which has red skin and red flesh. ‘All Blue’ has blue skin and blue flesh. These plus some of your white-fleshed varieties will make a truly patriotic potato salad for the Fourth of July picnic. These specialty potatoes will have to be ordered.
January through early March is the best time to plant in Mississippi. You can also plant them in the fall if you can get seed stock. Potatoes prefer loose, loamy, well-drained soil. Planting in heavy clay can result in a bumpy looking potato. Plant your potatoes on a raised bed that is 12-15 inches high to prevent damage during heavy spring rains. Most roots and all tubers will develop at the same level and above the level that the original seed potato was planted.
Buy certified disease-free seed potatoes from local farm supply stores or through mail-order catalogs. Do not use potatoes from the grocery store (unless they are organically grown) because they have been treated with a chemical to inhibit sprouting. Cut the seed potatoes into 11/2 to 2 ounce seed pieces with at least one ‘eye’ on it. Store the cut potatoes in a warm spot for a few days to heal over the cut surface.
Plant your potatoes in a trench 10-12 inches deep with the seed pieces 10 – 12 inches apart and cover with 3-4 inches of soil. As the plants grow taller, gradually fill in the trench with soil around the plant. Some gardeners prefer to cover with straw mulch instead of soil. This makes harvesting easier. Each potato plant will produce 2-4 pounds of potatoes.
Potatoes are a cool-season crop and grow best when the day temperatures range from 60-65 degrees and night temperatures are between 45-55 degrees. Tuber production will stop when the temperatures exceed 85 degrees.
Harvest at the appropriate time for the type of potato you want. ‘New’ potatoes are harvested in May while baking potatoes are harvested sometime in June. Use a spade or fork to dig up the potatoes. Immediately use any injured potatoes before they rot. Store the good potatoes in a cool (40-50 degree), dark, humid place. Remember the old-fashioned root cellar. Store the potatoes in the dark because light will cause then to turn green and make them inedible.
It is still cold at night but the soil is warm enough to get potatoes growing. Make the effort to grow your own potatoes and be the envy of the neighborhood. If you need more information, contact your local extension office, or search www.msucares.com for Information Sheet 1507, Commercial Production of Irish Potatoes in Mississippi.

Protecting Your Plants from Freeze Damage

Most established and, especially, adapted plants, probably will not be affected by this cold spell except may be in coastal counties. It has been cool to moderately cold in the more northern areas of Mississippi, so adapted plants have fairly well hardened off. However, the temperature during a freeze, when it occurs, and for how long it occurs are all factors that gauge how damaging a freeze will be. If we have a really prolonged duration of freezing conditions, this is when the most damage will be done.

Protect plants that are in containers either by placing them inside a protective structure (house, garage, greenhouse, or shed) or by placing a protective covering over them. Container plants are especially susceptible to cold temperatures because their roots are above ground. Roots that are damaged by cold temperatures may not show immediate signs of damage, but these plants will show signs of stress when temperatures increase.

Push together container plants that are left outside and mulch or cover them to decrease heat loss from the sides of the containers. Wrap the base of the containers in plastic, burlap, or blankets to reduce heat loss.

We have not seen weather this cold in the last 20 years. There have been a lot of plants established in areas marginal to their cold tolerance. Two that I have seen are frequently planted are palms and assorted citrus trees. There are varying degrees of cold hardiness among citrus tree with kumquats and satsumas being some of the more cold tolerant. The temperatures that are being predicted will injure even the most cold-hardy of these without some form of protection.

The same can be said about some the palms planted along the coast. Even the most cold tolerant of them can be injured by temperatures in the mid-teens.

Some things you can do to help all plants during this cold spell is to apply mulch to the roots to insulate them. The mulch will also keep winter weeds under control and reduce the need to water the plants. If the soil around your plants is dry, water thoroughly. Remember, as water freezes it gives off heat.

For plants such as small citrus or small palm trees, you can build a frame over the plant or plants, cover with plastic, and seal plastic to the ground with soil. This plastic traps moisture and warm air as it radiates from the soil. It also knocks off the cold wind. Be careful not to allow plastic to come in contact with plants or damage will occur at the points of contact. Put an incandescent light bulb in the enclosure if temperatures in the teens are forecasted.

If you only drape material over a plant to protect it, make sure the cover comes all the way to the ground. Blankets or tarps are better than plastic, but anything is better than nothing. Again, foliage in direct contact with the cover might be damaged but the plant will be saved.

If the plants are too large to build frames, place Christmas tree lights (not the LED type) in citrus trees or around the trunk of palm trees. You could also used water pipe heating tape to wrap trunks. If you can protect and save the trunk of citrus trees, they will grow back. Palm trees are more difficult to protect since their growing point is in the tip of the tree.

Another option for citrus tree is to spray them with water during the freeze period. Especially coat the scaffold branches with this freezing water. An ice-coated citrus tree is a sight to behold! You will probably lose a year of production but you will not have to replace the tree.

After the freezing event it is best not to do anything for a few weeks. Allow enough time for a freeze damage to show up in the plants. You might even wait to new growth starts in the spring. This is early January so there is a lot of time left this winter for more freezes.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

According to one report I read, 33 million Christmas trees are used every year in the United States. What do we do with all of these trees after Christmas when they no longer have any use? The answer is simple: recycle. And I do not mean to simply put them in the garbage.

Almost all municipalities will pick up or have a place to discard Christmas trees. Hopefully they have a program to utilize rather than destroy the trees. If you live in the country, you will have to solve the problem yourself.

But before you begin the recycle process be sure to remove all lights and ornaments. However, if you used "natural" decorations, such as strung popcorn or cranberries leave them on the tree to provide food for birds and animals.

Here are some ways you can recycle your Christmas tree and keep it from going to overflowing landfills:

Make mulch - If you have a chipper, run the tree through it. The chips make great mulch and smell good while being chipped. You can also simply cut off the boughs and place them on the ground like a blanket to protect plants that are susceptible to wind or cold damage, plants that are marginally hardy in your area, and plants that might come up early and be nipped by a late spring frost, such as fall-planted pansies or flowering bulbs. Retain the trunk for a use I will tell you about later.

Save it for wildlife habitat - Move the tree in its stand outdoors for the winter or tie the tree to a post, where it can provide food and shelter for wild birds. Even better, put the tree near a bird feeder or hang bird treats from the tree.

The trees could be used as artificial fish attractors in ponds, lakes, or coastal areas. Be sure to tie a weight to the tree to keep it from floating and sink them in an area 4 – 10 feet deep. The sunken trees provide a place for small fish to hide. Snails and aquatic insects grow here also to provide food for the fish. When used along the coast, erosion is also reduced.

If you are in a hurry, a simple alternative way to dispose of holiday trees is to use them as wildlife cover in fields and forests. Besides birds, rabbits and other small animals could use them as shelter during winter months. The trees will eventually decay and be recycled naturally.

Turn it into a trellis – That trunk you saved after removing the branches can be set up in your garden as a trellis for peas, beans, or cucumbers. I guess you could even use it to make a “bottle tree.”

Reuse your tree any way you can. Remember it took 5 – 10 years or possibly more, depending on the species, to grow this tree. Do not waste all of Mother Nature’s time for a few weeks of your pleasure.