What "soil contamination"?

Time for more dirt in that container.

Dave

One year I planted potatoes in my garden and it took 4 years to get rid of them. Is that what you mean by soil contamination? Yeah, keep 'em hilled. Looks like you really packed them in there. I can relate. It's hard not to overcrowd in containers.

This post was edited by edweather on Wed, May 22, 13 at 12:53

It is not soil contamination. You missed the tubers and left them in the ground. So they grew as volunteers. But then, if you did not want them, you could just pull them out.

I thought the soil area for next season won't be good for tomatoes etc.

I thought the soil area for next season won't be good for tomatoes etc.

What is that based on?

One can read all sorts of things about gardening but when you take just one thought out of context from a whole article or discussion then you miss the primary points of the discussion and usually draw wrong conclusions.

For example, some articles about crop rotation suggest alternating locations for potatoes and tomatoes because they are in the same family and may be subject to some of the same disease problems. However the disease they are referring to is Late Blight which, IF it develops, can over-winter on potatoes left in the ground and can possibly affect tomatoes the following year. That disease is rare and preventable.

So since most home gardeners don't have the space to rotate crops anyway, they solve the problem by amending their soil well during the off season with lots of beneficial compost, making sure all the potatoes are harvested and NOT left in the ground, and quickly disposing of any infected plants IF they develop.

This is only one example and an over-simplified one at that but you should get the idea that growing potatoes does NOT contaminate your garden soil. Thousands of gardeners grow tons of potatoes in their gardens every year with no problems of any "soil contamination" and grow tomatoes too. So if that was true then we'd all be in serious trouble.

Dave

seysson, I was only kidding about volunteers being contamination. Sorry, I should have put a :-).

Some people grow their potatoes in a totally separate garden to avoid contamination :-)

On a serious note, I never heard of anything about potatoes contaminating soil. I grow mostly in containers and recycle alot of my container medium into next years soil. So, yeah, we'd all be in trouble.

Ok, edweather. Got you.

I think you have over planted the container a bit. If I were you , I would nip couple small ones , or better yet pull them to give room for the rest. Too much foliage will use too much energy. There is always an optimum level both in potato and tomato foliage. Some gardeners prune their potatoes too. I have not done it but it makes sense to me. Of course the pruning concept can only be done on small scale home gardening . Otherwise it is not economical on large scale.

I have a row of about 10 hills, getting ready to bloom and set.

I'm growing potatoes for the first time this year and, due to lack of sufficient yard space, I decided to try the bag method. A friend if mine gave me a couple of her leftover garden soil bags and I used burlap sacks for the other two. They are all growing beautifully and I've really enjoyed watching how quickly they grow; it's incredible! :) Only problem I've run into is that I thing the bottoms of the burlap sacks are starting to rot because of all the rain we've had, so I'm going to have to fugue something out for that. Otherwise, This method has been incredibly easy and space-saving! :)
I only put two seed potatoes in each bag, so hopefully they'll have enough room to give me lots of yummy taters!

Digdirt: So, FAMILY rotation isn't nearly as important as GENUS rotation?

What about peppers and tomatoes? What are some diseases that may be passed on between those two?

Kevin

GG...can you just ring the burlap sacks with straw? Good looking potatoes. What kind are they?

Burlap is a bad idea for gardening, as you have learned. It seems all 'natural,' but it falls apart when it gets wet.

sweetquietplace - I thought about straw, but decided to put them up on some bricks instead... hope it helps. The left soil bag is red potatoes, the right is Adirondack Blue (my kids picked those out; should make for some interesting mashed potatoes!), and the two in the sacks are Yukon Gold. :-)

jonfrum - Definitely a learning experience! Won't be using those again! :-)

Digdirt: So, FAMILY rotation isn't nearly as important as GENUS rotation? What about peppers and tomatoes? What are some diseases that may be passed on between those two?

Briefly so as not to hijack this thread, my point was that crop rotation - be it genus or family - in the home garden isn't as vital an issue as it is for commercial growers and especially so when the soil is properly maintained. Maintaining a high level of beneficial bacteria in the soil via the addition of quality compost can cope with just about any contaminant.

As I mentioned, many home gardeners simply do not have the space/option of rotating crops and yet continue to garden year after year quite successfully in the same small area of soil. If rotation is possible then fine, do what you can. If not, be sure to use good soil practices.

The most common disease peppers and tomatoes share is Bacterial Spot. The bacteria has a very short life span in the soil and debris so using only disinfected seeds, removing infected plants, and good garden hygiene at season's end allows for follow-up crops in the same area.

Most of the common fungus diseases are also airborne and crop rotation can't help there.

Dave

Thanks Dave. Learn something new every day. :)

Kevin