Just so you know, on Photobucket...use the HTML one (the 3rd option down I believe) and the photo should show up right in the post.

Thanks!

Here's the first pic:

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The second:
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Long time before those potatoes are ready to die down.

One thing you see a lot around here are posts from people who dig their potatoes too soon. Very rarely that they've waited too late.

Exactly. Increase the water and fertilizer and it will breath new life into them. I grow potatoes in wooden containers also, and they need tons of water. If you revive them, they will grow for another 2 months. Mine did that last year, they just needed more watering. I'm growing potatoes in 2 ten gallon containers, and they can drink almost 2 gallons of water per day per container. I also use MG liquid at 1/4 strength in every watering. My plants are almost 4 months old and still have at least another month to go.

So I followed your advice. I upped the water a ton and gave them a good boost of fertilizer. It hasn't helped. In fact, I have one plant which is dead!

The others still look similar to the picture.

I planted my potatoes with straw mounding. Would it bother the other plants too much if I dug up the dead plant's potatoes? Or should I just leave them there until I'm ready to harvest them all?

If the plant is dead the potatoes will rot if the ground gets wet. I'd dig those for new potatoes - they shouldn't be so close together that you'd have to worry about disturbing other plants.

You potatoes are looking lots better than mine - of course I haven't watered in a week (got rain Friday and Monday and expecting more today).

When did you plant them and what variety are they?

I would not water those plants. Looks like they are in the natural process of dying back. More water will introduce the possibility of rot. You may "steal" some new potatoes, and then wait until the plants completely die back to harvest. Monitor rain water and if you get days of deluge... harvest immediately to head off the possibility of rot.

Thanks, guys!

They're Bintje potatoes. I put them in in May. They grew like weeds!!!

I'll pull them out this weekend. No forecasted rain until god knows when. But I'll keep an eye Out.

You guys are super helpful!

You're not supposed to pull them all unless you intend to use them. The plant dying is natural and as far as I know you're just supposed to let it happen, and the potatoes need to stay underground for a couple of weeks after the plant has completely died to cure or they won't store well. Someone who knows more may want to correct/verify this, but I wouldn't just rush to go pulling them until someone does.

I only suggested pulling those potatoes for new potatoes b/c if she waters too much they could rot. The rest can stay til the plants die.

Of course, I don't know how that variety is for new potatoes. If you don't water you could just leave those too to cure. Hopefully someone here has grown that kind (or you could do a Google search) to find out how many DTM it is and whether it is a "new" kind or a "storage" kind.

I intended to pull them and dry them in our basement for a while. Would this constitute a "cure?"

I only figured I'd pull them all because of the straw on top of them. ANY moisture they get will be amplified because the straw closest to the earth is already rotting/turning into mulch.

Can't I just pull the potatoes and dry them for a while in my basement? It's pretty cool down there and dry. How do you cure a potato so its skin can withstand storage?

Gotta cure away from light but in humid cool well-ventiated space. Not sure the basement qualifies? If you could pull the straw away from the dead plant but make sure the potatoes are covered so they don't get exposed to light it's best to leave them in the ground a couple of weeks. Suggest you do a search on "potatoes cure"

Fertilizer does nothing for potatoes after they are planted.
Too much watering can bring on hollow heart, it is best to water HEAVILY once, rather than continual small waterings.

I have tried most ways of non-container planting over the decades and found it is best to plant approx. four inches deep in soil in a trench, and then cover with mulch.
It is not good to have decaying mulch in contact with the potatoes though that also depends on how clean the mulch is but they seem to last longer and get larger if they are in ground, even a little.

Unless you really have to dig, best to just leave them lie and quit watering them.
Throw a little more mulch on to keep them cooler, and water only if even the mulch bottom gets crunchy which I had happen in one part of my garden and that caught me by surprize as we have not had it as dry as they have east of here.