Over Wintered Seed Potatoes

I grew quite a few potatoes last year and was very pleased with them.  I ordered the seed potatoes from Eagle Creek. I thought I would try overwintering some of them to see if I could use my own potatoes as seed potatoes.  These potatoes are in perfect condition.

I harvested them later in the season and put them in a sandwich bag that I cut slits in. I stored them in the vegetable crisper drawer of the fridge .

 I still ordered a good supply of seed potatoes from Eagle Creek this year as I didn't  save many potatoes and wanted to make sure I have plenty for this year's garden.

These ones were harvested a little earlier but my mistake with them was that I had them at room temperature for a couple of weeks before I put them in the basement where it is about 15C. I stored them individually wrapped in paper towel inside an empty cereal box.  They were fine until February when they started to sprout.  They are quite shrivelled at this point but the shoots look fine so I planted them today in the garden.  Next year I will store all the potatoes saved for planting in the fridge. 

I was pleased at how well the home grown potatoes lasted.  Even the ones stored in the kitchen were firm with no sprouts in December. I had also parboiled, diced and frozen some of the potatoes and that worked well.  We had some just recently.  Very tasty fried up with some butter.  

 Plants I started inside are being hardened off.  The lettuce in the green pots will stay in the pots. I have found that three lettuce plants can grow quite nicely in an 8" pot if you fertilize them. This way if we get a sudden late frost I can bring them back in the house.  I planted some seed in the raised bed today so they will be ready when the potted lettuce is finished. The deck faces east which is perfect for hardening the plans off as they get the morning sun but not the stronger afternoon sun.

Spring Indoor Blooming Plants -Rose, Bougainvillae, African Violet, Orchid

In January, I bought this 4 plant pot of miniature roses. When I brought it home, it had a couple of stunted blooms and a few buds.  They all proceeded to fall off as well as many leaves.  This usually happens when you bring a greenhouse rose from the grocery store into your home. All the changes are just too much for the plant.  However,  I fertilized it with Miracle Grow- Ultra Bloom (15-30-15) liquid fertilizer and now it is blooming nicely with lots of new growth.

It is a bit floppy but that could just be the lower light on a windowsill as opposed to being outside.  I am thinking of putting a couple of the plants in a hanging basket with other plants for the summer.  In the fall, I will plant the four plants in the ground as they do not make a good permanent houseplant.  They are supposed to be hardy to zone 4.  In the past, I have had miniature roses that lasted several years in the garden.

Crazy bougainvillae.  It bloomed as it usually does in February.  After a time, the blooms fell off as well as quite a few leaves.  OK, I thought, now it needs a rest.  Well, no, it started to put on new growth and after a shot of fertilizer it is blooming again. Lovely bright pink flowers which dry beautifully.

 

A friend gave me this violet last fall.  It has been blooming constantly since January.  I had it close to a south window for the winter and now I have moved it back a bit so it doesn't get scorched by the strong spring sun.  

This lovely orchid blooms reliably every winter.  The flowers last for weeks.  When it is flowering, I feed it once a month with liquid fertilizer.  I always water it with rainwater or distilled water. I give it about 1/4 cup of room temperature water once a week.

The kalanchoe of my last post in January is still blooming. I have taken cuttings so that hopefully next year I will have even more kalanchoes in bloom.  Such an easy plant to grow. It's quite happy for the soil to dry out but can also handle a decent watering as long as it doesn't stay wet over a significant period of time. Just not fussy at all.

Spring is cool and rainy this year so having the indoor plants blooming is especially nice.