Making Potatoes a Garden Priority

Feb 01, 2023

In the past growing potatoes has been a bit of an afterthought. Last Fall while thinking about seed I heard that seed potatoes may be short in Spring 2023, so I committed. Nothing like something being rare to motivate interest.

As it turns out United Potato Canada is reporting seed potato inventories on January 11, 2023 at 10.6 million hundred weight. This is 5.2% above the 3-yr. average and 3.5% over last year at the same time.

Glad I committed early though, to get the varieties of my choice.

Here are tips on growing your own potatoes this year from West Coast Seeds:

Potato plants are cool soil and frost tolerant (soil temperature 6 degrees C+)
Well-drained, loamy soils rich in organic matter are preferred
When the plant is a foot tall, “hill up” around plants with soil, straw or grass
No irrigation between planting and sprouting to avoid disease
Don’t let the soil totally dry out
Irrigate while plants are flowering

For more tips to grow, subscribe here and get Small Farm Canada delivered straight to your door!

Source : Small Farm Canada

Video: predictive weed Management saves on herbicide costs and increases yield potential

Gowan Canada is partnering with Geco Strategic Weed Management to help Canadian growers take a strategic approach to weed control through data-driven prediction and planning.

Geco’s technology uses data and AI to map where weeds have been over the past five years and predict where patches are likely to emerge next season. These insights allow farms and retailers to plan ahead and target actions in the most challenging areas.

“Our technology enables the question: if you could know where your most problematic patches are and where they are spreading to, what could you do differently? That’s what our technology makes possible,” said Greg Stewart, CEO of Geco. “Many of our farms are already using our prescriptions along with Gowan products, so this collaboration is a natural next step.”