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Growing Potatoes

Growing Potatoes

Written by: DeAnthony Price

People love eating potatoes, and farmers love planting them. Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is a known date for planting potatoes. This tradition goes back generations. Potato planting time in North Florida is during the coldest months of January to February, although February 14th is a popular planting day. The taste and texture of homegrown potatoes are far superior to those of store-bought spuds! Garden potatoes also provide a bounty of nutrients. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a member of the nightshade family. This cool-weather vegetable typically yields bigger crops in the northern portion of the U.S., however potatoes can be grown as a winter crop in warmer climates.

Potato Varieties

The most popular and successful varieties grown in Florida are based on yield, disease resistance, quality, and adaptability to warm climates. These varieties are white-skinned potatoes ‘Yukon Gold,’ ‘Gold Rush,’ ‘LaChipper,’ and ‘Sebago’, and red-skinned varieties ‘Red Pontiac’, ‘Red LaSoda’, and ‘LaRouge.’ For russet varieties, home gardeners can select varieties that mature relatively early (100-115 days), such as ‘Russet Norkotah.’ Exotic potato varieties are fun and interesting to try since these varieties are hard to find in supermarkets. They are often smaller, taking less time to cook, but are also very colorful, which can increase the nutritional content. Potatoes with bright orange flesh have more carotenoids, and those with red pigments have more anthocyanins, both having health benefits. Other fun varieties include fingerling types and varieties with blue/purple flesh. The ‘All Blue’ potato has deep blue skin and flesh and produces blue flowers. Certified seed potatoes are ideal and can be found at your local feed store or garden center.

Golden and red potatoes
Credit: C. Christensen

Planting Prep: Before Planting

The seed potato needs to be cut into the size of an egg, with at least one eye per section. They must be dried in a cool, dark place for a few days. Plant the sections in a 4-6 inch deep trench that receives full sun, with the cut side down and sprouts facing up. Potato plants are heavy feeders and need nutrition through the growing season. To determine what kind and quantity of nutrients to apply to the soil, get the soil tested by a qualified laboratory. Contact your local Extension office for local fertilization recommendations. Apply a 10-0-10 fertilizer at 7.5 pounds per 100-foot row, both at planting and again 3-4 weeks later, by side-dressing fertilizer about 4-6 inches to either side of the plant.

Growing, Harvesting, Storage

Potatoes are ready to dig in about three months. Since potato tubers push up above the soil surface, the soil needs to be mounded around the stems as the plant grows. Tubers exposed to the sun turn green, making them inedible. Remove the tops 2-3 weeks before digging to “toughen the skin.” After harvesting, potatoes need to be kept in a cool (60-65 degrees F) dark place for 10-14 days to allow any damages to heal. Move them to a final storage location with high relative humidity, good aeration, and cool temperatures (38-40 degrees F). Washed tubers should be allowed to dry thoroughly before storing. Under proper conditions, potatoes can be stored for 3– 6 months or more.

HS933/HS183: Growing Potatoes in the Florida Home Garden (ufl.edu)

Video: Palm Care After the Freeze

Video: Palm Care After the Freeze

Palms in North Florida suffered serious damage as a result of freezing weather in December 2022. As spring approaches, we will be looking to see if the palms will recover. Learn what to do now and what to expect from your palms with UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

Landscaping in the Panhandle of Florida: Opportunities & Challenges

Landscaping in the Panhandle of Florida: Opportunities & Challenges

Landscaping in the Panhandle of Florida comes with many opportunities and challenges in this diverse plant environment of coastal, flatwoods (aka pine woodland), sandhills, and clay soil areas running adjacent to the Alabama/Georgia lines.  Sandy soil is the predominate soil of the panhandle area from coastal saltwater marshes and brackish bay waters to wetlands and drier well drained quartz sandy soils of the sandhills.  Unique ecosystems can be found in all these areas.  One of the areas with the largest plant diversity is the Longleaf Pine savannahs found in the sandhills.  Now comes the question of landscaping decisions for your residential living. 

Native landscape plants. Photo Credit: Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County.

Understanding your soils and how to improve them where you live is critically important before putting the first plant in the ground.  We live in an area of abundant rainfall and this will impact the chemistry of your soils.  Make an appointment with your local horticulture agent at the University of Florida IFAS Extension office in your county to discuss your soil and landscape ideas.  Taking soil samples will likely be needed. With instruction you can easily collect the samples needed to be sent and received to determine the best options. 

With abundant rainfall, leaching of key nutrients will occur removing base cations that can include potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and others.  This all leads to soils being more acidic in nature.  Nutrient resources may need to be added and checked every 2-3 years, just be sure to follow the soil sample recommendations.  Soils near wetland areas can leach differently than the deep quartz sandy soils of the sandhills.  Adding organic amendments is a recommended practice.  Just how much will depend on your soil setting; talk with your horticulture Extension agent.  Often new homesites and commercial construction areas have soil brought in to raise or level construction locations.  Understanding the movement of water through these newly added layers to the existing soil below will determine drainage and nutrient movement within this site.  It can be confusing making decisions about adding soil nutrients, lime, and organic amendments. 

Challenges in new soils in landscape. Photo Credit: Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County.

Once all this is settled you can start thinking about how to enjoy this wonderful Panhandle outdoor living opportunity.  Creating living spaces comes in many ways from building patios, porches, decks, outdoor kitchens, and strategically places chairs and benches.  Talk with your family and others who may enjoy these places with you.  Gazebos or barbeque grill areas may be in the plans.  Placing these into the landscape takes planning. Draft designs and think of creative solutions for the site.  Look at the site elevation changes from high areas to low wetland areas.  Will you need “No See Um” screen for the porch to keep out the small insects or install ceiling fans to keep the breeze moving? 

There are many questions to be asked. Create a list to be addressed before beginning a project and then determine the cost.  Enjoy the adventure!

Supporting Native Wild Bees in the Florida Landscape

Supporting Native Wild Bees in the Florida Landscape

This article was written by: Joanna Jaramillo Silva1, Rachel Mallinger2, Xavier Martini3

1 Ph.D. Student, University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology

2 Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology

3 Assistant Professor, North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology

Bees are the primary pollinators of plants, essential in natural and crop environments for guaranteeing global food security to the human population. Florida is home of more than 300 species of native wild bees, which rely on pollen and nectar from flowers to survive. However, a global pollinator decline reported for honeybees and wild species (including insects, birds, and bats), is decreasing the worldwide provision of pollination services. Food limitation (pollen and nectar), resulting from decreasing flower diversity and quantity, is one of the multiple causes of pollinator decline. Pollinator-friendly plants are receiving attention from people of various disciplines such as the scientific community, stakeholders, Master Gardeners, and citizen science groups willing to participate in pollinator conservation efforts.

Domestic gardens

Domestic gardens comprise a substantial proportion of land in the urban landscape and are often the most significant component of green space; they play essential roles in conserving plant genetic resources, insects, and other wildlife, and have social and economic value. Gardens behave as islands of usable habitat surrounded by urbanization, and they present varying benefits for pollinators. There is generally a positive relationship between high pollinator abundance, flower diversity, and bloom evenness. Gardens for pollinators propose to solve the pollinator crisis by enlarging greenspaces in urban areas by planting more flowers in urbanized environment and by improving the diversity of floral resources for pollinators.

Pollinator friendly plants

There are different categories of floral traits: qualities that attract pollinators such as floral size and color, and physical characteristics that reward the pollinator (nectar and pollen quantity and quality). Flowers with higher quality and quantity rewards are more attractive to pollinators. Nectar provides the main sugar source for insect pollinators; its energetic value is determined by its sugar concentration. The volume of nectar produced by flowers will directly affected visitation by honeybees and bumblebees, butterflies, and birds. Pollen on the other side, consists of the main source of protein for most pollinators.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.                Provide a Mix of floral shapes and sizes.

There is usually a positive correlation between flower size and nectar volume: long tube flowers usually provide more nectar, whereas open or flat flowers provide more pollen. In addition, flower shapes are also associated with different pollinator types (Fig. 1). Long-tongued insects (Butterflies, and some bees) visit deep corolla tube flowers, while short-tongued pollinators (wasps, flies and some bees) remain on short tube or open corolla flowers.

Mixed Flower Shapes
Figure 1. Examples of plants with long tube flowers, short-medium, and open corolla flowers (From left to right: Butterfly on a Pardon my pink (Monarda didyma) (Credits: Joanna J. Silva); Carpenterbee on Salvia Indigo spires (Salvia longispicata x farinaceae) (Credits: Kelly Thomas); Sweat bee on Gaillardia pulchella) (Credits: Joanna J. Silva).

2.                Provide a mix of flower colors

Color patterns influence the flower’s attractiveness and increase the efficiency of pollination by helping insects orient on the flower and guide them to the reward (Fig. 2). Bees prefer white, yellow, or blue-purple flowers. Orange, pink, and red flowers attract other pollinators such as butterflies.

Different Colors
Figure 2. Examples of native plants to Florida that display different colors Native to Florida (From left to right: Butterfly on Spanish needles (Bidens alba), Tickseed coreopsis (Coreopsis leavenworthii), Sckullcap (Scutellaria arrenicola), Pitcher sage (Salvia azurea), Swamp Rose-mallow (Hibiscus grandiflorus), Carpenterbee on False-Rosemary (Conradina grandiflora), Spotted beebalm (Monarda puctata), Blanket flower or Firewheel* (Gaillardia pulchella) . Credits: Joanna J. Silva
*A recent discovery suggests that Firewheel is not considered native to Florida, but it is widely cultivated. It is probably not native to the rest of the eastern USA as previously thought (ISB: Atlas of Florida Plants (usf.edu)Gaillardia – University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (ufl.edu)).

3.                Include a pollinator hotel

Add a bee nest box for the native bees that build their nests above ground. Solitary bees and wasps will take up residence in a pollinator hotel after you place it outside. 

4.                Provide flowers throughout the year.

Pollen and nectar collection varies seasonally for honeybees, while many other solitary bee species collect pollen continuously during adult foraging to feed their larvae. Design the garden to have three or more different plants blooming at any given time during the growing season, which is March through November in northern areas of the state (Fig. 3).

Flowers Throughout the Year
Figure 3. Honeybee on Viburnum (Winter) (Credits: Joanna J. Silva), Honeybee on Salvia Indigo spires taking nectar (Spring-Summer) (Credits: Walker Bensch), False Rosemary and Muhlly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) (Fall) (Credits: Joanna J. Silva).

5.      Include native plants.

A “Florida native plant” refers to a species occurring within the state boundaries prior to European contact, according to the best available scientific and historical documentation. Florida is home to over 4,867 species of plants; 3,314 species are considered native of which 230 species are endemic.

6.      Chose the right plant for each location.

Success depends on using the right plant in the right place, especially by considering plant’s cold hardiness (Fig. 4). Plant selection for landscapers, nurseries, and gardens requires individual site criteria and an evaluation of individual plant performance under different environmental circumstances, such as water, soil, and temperature.

Figure 4. Hardiness zones in Florida (http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov).
Figure 4. Hardiness zones in Florida (http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov).

7.      Resources

Be on the Lookout for Crape Myrtle Bark Scale

Be on the Lookout for Crape Myrtle Bark Scale

Being a gardener in Florida is exciting. We have many plants to choose from and the weather is mostly pleasant but always seeming to surprise us. One disadvantage of living in such a place, in addition to having so many growing zones, landscape nurseries, and major shipping ports, is that invasive species that land in Florida don’t like to leave. One newcomer in the lineup of invasive pests is the crape myrtle bark scale (Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae). This invasive insect pest made its way from Texas and, as of a few weeks ago, the only Florida sighting had been in Santa Rosa County. Unfortunately, this pest has now been confirmed in Leon County. Landscapers and gardeners in north Florida should learn how to identify this pest and what options are available for control.

The crape myrtle bark scale, as the name suggests, has a pretty specific host – the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.). However, in the United States, this scale has also been found feeding on our native beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). Due to the widespread planting of crape myrtles, these should be the gardeners primary focus when looking for this new pest. If present on the tree, it is hard to miss. These scales feed on the bark and are a snow-white color. Being a scale, they produce honeydew that is then covered in black sooty mold. So, if you see a crape myrtle with black branches, look closely and you may see the white scales. If you crush these scales and they leave a pink goo on your fingers, then you very likely have crape myrtle bark scale. Of course, you can send a picture or sample to your local county extension office for confirmation.

Black sooty mold and white scales along the trunk and branches are a tell-tale sign of crape myrtle bark scale. Credit: Mark Tancig, UF/IFAS.

If you do happen to find crape myrtle bark scale in your own landscape, or one that you manage, proper control is important to prevent it from moving along any further. Since scales suck on sap and are protected by an outer shell, systemic insecticides are the preferred product for effective control. These include the neonicotinoids, such as imidacloprid (Merit) and dinotefuran (Safari). The larval stage can be controlled with a horticultural oil, sometimes mixed with another insecticide like bifenthrin (Talstar), however, this will not control the adults. Another option is to completely remove the tree and burn all of the plant material.

Excessive sooty mold has turned these branches black. Be on the lookout for crape myrtles looking like this to help identify crape myrtle bark scale. Credit: Jim Robbins, Univ. of Ark. CES. Retrieved from bugwood.

The crape myrtle bark scale can significantly reduce the aesthetic value of crape myrtles due to the black sooty mold that covers the bark. It is also known to reduce flowering and can lead to thinning of leaves. Since crape myrtles make up a big part of our managed landscapes, let’s all work together to scout for this pest and control it when found. If you have questions, please contact your local county extension office.

Difference in flowering due to crape myrtle bark scale damage. Credit: Jim Robbins, Univ. of Ark. CES. Retrieved from bugwood.

For more information, please see this UF/IFAS document and this Clemson website for more photos and control information.