April 1, 2011 Planning out the Planting Chart for Test Bed #1
The Great Rare Potato Grow Out Project begins!
April 2, 2011 Planting the potatoes in Test Bed #1
The first Test Bed of potatoes is planted under 4″ of Happy Frog planting mixes.
April 24, 2011 All the potatoes in Test Bed #1 have sprouted
It took three weeks before we had all the different varieties sprouting in Test Bed #1.
May 9, 2011 A second 8" tall frame is added to the Test Bed #1
A second frame was added to the Test Bed and filled in with more planting mix.
May 19, 2011 3rd 8" frame is added and potatoes are hilled again
The tallest variety so far is called ‘Toro Dude’ at ~28″ and the ‘Satina’ variety is close behind.
May 19, 2011 'Toro Dude' is preparing to flower
Flowering may indicate the end of setting stolons to form potatoes. We will continue to hill the potatoes until the first flowers bloom.
Guisi Potatoes Topped out at 4' 8" tall
My charming 6-ft even husband volunteered as the human yardstick. The tallest variety in Test Bed #1, as measured on June 29th, was one of the four the white-flowered ‘Guisi’ plants. We will try to get more precise when we dig the vines, but for now we are calling it 4′ 8″.
From Dirt to Dinner 
Your potatoes look great! I have only grown fingerlings and regretting I have none this year except for volunteer ones.
Thanks for the updates! Great guide for me next year what to grow in our area.
My potatoes are about a month and a half behind yours. They just sprouted about five days ago. I decided to plant them about a foot apart. In years past I’ve planted them 6 – 8 inches apart. I’ve heard that more room makes for more and bigger potatoes. I’m planting banana fingerlings. How far apart are yours?
Test Bed #1 is 25 sq ft and I planted 16 potato seed pieces in there so they are ~18″ apart. Test bed #2 is planted at 12″ apart and Test bed #3 is probably closer to 10″ apart. In bags last year with California White potatoes I got better yield and bigger potatoes from one potato per bag: http://bit.ly/geMMjk But maybe the fingerling varieties won’t need so much room?
My wife thinks I planted them too far apart, especially since I had some leftovers. I guess we will see. I can tell her that some of yours are even further, but that fingerlings may need less space.