It wasn’t my intention, but here it is. Still too frosty to plant outside but it’s getting bigger every day.

This also isn’t the best pot to have used for transplanting, I have a feeling this thing will be too big in a week.

Advice is welcome. No I won’t eat this potato, because it’s raw.

  • @[email protected]
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    29 days ago

    I have a feeling this thing will be too big in a week.

    The potatoe part isnt going to get bigger…

    It’s shriveling up and dying so it’s using all its stored energy in a last dying grasp for survival…

    You need to fully bury it, or chop off the bits where it grew sprouts and store it like a regular one till you plant it. Neither way is guaranteed, but they’re both better chances than exposed like that.

      • @[email protected]
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        529 days ago

        Probably.

        I mean, you should take the time to Google it if you want it to turn out well.

        But in general bury a tuber and it’ll grow. It’s basically just a root that stores crazy amounts of energy. They all evolved to have that part buried underground.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      229 days ago

      It wasn’t so much that I didn’t expect it to grow, as I had zero expectations, and so my expectations were surpassed :)

  • @[email protected]
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    1029 days ago

    I dropped a potato on the tile floor in my pantry and it ended up looking more aggressive than this. I’d say they like it rough. Pull it’s hair a little bit and talk offensively about it’s mother.

  • make -j8
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    2429 days ago

    Potatoes grow without dirt, nor water , by just laying around in the fridge. You put one in the soil and “didn’t expect it to grow”? 😂

  • @[email protected]
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    29 days ago

    wtf do you mean, you fucking planted it xD of course it growing was your intention, unless you didn’t know that plants grow when planted, which I wouldn’t believe you even if you said it.

      • @[email protected]
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        329 days ago

        Yeah, but I mean your intention was still “lol this is so stupid, let’s see if this shit will grow”, maybe subconsciously or something. But maybe I’m just being autistic and that’s just what you wanted to express by “lying” about your intentions, I sometimes forget that’s how people communicate.

        Sorry in any case, carry on, have fun, love you :)

      • @[email protected]
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        329 days ago

        Yeah, potatoes don’t give a flying fuck. Literally just drop them on the ground and half ass cover them in straw and they’ll grow.

  • @[email protected]
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    429 days ago

    I’m not a potatologist, but it seems like it should be fine to let it grow in there for a couple more weeks. It’s happy there, and that’s the main thing.

    Then transplant it to a big bin/pot/raised bed or the ground outside. If it’s root bound just cut down on the sides of the root tangle and detangle them a bit before planting. Put a big clear plastic tub/tote over it at night if it will be frosty.

  • @[email protected]
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    629 days ago

    If you want to get some actual potatoes from that you’re gonna need a much bigger pot. Also you want the potato to be like… six inches underground.

  • @[email protected]
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    4129 days ago

    Potatoes form underground but they can also flower and make fruit. The fruit looks like a little tomato. My advice is to not eat the fruit; it is toxic.

    Also, it needs a way bigger pot to make more potatoes.

  • @[email protected]
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    3429 days ago

    I am curious what your intentions were for a potato that you planted that wasn’t supposed to grow?

    I ask because it might help formulate a plan if we can determine your intentions and expectations.

      • @[email protected]
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        629 days ago

        This raises even more questions! Did they poo in that pot? And still, if they didn’t intend for it to grow, why did they put it in soil‽

        • @[email protected]OP
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          829 days ago

          I saw a picture of a potato Eldrich horror (posted elsewhere in this thread) and figured I should give the potato a home

  • @[email protected]
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    328 days ago

    Been a while since I kept a garden but if I remember right you have to keep piling dirt on top (after transplanting of course). I put mine in the ground then set a cardboard box around it, adding dirt inside the box as it grew. The dirt needs to be loaded and loose for the potatoes to grow. Maybe this method was just to make harvesting easier. I recall something about the potatoes being toxic if they grew in sunlight?

    • @[email protected]OP
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      228 days ago

      I’m seeing elsewhere in the thread that it’s the potato fruit that’s toxic; the taters themselves remain delicious (once grown)

  • @[email protected]
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    329 days ago

    If you want to pollinate it to collect seed (debatable if that’s a good decision), use an electric toothbrush. The pollen needs the vibrations of a pollinator to be released.