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?
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I'm seeing elsewhere in the thread that it's the potato fruit that's toxic; the taters themselves remain delicious (once grown)
You planted a potato. You had plans.
Plans to see what happened with the progress of time. I definitely had no plans involving any particular expectations
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"? 😂
Well, it's not that I didn't expect it to grow so much as I had zero expectations
You arent aware how best vegetable aggressively grows, with or without your help?
Goddamn eldritch horror, but don't worry. I still manage to kill them somehow. Like othera have said, you're gonna need to cover it in soil.
LOL this pic was my inspiration
Buddy saw an incomprehensible eldritch terror covered in sightless eyes, yearning for life, stretching myriad limbs in every feasible direction and said I gotta have one
Congratulations! Actions have consequences! Now you're the proud parent of a baby potatoe plant!
Thank you! I am taking the advice of this thread and will ensure that it lives a happy and healthy long life.
Get a 5 gallon bucket, put a few inches of dirt in the bottom, and transplant your potato plant into it. When there is no chance of frost, stick it outside in a sunny spot. As it grows higher, keep adding more soil, until it reaches the top.
In the fall, when it starts getting cool, dump it out and sift through the dirt for the spuds.
If you planted a potato expecting it not to grow, you've clearly never had a potato in your pantry start sprouting.
It wasn't so much that I didn't expect it to grow, as I had zero expectations, and so my expectations were surpassed :)
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.
Potatoes, tomatoes and nightshade are all related species, yep. Tomato is the odd one out for not having poisonous fruit.
To be more specific, potatoes and tomatoes are nightshades. Eggplants, too.
Don't forget peppers! Hot peppers are my favorite nightshade.
Congratulations you have discovered agriculture
INFINITE FOOD GLITCH!!!! UNPACHED 2025 [GONE WRONG]
Let's see, next I'll build a granary, worker then settler.
Just... one... more... turn...
Go for animal husbandry first so you can see the horse resources
Potatoes are next level though. Or the most basic level. 🤷🏻
I planted a bunch of red potato chunks in some tilled dirt. BAM! Quintupled what I put in with zero effort. Next time I'll mound them up properly and get a year's supply off 4 or 5.
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.
Maybe they watched The Martian and wanted to test the scientific accuracy.
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‽
I saw a picture of a potato Eldrich horror (posted elsewhere in this thread) and figured I should give the potato a home
A potato is much happier as vodka as indicated by common potato lifecycle charts.
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.
Lmao
What did you expect? Kittens? A diamond?
Omg are kittens an option? :D
You'd need to plant a kitten for that. At least that's what I'm concluding from our very small sample size, I'm not a scientist.
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.
Interesting, thank you!
Life, uh, finds a way.
You can grow potatoes easily in five gallon buckets. Just put layer of soil layer of Cut up potatoes, layer of soil, layer of potatoes, and voila, free potatoes.
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.
It looks like a vigorous potato, I hope you can find a place to put him outside
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.