Category Archives: olla irrigation

Potatoes by Olla or Not – Here is the Answer!

Posted on September 4, 2010 by jkmcintyre


In the last post I compared potatoes watered by olla vs hand-watering. I found that I got similar yields, but higher efficiency using ollas (pounds/seed).

How does using ollas compare to my control plot in 2010? Check it out: Continue reading →

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Digging Potatoes II

Posted on September 2, 2010 by jkmcintyre


On Aug 14 we dug the Red Sangre potatoes in the olla bed.

Red Sangre Summary

2009: Planted April 11, harvested Sept 4, 9.5# from 12 seeds, 0.8 #/seed
2010: Planted April 16, harvested Aug 30, 9.75# from 6 seeds, 1.6 #/seed

Compare this with the russett results from July 27: Continue reading →

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Digging Potatoes

Posted on July 28, 2010 by jkmcintyre


The first olla experiment has come to a close. The potatoes I planted April 16 grew to tremendous heights, then withered, and died. Time to dig.

We discovered 7 pounds of smooth russet potatoes near the original depth of the seed potatoes. So, it was an early setting variety. In contrast, late setting varieties will continue to produce potatoes up the stalk; if you continue to bury the plants, you’ll get more potatoes. For my early setters, the extra mounding probably did more harm than good Continue reading →

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Control Plots for Ollas

Posted on May 30, 2010 by jkmcintyre

They won’t be perfect. I planted the control plot of potatoes one month later than the olla plot. And the control cucumbers were inside the house for an extra week, where they got a head start on flowering. It won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in cucumber, olla irrigation, potatoes | 1 Comment