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#1 2015-12-31 21:29:36
- SpaceNut
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- From: New Hampshire
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Potato
You can slice them and dice them, crinkle and smash, boil and fry them as a potato makes a meal....
We could have potato pancakes, breads with the crop that we can grow....
http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/potatoes/Pot … opment.pdf
http://www.westernagresearch.com/docs/T … tatoes.pdf
watch your garden grow page on potato
Early
Irish Cobbler (light brown skin; often irregularly shaped)
Norland (red skin, smooth, resistant to scab)Midseason
Red Pontiac (red skin, deep eyes)
Viking (red skin, very productive)Late
Katahdin (light brown skin; smooth; resistant to some viruses, verticillium, bacterial wilts)
Kennebec (light brown skin, smooth; resistant to some viruses, late blight)
And lots more varieties that we can bring....
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#2 2016-01-01 13:05:50
- Terraformer
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- From: The Fortunate Isles
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Re: Potato
Though we'll need some ketchup to go with them...
Potatoes and tomatoes are, I think, among the basic crops that we should be growing. Not just so we can have chips with ketchup.
I'd like to start developing a decent potato flour. Perhaps blended with corn flour? Not potato flour as it's presently done, which seems to be simply ground potato. Maybe just skinning them and drying out the starch, and then blending that with other flours to get something that can be used in place of regular flours (though obviously with some modification to the recipe).
The big problem I see with potatoes, though, is that they only have 700 kcal/kg. That's a lot of potato that needs to be eaten in order to get the calories you need, even if it's only half your diet. Hence my interest in getting rid of the water, and making a flour that could be used in other ways.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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#3 2016-01-01 23:15:19
- SpaceNut
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Re: Potato
I have not heard of hydroponicly grown potato but maybe the ISS can help with some experiments with them.
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#4 2016-01-01 23:40:01
- Void
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Re: Potato
Terraformer, you are a decent dude? Well in any case a decent person. Thanks for the memories.
Is it possible that the root of political science claims is to produce white collar jobs for people who paid for an education and do not want a real job?
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#5 2016-01-02 05:58:58
- Terraformer
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Re: Potato
Gnocchi can be made from potato, and used as an alternative to pasta. So we need eggs as well.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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#6 2026-03-12 14:23:19
- RobertDyck
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Re: Potato
Gardening Know How: Composting Potato Haulms: Can You Add Potato Tops To Compost
The term "haulm" is apparently one used in the UK, but not in North America. It refers to the stalk, stem, and leaves of the plant, not the tuber or fruit. Potato "haulm" has a problem: any green part of the potato plant has toxins. Sweet potato greens can be eaten as a salad, but definitely not greens from regular potatoes. However, "hot" composting can decompose the toxins so they are no longer toxic. On Earth, "hot" composting is often done by adding horse manure, because it produces a great deal of heat when it decomposes. Careful temperature control is necessary to ensure plant material composts at sufficiently high temperature to decompose the toxins.
Once composted, the greens have a lot of nitrogen, so make great fertilizer. But one technique to compost is "vermiculture", meaning raising earth worms. Earth worms eat the compost, leave "castings" aka worm poop. That's normally great for composting, but cannot be used with potato "haulm" because the toxins are toxic to worms, fish, mammals, everything. "Hot" composting grows bacteria that are not affected by the toxins.
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#7 2026-03-12 14:35:57
- SpaceNut
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Re: Potato
here is some more from AI question
The primary toxins found in the green parts of the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) are solanine and alpha-chaconine, which are glycoalkaloid poisons. These compounds are concentrated in the leaves, stems, sprouts, and green skin of the potato tuber, acting as a natural pesticide to resist insects and animals
Key Details About Potato Plant Toxins:
Toxins: The main toxins are alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine, which are found in much higher concentrations in leaves and stems than in the tubers.
Green Coloration: When potatoes are exposed to light, they produce chlorophyll (the green color) and increase production of solanine.
Health Hazards: Consuming high levels of these toxins can cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, and in severe cases, death.
Symptoms: Signs of poisoning include gastrointestinal distress and a bitter taste, which serves as a warning sign.
Safety Tips: Peel green skin, remove eyes and sprouts, and avoid eating any part of the potato plant other than the edible, non-green tuber. Cooking does not destroy the toxins.
That explains why we peel them..
Nice find
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#8 Yesterday 13:32:21
- RobertDyck
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Re: Potato
YouTube: 2 Square Feet Feeds a Family! Amish Potato Secret Revealed
Very useful video. Explains a "tower" method to grow potatoes. The video says this doesn't work with Red or Yukon Gold potatoes, but does work with Russet. The graphics have a few mistakes: audio says don't build the tower taller than 3 feet, yet the graphic shows 6 feet. And the point is to plant potatoes on the lowest level, then as the plants grow, add soil/straw mix. The mistake is the video at one point says you'll need 4-5 pounds of seed potatoes. But the point is to start with one layer, then as the plants grow add soil. Build up layer after layer as the plants grow until the tower is 3 feet tall. The plants will produce horizontal "stolons" that grow horizontal from the stem. Tubers (potatoes) will grow from the stolons. The purpose for adding layers of soil, is the plant will have roots that extend all the way down to the bottom of the tower, with multiple layers of horizontal stolons. Each layer of stolons producing tubers.
The video claims harvest will yield 40-60 pounds of potatoes. After experience, and using compost and straw instead of soil, consistent watering, and full sun, yield can be increased to 70-80 pounds.
Tower size: 2 feet diameter x 3 feet tall. For a round tower, that's Pi square feet area, but add room to walk around it.
One reddit post mentioned a catch. You have to be careful when adding soil/compost. Don't snap the plants. They grow super dense, so it's hard to add soil without snapping a plant. If you snap it, that plant is dead. So you have to add soil by hand.
reddit: Do potato towers actually work?
fine Gardening: How to Grow Potatoes in a Tower
This article claims 20 pound yield from a tower of the same size.
For Mars, this could be done in a greenhouse. I don't see this possible on a Large Ship. The fact it calls for straw and compost, rather than soil, makes it easy to do on Mars. It does require other crops. Compost is the non-edible parts of the plants, and food waste, left to rot in a composting bin. Food waste includes potato skins, carrot tops, anything trimmed off food when cooking. Straw comes from growing a crop of grain.
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