Hello - I have a question for experienced vegtable gardeners - the potaoes I harvest last year were fine but when I boiled them - they turned really mushy - I needed double the amount to make a bowl of mashed potatoes - what would have caused this as I don't want to make the same mistake this year?

With new potatoes you dont have to boil them as long as store bought. They really are best if you steam them.

I found the same problem with my potatoes this year. I put it down to having such a wet summer. Also since I was indoctrinating my son-in-law into potatoe growing, I felt he planted them too deep and didn't hill them high enough. I like my seed potatoe to be above the bottom of the trough after the final hilling.

I would try a few different strains of potatoes, some are harder than others.I can't see how height of hilling makes a difference.This year will probably be dryer.The idea of boiling less is also correct.

We grow 2 varieties of potatoes. Red chieftan Superior. The red chieftan does best in wet weather and the superior in dry weather. Our Red Chieftan were nice and big last year and didn't go mushy but the superior did. So I'd say it's a combination of wet weather and the variety

Better hilling and adequate soil aeration starting out help harden off potato initial growth, boil for less time and when storing, store in dry deep pine shavings...Good storage varieties of white fleshed potato are the Superior and Kennebec, also Russet Burbank...

It's too wet for some varieties, too dry for others. If you have potatoes that boil away to mush, try baking them, or slicing and microwaving them. And not to be picky, but it's spelled POTATO.

It's too wet for some varieties, too dry for others. If you have potatoes that boil away to mush, try baking them, or slicing and microwaving them. And not to be picky, but it's spelled POTATO.