Everything you Need to Know about Growing Potatoes including Harvesting and Storing
Growing Potatoes takes up
a lot of room, however, they can be grown very successfully in tubs and
even using old hessian sacks and tyres building the soil up as you
go.
The Potato is a native of Central or Tropical America. People often feel that the amount of space they take up to grow and the number you would need to plant in order to get a good crop is not worth the effort.
I disagree. There is nothing nicer than digging up your own potatoes and you can spread out the cropping season by harvesting new potatoes early into the season rather than waiting for the crop to mature completely.
If
you are short of space, you can very successfully grow potatoes in
containers such as buckets, stacked tyres, or even plastic tall bags,
as you can see in this picture on the right.
A little tip; if you are growing potatoes on new land as a main crop their root systems will help break up the soil.
Know when to plant vegetables, as well as during the month for planting by the moon.
Avoid growing potatoes in very alkaline soils, or on soil that has recently been limed as the lime and the alkalinity levels will encourage the growth of scab disease. Also avoid growing potatoes in places where the area was limed in a previous season for growing brassicas.
If scab disease is a problem choose potato varieties resistant to scab disease such as King Edward (although susceptible to blight), Maris Peer, or Arran Pilot .
Wood ash is useful in supplying potash and other inorganic substances required by potato plants; and they may be advantageously applied where the soil contains a large amount of decayed vegetable matter. The same remark will also apply to lime, which is useful in destroying slugs and other vermin, which attack the tubers. Crushed bone, and superphosphate of lime, are best for humid soils.
So how to grow potatoes? Potatoes are hardly ever grown from
seed unless
it is for the production of a new variety. Instead, potatoes are either
propagated from whole potatoes called seed potatoes which are from
tubers that come from a
wholesaler and are guaranteed to be disease free. Or, you can do what I
do, when your potatoes start growing strong 'eyes' take
them, cut them up
with a good portion of remaining flesh for food, and plant.
Some will argue that when growing potatoes it is better to leave the potato whole rather than to cut it up, but this is not so, and many find a better cropping if the tubers are indeed cut and planted rather than just planted whole.
Something else to consider when growing potatoes are the size of the tubers. Large tubers, are preferable, for the following reasons: In all plants, large buds tend to produce large shoots; and small or weak buds, the reverse. Now, the eyes of potatoes are true buds, and in small tubers they are comparatively weak: they consequently produce weak shoots, and the crop from such is inferior to that obtained from plants originating from larger tubers, furnished with stronger eyes; and this conclusion has been justified by the results of actual experiments.
Some however, like to use whole tubers, keeping the 2 strongest eye shoots on the tuber and rubbing off the rest with the thumb. Make sure that the tubers have not been placed in too warm an environment where the shoots are tall and spindly as these will not produce good plants.
Plant 3-4 inches deep, 2 feet between roows abd plant from early winter through to early spring.
When growing potatoes, watch for the shoots and as soon as the plants are above the surface, heap the soil around the shoots, taking care not to damage the plant. This should be done once the plants are 8 inches high, the earth should gradually be drawn into hills, or ridges, at each successive hoeing, and the side-roots should be encouraged to spread. Bank the soil every 2-3 weeks.
This is done for several reasons. In the early days, banking your potatoes will protect the young plants from frost. Later on, it prevents the sun from getting to them, which will cause your tubers to turn green. Green potatoes are highly poisonous and only fit for the compost heap. Lastly, when growing potatoes like this, it will help keep the weeds down.
If you have planted them in the winter and there is a chance that you will be getting morning frosts, cover the emerging plants with loose straw to protect the plants.
Water your potatoes well in dry weather, because if you don't you can end up with split or cracked tubers.
When the shoots are about two or three inches, and the weather has become sufficiently mild, the potatoes should be carefully taken out, and divided into sets; in the process of cutting up the tubers, avoid injury to the small fibrous roots, and also to the growing shoots.
Harvesting potatoes takes place after the plant has flowered and the plant tops start to die down. If you find that the weather is good, there is no fear of disease and the ground moist the tubers can stay in the ground another week before you start cropping, as they will increase in size during this period.
Late potato growing varieties usually make up the main crop, and it's these that require most care when digging up and storing. So long as the plants are green, the potatoes should be allowed to remain in the ground; as this is quite indicative that the tubers are not fully mature.
There are some who practice removing the flowers from the potatoes as soon as they appear in order to improve the size and number of their potato crop. As soon as the flowers appear, remove them and the plant will stay green for longer allowing the potatoes to continue to grow.
Potatoes are also very prone to blight which can seriously damage the crop, especially if you want to store potatoes for a long time. Instead of spraying with copper-based sprays, try planting potato varieties that are resistant to blight, such as Cara, Estima, Romano, and Maris Peer.
If you do get potato blight, remove and destroy the damaged stems at once to prevent the spores from spreading into the soil or on to the tubers. The resulting crop is then usually perfectly usable.
Therefore it is important that potatoes are kept in a dark spot on the same day that they have been dug up. Never let potatoes dry off in the sun after they have been removed, but they should be dry before they are stored. The vegetables should be stored in boxes in a dark cellar, free from rodents.
When storing potatoes in your kitchen, never store potatoes near oinions, as the gases they each emit will cause the degradation on one another.
Now that you know how to grow potatoes, you may be interested in some easy potato recipes once you have made your first harvest.
The Potato is a native of Central or Tropical America. People often feel that the amount of space they take up to grow and the number you would need to plant in order to get a good crop is not worth the effort.
I disagree. There is nothing nicer than digging up your own potatoes and you can spread out the cropping season by harvesting new potatoes early into the season rather than waiting for the crop to mature completely.
If
you are short of space, you can very successfully grow potatoes in
containers such as buckets, stacked tyres, or even plastic tall bags,
as you can see in this picture on the right.A little tip; if you are growing potatoes on new land as a main crop their root systems will help break up the soil.
Know when to plant vegetables, as well as during the month for planting by the moon.
Soil Conditions for Growing Potatoes
The best soil for growing potatoes is a light and sandy one allowing the potatoes to develop freely, without a heavy clay soil where they won't do well at all. When the soil is wet or clayey, they are very likely to get diseased and the quality of the potatoes grown in such soil is very inferior. On soils which have been long cropped and heavily manured, they also rarely succeed well. They like a soil with a pH of about 5.5.Avoid growing potatoes in very alkaline soils, or on soil that has recently been limed as the lime and the alkalinity levels will encourage the growth of scab disease. Also avoid growing potatoes in places where the area was limed in a previous season for growing brassicas.
If scab disease is a problem choose potato varieties resistant to scab disease such as King Edward (although susceptible to blight), Maris Peer, or Arran Pilot .
Organic Fertilizers for Growing Potatoes
The less manure that is used when growing potatoes, the better the flavour; and the potatoes will also be much less affected by disease. Therefore, it is not advisable to apply a lot of manure. What you can include are barnyard and stable manures, leaves, leaf mold, peat-charcoal, and other carbonaceous substances, lime, gypsum, or plaster, (if necessary, you need enough just to get the pH levels right),nd bone.Wood ash is useful in supplying potash and other inorganic substances required by potato plants; and they may be advantageously applied where the soil contains a large amount of decayed vegetable matter. The same remark will also apply to lime, which is useful in destroying slugs and other vermin, which attack the tubers. Crushed bone, and superphosphate of lime, are best for humid soils.
Propagation in Growing Potatoes
Some will argue that when growing potatoes it is better to leave the potato whole rather than to cut it up, but this is not so, and many find a better cropping if the tubers are indeed cut and planted rather than just planted whole.
Something else to consider when growing potatoes are the size of the tubers. Large tubers, are preferable, for the following reasons: In all plants, large buds tend to produce large shoots; and small or weak buds, the reverse. Now, the eyes of potatoes are true buds, and in small tubers they are comparatively weak: they consequently produce weak shoots, and the crop from such is inferior to that obtained from plants originating from larger tubers, furnished with stronger eyes; and this conclusion has been justified by the results of actual experiments.
Some however, like to use whole tubers, keeping the 2 strongest eye shoots on the tuber and rubbing off the rest with the thumb. Make sure that the tubers have not been placed in too warm an environment where the shoots are tall and spindly as these will not produce good plants.
Plant 3-4 inches deep, 2 feet between roows abd plant from early winter through to early spring.
Growing Potatoes - Planting and Cultivating
When growing potatoes look for a sunny location, usually either in hills or ridges; the former method being the more common. If planted in hills, they should be made from three feet to three and a half apart; the distance to be regulated by the habit of the variety under cultivation. If in ridges or drills, they may be made from two and a half to three feet apart; although some of the earlier and smaller potato varieties may be successfully grown at eighteen or twenty inches.When growing potatoes, watch for the shoots and as soon as the plants are above the surface, heap the soil around the shoots, taking care not to damage the plant. This should be done once the plants are 8 inches high, the earth should gradually be drawn into hills, or ridges, at each successive hoeing, and the side-roots should be encouraged to spread. Bank the soil every 2-3 weeks.
This is done for several reasons. In the early days, banking your potatoes will protect the young plants from frost. Later on, it prevents the sun from getting to them, which will cause your tubers to turn green. Green potatoes are highly poisonous and only fit for the compost heap. Lastly, when growing potatoes like this, it will help keep the weeds down.
If you have planted them in the winter and there is a chance that you will be getting morning frosts, cover the emerging plants with loose straw to protect the plants.
Water your potatoes well in dry weather, because if you don't you can end up with split or cracked tubers.
Force Growing Potatoes
Forcing potatoes should start three to four weeks before the growing season for planting in the open ground. The earliest varieties should be chosen for the purpose, selecting whole tubers of medium size, and placing them close together, in a single layer, among half-decayed leaves or very light loam, on the surface of a moderate hot-bed.When the shoots are about two or three inches, and the weather has become sufficiently mild, the potatoes should be carefully taken out, and divided into sets; in the process of cutting up the tubers, avoid injury to the small fibrous roots, and also to the growing shoots.
Growing Potatoes and Planting out Potato Sets
These sets should then be planted out in hills or drills, in the usual way and at the usual depth; if possible, leaving the upper portion of the young shoot just above the surface of the ground. Some care is needed in planting out the sets, particularly in covering; for, if the soil is applied carelessly, the sprouts, which separate very easily from the tubers, are likely to be broken off, and the set will be useless for early use. If severe cold or frosty weather occurs, the potato plants should be protected by straw, or any convenient light material placed along the drills or on the hills.Growing Potatoes Know when to Harvest Potatoes
When growing potatoes, the early varieties should be dug when they are a suitable size; which, can start when they are new potato size. The practice of partially removing the soil from about the roots, and gathering the largest tubers, leaving the smaller ones, with the expectation that they will get bigger is not a good idea, as the potato will not take kindly to the invasion. It is far better to take the little potatoes and leave the bigger tubers to carry on growing.Harvesting potatoes takes place after the plant has flowered and the plant tops start to die down. If you find that the weather is good, there is no fear of disease and the ground moist the tubers can stay in the ground another week before you start cropping, as they will increase in size during this period.
Late potato growing varieties usually make up the main crop, and it's these that require most care when digging up and storing. So long as the plants are green, the potatoes should be allowed to remain in the ground; as this is quite indicative that the tubers are not fully mature.
Growing Potatoes and Crop Yield
So growing potatoes is fairly easy if you can get past the blight and other pests and diseases. But how many potatoes will you get from each plant? Well this differs greatly from one potato variety to the next. However, you can expect between 1-2 kilos of potatoes per plant for early varieties, and 3-4 kilos of potatoes from your main crop.There are some who practice removing the flowers from the potatoes as soon as they appear in order to improve the size and number of their potato crop. As soon as the flowers appear, remove them and the plant will stay green for longer allowing the potatoes to continue to grow.
Growing Potatoes Garden Pests and Diseases
When growing potatoes you can find that your crop will be attacked sometimes by wireworms and slugs. These garden pests can be erradicated using organic methods. However, by planting early varieties, you can also avoid a lot of these problems.Potatoes are also very prone to blight which can seriously damage the crop, especially if you want to store potatoes for a long time. Instead of spraying with copper-based sprays, try planting potato varieties that are resistant to blight, such as Cara, Estima, Romano, and Maris Peer.
If you do get potato blight, remove and destroy the damaged stems at once to prevent the spores from spreading into the soil or on to the tubers. The resulting crop is then usually perfectly usable.
Growing Potatoes and Storage
When growing potatoes in bulk, you will need to think about how and where you are going to store them. The most important thing is making sure that you don't expose them to light. Again, if you do they will become green and poisonous.Therefore it is important that potatoes are kept in a dark spot on the same day that they have been dug up. Never let potatoes dry off in the sun after they have been removed, but they should be dry before they are stored. The vegetables should be stored in boxes in a dark cellar, free from rodents.
When storing potatoes in your kitchen, never store potatoes near oinions, as the gases they each emit will cause the degradation on one another.
Now that you know how to grow potatoes, you may be interested in some easy potato recipes once you have made your first harvest.
RECOMMENDED POTATO SEEDS AND
BOOKS ON GROWING POTATOES
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