We're Off to a Great Starch!
With us not being able to step foot in the school again in the school year, the garden has been left to its own devices. This does mean that I am entirely expecting for there to only be wild tomatoes growing everywhere. Anyway, as I am not able to entertain you with periodic garden updates, instead you get to be bombarded with information! Today's topic is potatoes:
Seed
When we grow potatoes, we don’t actually start them from seed. There are a specific kind of potatoes, called seed potatoes, that can be used; however we tend to just use old potatoes that have already started to sprout. This is a plant that we definitely want to direct sow as transplanting will most likely result in dead plants.
In order to prepare these old potatoes to be planted, first we need to look at their size. If they are about the same size or smaller than a golf ball, than they can be planted as is. Otherwise, we are going to need to cut them up. The idea is to have at least 2 eyes, the area on the potato where the sprouts appear, on each piece that we are planting. As for why we cut them up, it is so there is less competition. Each eye has the potential to be a stem and having too many in one area is not ideal for a good harvest. After the pieces are cut, they need to be cured to prevent rotting. This just means to leave the pieces somewhere warm for a couple of days so the cuts can become calloused. Here is where we may have misstepped in the past, because we did not let the pieces cure for a couple of days. Whoops!
Planting
Potatoes prefer full sun which means that they should be grown in a bed that will receive at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. Like the majority of the plants, they should not be planted until after the last spring frost. Technically we can start earlier because potatoes are somewhat frost tolerant. The earliest that I would risk planting potatoes would be the third or fourth week of April. Hopefully, at that point the frost is mild. If you do end up planting early, remember to cover the plants during the night and remove the cover in the morning. Due to disease, we need to make sure that we do not plant them with plants that share the same family (i.e. tomatoes, peppers) or the same bed for at least 3 years.
Our potato chunks should be placed in straight shallow trenches, that are 2 to 3 feet apart, and covered with about 3 inches of soil. Do not forget to add compost, fish oil, the whole shebang (!) before we plant anything. I feel it is kind of obsolete to say so; nonetheless it is better to be safe than sorry! That was your friendly reminder to prepare your soil!! A very important thing to remember is that when we place the potato chunks in the trenches, they should be buried with EYES UP. If you forget to do this, they’ll probably start growing downwards.
Greenhouse/Container
Given the space we have, I think it is more likely that we would only plant potatoes in a bed. Regardless, if you want to plant them in containers then make sure you have some very large pots ready. There is a process called “hilling” that I will explain in the next section and it is vital that the container can hold A LOT of soil.
At the start, fill the container with about 5 to 6 inches of soil before you place the potato chunk. Then cover it with another inch of soil. In regards to hilling, repeat the process until the pot is full. This will make sense after you read the Maintenance section. Keep a close eye on watering since potatoes need moist soil.
Maintenance
Alright! It is time to talk about hilling. Essentially, we are putting more soil around the potato plant to build up a little “hill” around its base. This is to make sure that the potato tubers do not get exposed to sunlight. If they are exposed, they will turn green and inedible. Thus, when the plant has grown to be a foot tall, cover up half the plant with soil. Then every time after the plant has grown another 6 inches, bury it in more soil. This does mean covering up the leaves; don’t worry, it’ll be fine! You’ll want to hill in the morning (AKA before school :P) since the plants will be at their tallest then. Once the plant starts sprouting flowers, you can stop hilling.
Another important thing to keep in mind is watering. If the plant is watered too much after it is planted and not enough when the tubers form, it will end up misshapen. Thus, even watering must be maintained! That is about 1 to 2 inches of water every week. Once the leaves have turned yellow and the plant is dying, you don’t need worry about watering anymore.
Pests/Disease
Honestly, as long as we maintain crop rotation and apply pesticide as necessary, we should be fine. Diseases that we may need to worry about include potato blight, potato scab, and blight. Potato scab can be caused by soil with a high pH as potatoes prefer slightly acidic soil. Then insects that may cause concern are Colorado potato beetles, aphids, and flea beetles. Colorado potato beetles are big enough to be seen, so if you see them, pick them off! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
Harvest
As I have mentioned in previous posts, we know that potatoes are ready to harvest once the plant has died. Slightly morbid, but it is definitely a good system to alert us to when they are ready. To allow the potato’s skin to harden, we will want to wait about 2 weeks after the plant has died to harvest them. We don’t want to wait too long or the potato will rot. However, if the skin rubs off easily, we should leave them for a couple more days to harden. We want the skin to harden so that the potatoes can store longer.
As long as you are careful, you can dig for the potatoes with a shovel or spade. I remember when we grew sweet potatoes (or maybe it was yams?), we spent a looong time digging around in the soil to find them. Even then, we missed a bunch and didn’t find them until we were preparing the soil for the next season! After they are dug up, let the potatoes air dry in a cool dry place. If you decide to leave them out in the sun to dry, make sure there are no surprise rain showers and don’t leave them out too long. Potatoes that are left in the sun too long might turn green.
Source
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/how-to-grow-potatoes-when-to-plant-potatoes.htm
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/how-to-plant-and-grow-tomatoes/
https://www.thespruce.com/growing-potatoes-in-containers-848220
https://www.gardeningchannel.com/growing-potatoes-from-store-bought-potatoes/
https://www.almanac.com/plant/potatoes
https://www.gardendesign.com/vegetables/potatoes.html
https://blog.seedsavers.org/blog/tips-for-growing-potatoes
Until Next Time!!!
