Solanum tuberosum
When I narrate a Quaker I was publish an article about how to acquire potato he said , “ What ’s to tell ? You throw ‘ em in a bucket , pile up the soil while they grow , and wait until you have spuds . ”
I object at first at his suggestion , but then I recognise that he ’s right .
potato are about as easy to maturate as a radish , so if you ’ve got the patience of King Kong at a banana tree factory you may stop read this article now and take that bit of advice with you .
The array of potato varieties is staggering.
Enjoy your harvest time and let me roll in the hay it is !
We link up to vender to help oneself you discover relevant products . If you grease one’s palms from one of our links , we may bring in a commission .
But there is so much more to produce potatoes that you may instruct .
While the impatient spud grower will plop some plant into a pot and hope for the best , the individual who show this feature from start to finish will be prepared for whatever might come .
drop some time instruct about these vegetables and you ’ll call yourself the Potato Expert in no sentence .
Po-tay-tow, Po-taw-tow
I teach a new employee about how to grow tater and her response was , “ Why would anybody go through this effort if you could just buy them at the grocery memory ? ”
proficient interrogative , but she ’s clearly never tasted a potato straight from the ground . Like everything else that ’s grown from home a fresh and homegrown tater is as cheeseparing to heaven as you ’re going to get in this life-time .
And like most everything else in life , a good apprehension of where something come from add to its appreciation .
What You’ll Learn
A World-Wide Food Staple
Like theunrelated sweet potatoour “ plain Jane ” spud was domesticated in South America , more specifically in Peru and Bolivia . That history extends as far back as 8000 BC , make these tuberous vegetables older than the entirety of Ancient Egyptian civilization .
This was a main nutrient craw of the Inca civilization and its import was not lost upon the Spanish conquistador who explored across South America in the 16th century . They introduced this root tuber to Europe in the second half of the sixteenth C . The quietus of Europe found the potato to be an exceptional produce and introduced it around the rest of the humans .
History student will be intimate with the potato blight in Ireland and Scotland that devastated the population in the mid 19th 100 , and readers with a multi - ethnic palette will find that the spud is a lynchpin in planetary dishes .
Let that sink in for a consequence . This mundane plant was introduced to Europe and the respite of the Earth in the 16th one C , but it almost like a shot became a food germ of exceptional grandness . The Irish potato is a muscular and significant plant , do n’t let anybody fritter you otherwise , especially those folks who indicate you ’re better off purchase them in a grocery computer storage than growing your own .
Getting Started
Spuds are well-situated to grow , but the wise gardener will do good from some forethought and preparation .
Like most vegetables this one benefit from plenty of sun , but it also benefit from a moth-eaten and harsh winter to kill off pest and parasites . That places steady white potato in a tank growing zona than the sweet , so even if it ’s uprise as an yearly vegetable harvest it ’s still at its good in cooler climate .
They also opt to get about 1 - 2 ” of water per week ; deep , nighttime sousing is far superior to mean solar day time surface lachrymation . in the end a systematically moist dirt is lively to good crop wellness and production .
When and Where to Plant
judge to get those spuds into the land as early as you may , as shortly as the soil is workable . They can handle a piece of icing so capitalize on that and plonk them in when you ’ve get an itch of spring fever .
quondam school Farmer would plunk down their plant into the ground whenthe dandelionsstarted to flower , and that ’s as accurate a calendar as I ’ve ever followed .
They choose soil that is slightly acidic ( pH 5.8 to 6.5 if you handle to precise ) and require it to be a well - drain bed . If your beds are backbreaking with clay and rock you should till and amend them in the capitulation .
At most client homes , I ’ll flora potatoes within a week or two of the last Robert Frost date ; if it ’s before or after does n’t seem to weigh . The flora will get busy underneath the grease and wo n’t show their heads until they ’re ready to , so if I can give them a chance to harden off ahead of meter I do .
In areas that have foresightful and moth-eaten winter , the gardener will desire to implant in former or mid - fountain for a midsummer harvest . In sphere with a more mild winter an extra belated spring or midsummer craw can be planted , but an early harvest kind should be choose if planting in the summer .
In area that have very hot summers you could get away with three craw : one constitute in belated wintertime for an former spring harvest home , a 2nd tight - mature harvest in mid spring , and a late summer crop for a fall harvest time .
How to Plant
Most market entrepot grease one’s palms spuds wo n’t be workable for maturate because they are treated not to be . If you ’ve got a spud that ’s popping out unripe vines and go out it just might take , but you are always safest to purchase seed potatoes .
You ’ll want to plant your stump spud when they ’re the size of a golf orchis or so . Some ejaculate varietiesare sold at this size of it while others are much larger ; if they ’re too large just trim back them down to the right size and let them sit down overnight to develop a nice layer of rind over the cut off area to help belittle infection . Make indisputable that each piece you cut has at least two eyes .
Plant these piece so that the eyes are facing up .
In the Ground vs In Containers
I ’ve had equal luck when spring up spuds in the ground or in containers , but I prefer the ground because the territory is more systematically moist .
When planting in the ground I am a fan of the trenching system . The secret is in the name ; grasp a oceanic abyss about 6 ” wide by about 8 ” cryptical . Taper it so that bottom is about 3 ” wide . If you ’re planting multiple rows they should be about 3 ’ apart .
bestow a small layerof compostto the bottom of the trench , an column inch or so will do you fine . After the potatoes have been engraft about 4 ” beneath the surface , you ’ll require to wait for a while until they start to turn to do anything else . Keep an eye on them because they ’ll rocket up before you know it .
After they achieve a height of about 8 ” , you ’ll require to mound up the dirt dug from the trench and cover about half of the gradation . This is to keep the ascendant genus Tuber coolheaded and protected from the Lord’s Day ; excess heat and exposure to sun will make potatoes bitter and uneatable , so be diligent about this !
I grew mine this year under the concealment of ahoop and mesh protectionidentical to what ’s below . It helped my plants get a good nous start and minimized insect harm . It ’s a great choice if you ’re grow more than a twain Irish potato !
Alternativelyyou can pile strawinstead of soil over the potatoes . study show that a 6 ” level of wheat can slenderize dirt temperature by as much as ten level . It also helps keep weeds away , but I ’ve always found the soil method to be efficacious .
You ’ll retell this mounding physical process every 2 to 3 week . The last time you ’ll mound the flora is just before its blooms open .
As a perk lachrymation is less intensive and the spuds will grow to their largest sizing . As a drawback you have less restraint over what is in the dirt and want a more careful eye on what your plant is order you .
We have a detailed guide for planting in straw here .
When planting in containersthe mental process is far simpler and less intensive , but it need more diligent care and tending .
Almost any size of it container will do , from an previous 3 - gal baby’s room pot to refuse bags to polish wire enclosures lined with coco fiber . drivel rear end can hold about 4 plant while speciality sack and similarly sized objects bind about 3 plant each .
A serious principle of quarter round is to plant one plant life per 2.5 gallons of container place .
Put down a secure base of soil with a top layer of compost and plant the spud to a deepness of about 4 to 6 ” . When the plants reach a height of about 8 ” , add more soil and immerse about half of the grow stem . go on the same 2 - 3 workweek Hz as described above !
You get to have guaranteed soil lineament when planting in containers and can usually place the works at a more desirable location , but you ’ll postulate to water much more carefully . The size of your harvest seems to be subdue when grown from a container , but that ’s a minor outlet if the harvest home in enquiry is perfect in every way but its size .
Either style , white potato tend to stop turn when soil temperatures reach about 80 degree fahrenheit . you may fondly monitor your spuds and verify they ’re goodly and happy , or you may harvest them before it gets too hot out ; for the gentle tater reap them about 2 - 3 weeks after the plants heyday .
Either style the harvesting process is almost identical . You canread our excellent and elaborate usher on how to do it here . You’ll also receive that as long as your spuds are composted and mulch well they do n’t call for much in the way of fertilizing !
Potato Problems
The only trouble to growing something that is largely belowground is that it ’s hard to figure out how it ’s doing with a abbreviated glance . Luckily most of the issuing you ’ll find with your spuds are evident and are easy diagnose .
Most of these problems can be minimized with an alive crop rotation plan . I ’ve found bang-up success with a “ three year plan ” where you rotate your spud between three different beds over three years .
Potato scab can be an issue in dry and alkaline soil . You ’ll identify it by the ugly concentric band on the surface of the stump spud . right lachrymation practice aid minimize or eliminate this issue entirely , but ascendency during the growing season can be a problem . An diligence of agricultural gypsum before the growing time of year has had some lot for folks .
The Colorado white potato beetlecan decimate crops , and their best method acting of control is to actively and aggressively hand pick them . Diatomaceous earthcan piece of work too as a preventive measure .
Aphidsandflea beetlescan be control with insecticidal Georgia home boy , but something like early or late blight is a very serious ailment to encounter . The only communications protocol here is to off and demolish the infected plant and hope for a better harvest next meter .
You may notice upon harvesting raise white bumps on your spuds . These are ingurgitate lenticels and indicate that the works is sitting in filth that is too wet . The fruiting consistence develops these pore to aid in water rally ; they are n’t unsafe to consume but it ’s a good indicator that you need to go over your watering practice again !
Suggested Spuds
Early season are quick in 75 - 90 day .
Red Pontiac Mini - tubers via Burpee
The red pontiac are a pop spud for begin and harvest home early and are usually ready for harvest in the neighborhood of 80 days .
Midseason are ready in 95 - 110 days . This fingerling Amarosa type , usable from High Mowing Seeds , is quite tasty , and it ’s attractive too .
Amarosa Fingerling
You ’ll be able to eat midget spud as early as about 70 days after plant , but they contact their peak in the 95 - 110 day kitchen stove .
belated season are usually quick in 120 - 135 days ( plus most fingerlings ) , and the Kennebec is one of my favorites in this variety .
Kennebec Mini - tubers via Burpee
They ’re larder and tasty , probably because it takes them so long to fully age !
Did You Dig It?
Let us sleep with what you recall about our spud growing guide ! Hopefully you ’ve capture the sureness you require to start growing these tubers in your garden or on your deck , and if you do n’t then reach out and ask us questions !
And once you ’ve got a crop you ’ll need to make them . My new go - to formula for spuds is this cast iron herb roasted potato recipe you canfind here on our sister situation Foodal .
Thanks for version , we depend forward to your next visit to Gardener ’s itinerary !
Photos by Matt Suwak © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product images via Burpee , High Mowing Organic Seeds , and well-to-do to Grow Bulbs . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Matt Suwak
