Potatoes, the staple of American diets, are easy to grow but can take up a lot of space.
But memories of a meal of new potatoes, peas and fresh salad is enough to at least plant
a few.
Unlike other vegetables, potatoes are not planted from seed but from pieces of potatoes,
called seed potatoes, containing eyes or buds.
Potatoes are best grown in full sun, and in rich, well drained soil which can be achieved
by tilling organic compost, Azomite for trace minerals
and expanded shale into the existing soil. Raise the planting area as necessary to further
ensure good drainage. We plant them in rows to achieve this. It is particularly important
to provide excellent drainage in order to prevent rot from destroying your plants.
Potato planting sites should be rotated on a 3-year program. This means you need 3 suitable
sites if you want to grow potatoes every year.
Potatoes can be planted in early spring about one month before the last anticipated frost
Here in North Texas we plant in in late January to the end of February. On average it takes
about ten weeks grow golf ball size potatoes.
My biggest secret with potatoes is sulfur. Sulfur, is a natural-derived organic product,
which does three things; it is a fungicide, acid fertilizer and insecticide. Let me explain.
1. Fungicide: Sulfur protects the cut potatoes from rot organisms in the early spring cool,
moist soil.
2. Acid Fertilizer: Potatoes grow best in slightly acid conditions (6 to 6.5 pH). Commercial
growers like it even lower to prevent potato scab, a disease that leaves raised, scabby
marks on potato skins. But for the home gardener, like you & me, that is impractical and if
your potatoes develop scab it is no big deal. Just peel the affected potatoes before cooking.
3. Insecticide: Ever since I have been using sulfur I have never noticed any potato bugs
on the plants!
So get some garden sulfur. It comes in 4, 5 or 50 lb. bags are available in most lawn
& garden centers or farm supply stores.
Select the proper seed potatoes: Grocery store potatoes are not appropriate
for use as seed potatoes. Do not use them! They have often been sprayed with an anti-sprouting
agent, and even organically grown-and-treated potatoes probably haven't had the proper dormancy
period for the eyes to sprout correctly. Certified seed potatoes have been checked to make sure
they're disease free and are ready to sprout.
Before planting, keep your seed potatoes in a lit area but full sun isn't necessary, and
at room temperature for a week or two to cause more
eye sprouts from each potato. Afterwards, cut the potato into ice-cube to
golfball sized chunks, each with two or three eyes, on each potatoes chunk, and then dust
the chunks with dusting sulfur (which I explained earlier) which prevents rot. Leave cut pieces
to dry two or three days to cause the cut surfaces to crust up and seal. Dig a hole
4- 6" deep and, place a chunk every 6 to 12 inches apart and cover with soil. Making sure
to place the seed potatoes in the holes cut side down with the eyes pointing up. Cover
the seed potatoes with soil.
Be patient, it takes potatoes a little while to come up. As the potato shoots come up from
the ground to the height of 8" tall, add soil around the stems, leaving roughly 4" of the
top growth exposed. This protects the potatoes growing deep in the soil from sunlight which
can turn the tender new potatoes green and bitter
Keep the potato plants watered well, but do not maintain a soggy bed. Potatoes don't
grow well in soggy soil.
Don't forget to feed your plants Potatoes need extra phosphate for root growth
and they do not like too much nitrogen or you will get all plant and no potatoes. I
always look for organic fertilizers for my vegetable garden. If I was going to fertilizer
with any synthetic fertilizers, you may as well buy your produce in the commercial grocery
store.
Now it is Time to Harvest your potatoes: Dig potatoes on a dry day. Dig up gently,
being careful not to puncture the tubers. The soil should not be compact, so digging
should be easy.
You may begin to harvest your potatoes 2-3 weeks after the plants have finished flowering.
At this time you will only find small "baby" potatoes if you were to dig up the plant.
Potatoes can be harvested any time after this, by gently loosening
the soil, reaching under the plant, and removing the largest tubers, leaving the smaller ones
to continue growing.
If you want larger potatoes for storage, wait 2-3 weeks after the foliage dies back. The
foliage will look brown & dead on the top. The potatoes will have developed tougher skins
Carefully begin digging a foot or so outside of the row or mound. Remove the potatoes as
you find them. Dig them and let them dry, do not wash them right after digging which
can easily damage the freshly dug potatoes skin. Don't wash them until right before
you use them. Washing potatoes will shorten their storage life. Pick out any potatoes
with rotten spots or that were damaged or cut during digging. The potatoes are then
ready to store in a dry, dark, cool room. Do not store potatoes with apples as their
ethylene gas will cause potatoes to spoil.
So this is how we grow our potatoes and we have had great success for many—many years!
So I wish you happy growing and good luck on your potato growing expedition.