As long as you provide them with the proper growing circumstances, potatoes are a crop that pays off handsomely. They require little care after planting until harvest. You may enjoy your produce for months because potatoes are stored nicely (melting potatoes, anyone?).
From planting, watering, and hilling to harvesting and storing, here’s how to grow potatoes at home (which are “standard,” not sweet potatoes).
Best Way To Plant Potato in Your Home Garden
Select a Seed Potato
Fresh seed potatoes are the greatest way to establish new potato plants since they are certified disease-free and chemical-free, unlike potatoes from the grocery store. Better yields, lower disease rates, and a wider range of species not available at the grocery store are all benefits of growing plants from seed potatoes. Garden centers, farm stores, nurseries, and seed firms all sell seed potatoes.
Wait Until the Cool Weather
The best time to plant potatoes is in the early spring, as soon as the soil is workable because they are a cool-weather crop. Plant them two to three weeks prior to your last frost date, or as soon as the soil reaches 45°F since they can withstand a mild frost. (For a precise reading, look for a soil thermometer.) You should cover those potato plants until the threat of a late-season hard frost has passed.
Get the garden bed ready
Since potatoes are deep-rooted root vegetables, they thrive in loose, somewhat acidic soil that drains well. Before planting, sprinkle compost or fertilizer into your thick clay soil, which retains water and becomes hard as it dries, making it difficult for plants that grow like tubers.
Potatoes can be grown in containers, grow bags, and raised garden beds, but most gardeners plant them in the ground. Make sure they receive six hours or more of direct sunlight each day, no matter what you plant them in. This entails making sure your potato plants won’t grow under trellises, fences, or other vegetation.
Get the seed potato ready
It’s likely that your seed potatoes won’t sprout when you receive them. A week or two before they are due, put those seed potatoes in a bright spot (either indoors or outside) with temps between 60 and 70°F to promote sprouting.
You can sow complete seed potatoes smaller than 2 inches. Cut the seed potatoes into 2-inch pieces if they are larger. Make sure each piece has an eye or bud, and use a clean, sharp knife. To give the sliced potatoes time to harden, do this a day or so before planting them outside. Once planted, this procedure enhances water retention and rot resistance.
Dig a Trench and Plant
Dig a trench that is 6 to 8 inches deep. With the eyes pointing upward, plant the seed potatoes cut-side down. Rows should be at least three feet apart, and they should be 12 to 15 inches apart.
Cover the Mulch and Seeds
Spread 4 inches of dirt over the seed potatoes. Apply a layer of mulch as soon as the seedlings appear to help retain moisture, suppress weeds, and maintain cool soil.
Wait to Water
Potato plants are an exception to the rule that most freshly planted garden crops benefit from being watered in, which means that they receive a sufficient amount of water to begin growing. It is advisable to wait until the potato plants emerge above ground before watering them because seed potatoes are susceptible to illness if exposed to excessive moisture.
How to Take Care of Potato Plants
Potato plants will develop into enormous, many tubers under ideal circumstances.
The light
A small amount of shade helps shield potato plants from excessive sunlight in extremely hot weather, particularly in the afternoon, and cools the soil, which is what potatoes want. However, a potato plant’s photosynthesis is slowed down by persistently low light levels, resulting in fewer leaves and smaller potatoes.
Soil
The ideal growing conditions for potatoes are loose, well-draining soil that allows for the expansion of the tubers. The ideal pH range for the soil is 5.8 to 6.5, which is somewhat acidic. When you work with good soil, it forms tiny clumps and is dark and rich.
Because clay soil retains a lot of water and drains poorly, it is the potato plant’s worst enemy. Your potato plant becomes overly damp as a result, which encourages the growth of fungi and disease. Take a handful and test the soil to determine whether it is clayey in your garden. You have clay soil if the soil is cohesive and moldable, much like a ball of clay.
Water
Above-ground potato plants should ideally receive one to two inches of water per week. Buying a rain gauge, which is a tiny, typically plastic collector that is anchored in the ground, could be helpful if you’re not sure what that signifies. Water as usual (either manually or by irrigation) after placing in the potato patch to observe how much watering (including rainwater) yields 1 to 2 inches.
A soaker hose, which is an irrigation system that sits on top of the soil, is the most effective way to irrigate potatoes.
Watering the soil without soaking the leaves is preferable in other cases because bacteria prefer wetness and you don’t want to promote its growth on the potato plant’s leaves. Water your potato plants early in the day so that the foliage can dry out in the afternoon if wet foliage is inevitable.
When to Harvest Potatoes and How to Do It
Depending on the cultivar, a potato plant can be harvested 70 to 90 days after it emerges from the ground. When the foliage starts to die back, the plants are ready to be harvested, if you’ve lost track of the days.
Baby potatoes (also known as “new potatoes”) can be harvested two to three weeks after the plants have finished flowering if you can’t wait that long. Remove only a few potatoes close to the top of the soil—no more than you intend to consume right away—and carefully dig around the plant without uprooting it.
To harvest potatoes that are full-sized:
- Don’t pick until a few days of dry weather have passed, and wait till the foliage has died down for two to three weeks.
- Avoid the urge to pluck up the plant by its stem and carefully dig up the potatoes using a robust garden fork.
After harvesting, prepare the remaining potatoes for curing, which extends their shelf life, and store aside any that you want to consume within a week or two. Do not wash them; instead, brush off any leftover soil to cure them.
For up to two weeks, place potatoes in dry, cool (45 to 60°F), dark places, such as a garage, covered porch, or basement. Installing a fan nearby might improve air circulation and avoid excessive humidity.
Read also: Is Melted Snow Good For Watering Houseplants