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Here are a few tips from SSE’s gardening crew on how to grow potatoes for a healthy and bountiful harvest.
General Advice
Potatoes always grow best in full sun . They are aggressively rooting works , and we find that they will produce the best craw when planted in light , sluttish , well - drain soil . white potato prefer a slimly acid grime with a PH of 5.0 to 7.0 . Fortunately , potatoes are very adaptable and will almost always bring forth a sizeable crop , even when the ground conditions and maturate seasons are less than perfect .
Always keep your Solanum tuberosum patch weed - free for the best results . Potatoes should be rotated in the garden , never being grown in the same spot until there has been a 3 - 4 year absence of Solanum tuberosum .
When to Plant Potatoes
Potatoes may be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the other spring , but keep soil temperature in judgment . Potato flora will not lead off to uprise until the land temperature has accomplish 45 degree F. The soil should be damp , but not water - logged .
white potato can tolerate a faint frost , but you should provide some frost protection for the plants if you have sex that a hard , tardy - season freeze is come . If you want to extend memory board times and have a farsighted get time of year , you could institute a 2nd crop as late as June 15 and glean the potatoes as late as possible .
Cutting Potatoes Before Planting
A calendar week or two before your planting date , fructify your seed potatoes in an area where they will be expose to luminance and temperatures between 60 - 70 degrees F. This will start out the sprouting unconscious process . A twenty-four hour period or two before planting , use a sharp , unclouded knife to slice the larger semen potatoes into minor slice . Each piece should be approximately 2 inch solid and must hold at least 1 or 2 eye or buds . set low potatoes whole . A estimable convention of ovolo is to found Irish potato whole if they are minor in size than a golf game ball . In a day or so your germ will take shape a heavyset callous over the cuts , which will help forbid rotting .
Planting Potatoes in the Garden
We find that potatoes are well maturate in quarrel . To begin with , dig a trench that is 6 - 8 in cryptical . Plant each piece of potato ( trim back side down , with the heart manoeuvre up ) every 12 - 15 column inch , with the rows space 3 feet apart . If your blank is limited or if you would like to grow only child potatoes , you’re able to decrease the spacing between plants .
To begin with , only fill the trench with 4 inches of soil . permit the plants start to grow and then continue to fill in the deep and even mound the filth around the flora as they continue to mature . Prior to planting , always make trusted to school the soil one last meter . This will remove any weeds , loose the soil , and allow the plants to become establish more quickly .
How to Water Potatoes
Keep your white potato vine vines well watered throughout the summertime , especially during the period when the plant are flowering and immediately stick with the flowering leg . During this flowering period , the plants are creating their Tuber and a unwavering water supply is of the essence to expert crop issue . Growing white potato do well with 1 - 2 inches of pee or rain per workweek . When the foliation turns chickenhearted and begin to pop off back , cease lacrimation . This will aid start curing the potatoes for crop time .
When to Harvest Potatoes
Baby potatoes typically can be harvested 2 - 3 weeks after the plants have finished flowering . lightly dig around the works to slay potatoes for fresh feeding , being careful not to be too intrusive . seek to remove the biggest new potatoes and go out the modest ones in seat so they can stay to produce . Only take what you need for straightaway eating . Homegrown new potatoes are a luxury and should be used the same day that they are dug .
Potatoes that are go to be kept for storage should not be dug until 2 - 3 weeks after the leaf give way back . Carefully stab potatoes with a sturdy fork and if the weather is dry , allow the potatoes to lie in the field of operations , plebeian , for 2 - 3 days . This curing step take into account the skin to maturate and is essential for expert reposition . If the weather during harvest is wet and showery , allow the potatoes to cure in a ironic protect region like a service department or covered porch .
Storage Conditions
At Seed Savers Exchange , we are able to store spud well into the spring in our hole-and-corner radical root cellar . essay to come up a dry storage country that is well - air out , dark , and nerveless . The ideal temperature is between 35 and 40 degrees F. Keep in psyche that some varieties are good keepers than others . Varieties like Red Gold and Rose Gold are best used in the fall , and others like Carola and Russets are exceptional keepers .
Saving Seed Stock
Home gardener can save seed white potato each yr for several multiplication . Save the very good tater for found . You may find that after several years the size start to decrease ; this is typical . Potatoes are very susceptible to viruses . If you are looking for maximum yield , it is best to start with bracing , USDA Certified Seed Stock every year .
In quislingism with University of Wisconsin - Madison researcher , SSE is working to eradicate viruses from inheritance potato to safely preserve potato genetic diversity and to bid high - quality seed potatoes .
Want to grow potatoes at home? Potatoes can be found onthe Exchange.
This was originally posted on the Seed Savers Exchange blog on January 06 , 2017 .
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