Learning how to grow potatoes is so easy! It is one of my favorite root vegetables to grow in my garden, for multiple reasons. They are quick and easy to plant, easy to care for, and produce an amazing harvest! In this blog post, I’m sharing how I grow potatoes to get a harvest that lasts for months!
The world of gardening is huge! There are so many methods, plant varieties, etc….and when you’re a new gardener, it can feel intimidating! If you are a beginner gardener, check out my post for the best beginner gardening tips to get you going!
Potato Varieties
There are lots of different potato varieties out there you can choose from. When deciding on the variety to plant in your garden, see which kinds grow well in your area. Also, grow the kinds you enjoy!
For us, we like Russet and Yukon Gold, and I’ve grown both varieties in the past. However my favorite is Russet potatoes because I find the size of them convenient for slicing.
Whatever variety you choose, make sure to get true certified seed potato pieces of that variety. I encourage you not to grow grocery store potatoes, because you don’t always know what you will end up with. Store-bought potatoes are not guaranteed to be disease-free, and could introduce harmful diseases into your garden like potato blight or fusarium.
Planting Seed Potatoes
If you are planting seed potatoes in the ground or in a raised bed, you should prepare your garden beds a few weeks before planting. Work the soil so that you can dig a trench about 20-30 cm’s deep. Potatoes are known to be heavy feeders so be sure to add some organic matter to ensure you have good fertile soil.
If you are planning to grow your potatoes in large pots, that works really well too! But remember, you do not have to grow potatoes in fancy garden planters. Any large containers will work such as garbage cans, plastic totes or 5 gallon buckets. Just be sure to drill some drainage holes into the bottoms of your containers. It’s important to have good drainage because if potatoes become water-logged, they are more susceptible to attacks from various microorganisms in the soil. Loose, fertile, well-drained soil provides just the right growing conditions for potatoes. Also, in order to achieve a high yield, you will want to grow your potatoes in an area that receives full sun. Shady areas will not produce the best results.
When you plant your seed potatoes (also known as seed tubers), will depend on your climate and growing season. I live in a more northern climate (zone 6) and plant my potatoes in early spring right after the last frost date. Be sure to know when your first and last frost dates are, and plan accordingly. However, potatoes are a cool season crop and are therefore able to handle a light frost.
How To Plant Your Seed Tubers
Planting a good crop of potatoes is not hard at all! Unlike other seeds that are tiny and tedious to plant, potato seed pieces are literally whole potatoes! If your seed tubers are larger potatoes, you can cut them in half. Just make sure to do this a couple of days before you plant them. This allows the potato pieces to dry out, which prevents rot. When you cut them, do it so that each piece has at least one eye (sprout) on it. Small potatoes can be planted whole, and don’t need to be cut.
Step #1:
If you’re planting in the ground or in a raised bed, simply place your seed tubers in the prepared trench a few inches apart. Be sure the eyes are facing upwards. Cover with a few inches of soil, and water well.
If you’re using containers to grow your potatoes, place 2 or 3 potatoes in a smaller container, or simply space them a few inches apart in a larger one. Cover with soil and water them in.
Step #2:
Once the plants emerge from the soil and the potato leaves are a couple of inches high, hill the soil around the base of the plant. If growing in containers, plant your potatoes close to the bottom and then hill the soil up around the stem of the plant as it grows.
Hilling the soil allows more potatoes to grow off of the plant. It also protects the new potatoes growing under the soil by keeping them covered. If the sun hits your potatoes you will end up with green potatoes, which are toxic. You can also add some straw mulch around the base of your plants as well. This helps control the soil temperature and keeps the potatoes covered.
Step #3:
Keep your potatoes watered but not soggy. If potatoes become waterlogged, they can rot in the ground. Watering about twice each week (if there’s no rain), is plenty. If you’re getting quite a bit of wet weather, there’s no need to water manually.
Harvest Time
When it comes time to harvest potatoes around here, we get pretty excited! Harvesting potatoes always feels like a treasure hunt! Digging through the garden soil and seeing how many potatoes have developed underneath is so much fun. In fact, my kids love to dig for potatoes with me and we like to shout out to each other how many we find under each plant! We also enjoy finding some misshapen tubers here and there! There are always some that develop oddly, and that’s one of the fun quirks about home grown food! It doesn’t have to look perfect in order to be delicious!
For in ground or raised beds, start by pulling the stem out of the ground. There are usually some small potatoes attached to the base of that. Then, simply dig below the soil surface and retrieve all of your potatoes.
For container growing, harvesting is even easier! All you need to do is tip your container over and let the soil and potatoes fall out. Sift through and gather all of your delicious new potatoes.
When To Eat Home Grown Potatoes
If you’re wanting to keep your potatoes for long-term storage, it’s important to cure them for a couple of weeks first. This means letting them sit in a cool dark place. After they’ve cured, go through them and set aside any that have cuts or slits in them. Those ones aren’t ideal for long-term storage, so you should plan to use them right away.
However if you aren’t looking to store your potatoes, you can go ahead and use them right after you harvest them! The potato skins may be a bit thinner because they thicken up some during the curing process, but they’re perfectly good to eat! Again, just be sure to keep them in a cool dark place to avoid them turning green.
Learning how to grow potatoes is really very easy, and the plants are a beautiful addition to your garden! If this is your first time growing potatoes, don’t overthink it. They are a great root vegetable that requires very little maintenance. Happy planting!
Blessings!
~Maryann
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