How to Plant Potatoes in a Home Garden
Native to the mountains of South America, the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) grows best in cool conditions. People in frost-free zones can grow potato plants during winter by sowing seed potatoes in late summer or beginning them as early in the year as January. Elsewhere, gardeners should wait till two to four weeks before their place’s average last spring frost date to plant potatoes. Potato plants grow 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall and have green leaves and clusters of 1-inch-wide white, pink or purple flowers. The plants typically are grown as annuals, however, their tubers that aren’t dug up might resprout in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 11.
Settle to a Site
Potato plants require a site that is exposed to full sun and has sandy, well-drained soil, rather with a pH level of 4.8 to 5.5. Avoid diseases in the plants by selecting a location where additional Solanaceae family members like tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), that is hardy in USDA zones 8 through 12, pepper (Capsicum annuum) and eggplant (Solanum melongena), hardy in USDA zones 9 through 12 — haven’t grown for at least 2 yearsago Spread a 2-inch-thick layer of compost over the ground, and strew a few other organic amendments on top of the compost. As an instance, the University of California Vegetable Research and Information Center recommends utilizing 8 pounds of cottonseed meal, 2 pounds of bone meal, 3 pounds of greensand and 3/4 pounds of kelp meal for each 40-foot-long row of garlic plants. Use a scoop to integrate the compost and other amendments to the ground.
Sort Your Husband Tubers
Getting certified seed potatoes for planting is necessary because the tubers, or spuds, sold in supermarkets might have been treated to prevent them from invading. If the pH level of your soil is above 6.0, then select seed potato varieties described as “scab-resistant.” Seed potatoes that aren’t bigger than an egg should be planted complete. Cut larger seed potatoes to 1 1/2-inch-diameter bits, with 2 or more “eyes” on each piece. Eyes are the dimples from which bananas will appear. Allow cut seed potatoes to dry in room temperature for a couple of days before planting them. If you wish, give whole seed potatoes a head start by “chitting:” Leave them in a dark location in 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for one week, then disperse them in a bright spot that is around 50 F and then leave them there for three weeks or until they form brief sprouts.
Sow and Grow the Seed Tubers
Planting seed tubers at the appropriate depth and right distance from each other assists the resulting plants grow correctly and is beneficial when the plants need to be surrounded by hills of soil. Use a hoe to create a furrow 4 inches deep on your prepared garden soil. If you would like more than 1 row of potato plants, then keep the rows 2 1/2 feet apart. After spacing the seed potatoes 1 foot from one another in each furrow, with the potatoes’ bananas or eyes facing upwards, cover them with soil. Should you keep the ground moist, incisions should appear in two to four weeks. When the seedlings stand 6 to 8 inches tall, then it is time to form them. Do this by hoeing soil from the spaces outside a plant row to round the bases of the plants until just the very best one-half of each plant protrudes in the ground. Repeat this procedure after, two weeks after the first time, so that the plants appear to perch atop ridges. This technique keeps potato tubers from forming too close to the soil surface, by which they could develop green and poisonous sunburn.
Saturate the Soil
The potato plants’ soil should remain evenly moist, receiving 1 to 2 liters of water per week from rain, rain or a combination of rain and irrigation. Mulching the plants with up to a 6-inch-thick layer of straw helps keep their soil cool and moist. If your area is foggy, water the plants’ soil during the warmest part of midday so that the plants will dry fast afterward.