Growing Potatoes
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This year (2009) I hope to harvest at least 300 top quality tubers from my garden. That will include 3 different varieties plus one freebee variety for me to try out.
It's truly heartening to see my potatoes growing up strong and healthy - just a little work has made a big difference and now I can look forward to dinner.
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On these links I've written about:
- growing potatoes in bags, containers and no-dig raised beds,
- selecting potato varieties to grow,
- preparing to plant potato tubers by chitting sprouting),
- planting & maintaining the crop in the garden,
- harvesting & storing potatoes.
The information below describes: a suitable garden site for growing potatoes - the planting season - 'earlies' to 'maincrop', how to prepare your ground, and organic potato fertilizer.
I enjoy the furrow and ridge growing method best because it's good for my garden maintenance. But in fact you don't need a garden for growing potatoes.
Successful alternatives over hard surfaces include:-
- potato bags and containers - I will be planting up 3 containers for earlies and re-plant in summer,
- or the easiest way - by no-dig raised beds with sheeting or newspaper. You can also grow potatoes while cleaning a weedy garden patch.
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are cool season crops. In the U.K. they're grown from spring to autumn and categorised by planting time into:-
- 'First Early' planted in late February when the ground is no longer ice-bound and winter wet has drained, - plant whole tubers after chitting (sprouting) indoors,
- 'Second Early' planted in March when the first weeds are pushing through,
- When frost threatens cover rows with fleece. Remove protection during the day to warm soil and expose pests,
- First and second early take less room than maincrop and crop in about 75 days,
- 'Main Crop' planted from late March onwards - later on you don't need to chit the tubers and they can be sectioned into pieces containing about 2 buds for planting.
- 'Maincrop' takes about 135-160 days to crop.
Site and Soil for Potatoes
Choose a site that's open to plenty of light. Poor light will certainly reduce yields.The soil should be well-drained, but moisture retentive. Cold wet soils don't perform well. Rows running north-south warm up on both sides and reduce intercrop shadow to a minimum.
Also potatoes like slightly acid soils - lime causes scab so don't lime before potatoes.
If you have a cold wet or dry lime/chalky soil then I suggest growing potatoes on a rounded ridge (windrow) formed from garden compost, well-rotted manure and the like.
Preparing Ground For Growing Potatoes and applying Potato Fertilizer
PREPARING THE POTATO BEDPotato plants are heavy feeders so a good dose of well-rotted manure plus organic fertilizer is called for. Don't overdo nitrogen fertilizer as this makes lots of leaves and no potatoes.
A month to 6 weeks before planting fork about a 3-4"/10cm depth of manure into the top 6"/20cm along your intended potato rows. Also, work in a band of:
organic potato fertilizer U.K.
. You could also try seaweed meal (
Kelp Meal America
). I've given mine a watering of liquid seaweed before planting. Later when fresh comfrey leaves are available you can add them to provide potassium. Nutrients can improve growing potatoes from day 1 and doing this now gives the organic fertilizer time to become available to plant roots. Try this link for
a range of organic fertilizers & composts available in America
Then use a draw hoe to make a trench about 5"/13cm deep and work just a little more organic fertilizer into the bottom of the trench.
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30cm (12") apart in rows 60cm (24") apart for earlies
37cm (15") apart in rows 75cm (30") apart for second earlies
45cm (18") apart in rows 75cm (30") apart for Maincrop.
Planting is described below.
Potato plants can be grown in well-rotted garden compost trenches as long as they are not saturated. Fresh compost risks an attack by soil pests like millipedes or slugs.
As they grow the potato plants are 'earthed-up' (hilled) drawing soil up the stems as they grow.
Find more on selecting seed potatoes, chitting (or sprouting) tubers, sectioning, planting, earthing-up and feeding the crop on this link. Check out Organic Fertilizers here.
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The big plus with proprietery multi-purpose or loam based compost in containers is that the plants are isolated from garden pests like slugs, eelworm etc…
Another plus – containers in a warm and light situation produce earlier potatoes. You may even have time to re-plant with a late crop – this is the ideal way to use them.
Containers like those pictured need to go in a wind sheltered spot and stake and string supports need to be made.
GROWING POTATOES ON THE COMPOST HEAP
If your compost heap has cooled down and fully matured then you could plant seed potatoes straight into it.
There's more on growing in potato bins and containers here.
Note - fully matured means not populated by woodlice and slugs which may eat the potatoes (worms no problem). A compost trench might be used given the same proviso. The slightly acid conditions favour potatoes.
TIPS:-
(1) Grow 'earlies' in containers sited in a warm spot or initially covered (The greenhouse is a good place to start them off). Note: large containers are too heavy to move out later when filled. Greenhouse tomato hygiene is important.
(2) Re-plant the containers with a late crop to harvest at Christmas.
(3) If you want more potatoes grow a main crop in the soil by furrow and ridge.
Find out about harvesting potatoes here.
More information on growing potatoes will be added to this page soon on preparing the site, feeding the potatoes, disease etc...
BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN - more information and links
