You just ca n’t beat the taste of potatoes reinvigorated from your own garden . Here ’s how to constitute white potato for openhanded harvest home this summer .
When to plant potatoes
cum murphy are reasonably cold - tolerant and can go in the ground in early spring when soil temperature reach 50 degrees F — about the time dandelions are blooming . But protect any new leafage from late hoarfrost withlandscape fabricor an previous flat solid . scathe caused to the leafage may not toss off the plant but could set it back so you do n’t get as many potatoes as you would have otherwise .
Potatoes do best with full sun and well - drained soil . Do n’t worry if your grime is n’t bully , we have a couple of alternative farm technique for you further down the page .
What to plant
Instead of planting the seed from Irish potato flowers , you ’ll get loose and quicker result by planting cut - up patch or small - sized tuber called " seeded player potato " . Get certified disease - free come potatoes from local or online nurseries in former spring . you’re able to also cut up the single that are shoot in the pantry .
Which type of potato should I grow?
Sure , you may find a few type of Irish potato in the grocery store , but grow your own and the options rocket — large , small , farsighted , stubby , crimson , blue or yellow - there ’s a potato for every taste . Local garden shopping mall often have several types , but if you want to experiment , you might explore the offerings of a few of the on-line sources listed below . Potatoes fall into the six chassis and colour categories express in the chart and admit lots of variety in each one . You ’ll find tried - and - trueheirloomsthat have been around for generations , new varieties with improved taste or disease and pest resistance and everything in between .
Once you get your spud in the kitchen , what it looks like on the outside is n’t as authoritative as the midland grain — the mix of amylum and water — that tells you how to cook it . Floury Solanum tuberosum have more starch than water so they ’re sound for baking ; waxy ones have more urine than starch and agree up well insaladsor during roasting . All - function potatoes , as the name implies , are the most versatile and will work for any of your cookery creations . Read the catalogue description of each sort to find the potato ’s texture .
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How to prepare seed potatoes for planting
Chitting potatoes
You may want to give presprouting , or “ chitting , ” a try : It give potatoes a head set forth and may increase your harvest . The end of the potato with dimples is the seed stop where most of the growth will come from .
With the seed terminate up , set murphy or piece in a touch that persist around 70 point F and gets collateral visible light . I think the egg cartonful above is a great fashion to oblige the potatoes up ( and also move them to the garden later ) . Once you see light , stubby sprout in a hebdomad or two , they ’re ready to go in the garden . But do n’t wait too long — leggy sprout are fragile and break out off easily .
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How to plant potatoes with the hilling method
Hilling is agreat means to produce potatoes , whether they ’re in rows or just a few plant life . Take a look at the representative and how - to steps below .
How to plant potatoes in a box or bag
get spud in a tumid boxwood fill up with compost orpotting mix- no hilling needed . utilize any packing loge at least 18 inch thick with the bottom intact , and shut down the top flaps into the box for structural stableness . To control it did n’t fall in before the season ’s end , I used a second loge inside the first .
Do n’t have a loge ? No problem . Just tear open a pocketbook ofpotting grease , poke some holes in the bottom for water to drain and plant your potatoes !
Common potato problems
For home gardeners , white potato are unremarkably pretty vexation - free — but the slideshow below will help you with some of the more common problems .
Potato rat
job : Potato blackleg make raised corked and pitted arena on the tuber that have to be abbreviate off .
solvent : Rotate crop , grow immune varieties and purchase seeded player potatoes that are license disease - liberal .
Late blight
Problem : later blight induce wound that kill foliation and damage tubers .
Solution : Rotate crop : Give arise areas a three- year sleep between potato crop .
Colorado spud overhang
Problem : Colorado murphy beetles exhaust leaf .
Solution : Hand pluck grownup and eggs on the back of leaves and bolt down them . Or utilise a pesticide safe for use on edibles , such as Sevin . ®
