Potatoes are vegetables that almost everyone loves, which is why we decided to write a blog on how to grow your very own potatoes in your garden.
If you have these three things, you can grow potatoes almost anywhere:
- Proper Sunlight
- Fertile Soil
- 1 inch water per week
If you have established that you have these three things available at home, you can follow the rest of the directions to harvest your very own potatoes.
Step 1: Where to grow?
Find a container, pot, or an area in your garden that you can allocate to potatoes.
Step 2: Getting your Seeds
Begin by purchasing organic, disease-free seed potatoes. (Sprout-retardant-treated potatoes from the grocery store are not acceptable for planting.) Otherwise, simply set them out on your kitchen counter to pre-sprout. Potatoes that have been pre-sprouted can be harvested a few weeks earlier than their non-sprouted counterparts.
Step 3: Preparing your Seed
Only little potatoes, around the size of a golf ball, should be sown intact.
Large tubers should be cut into pieces. The rationale for chopping the potatoes is that a huge potato with numerous eyes (the little bumps from which sprouts emerge) would produce a crowded, multi-stemmed plant with each stem contending for food and moisture, resulting in only little potatoes bearing.
Step 4: Warm your Seeds
Put them out in the sun for three to five days, or place them on a table or counter in a warm (approximately 70°F), reasonably light environment. This stage allows the cuts to harden into calluses. Seed potatoes that have been calloused will assist in avoiding decay.
Step 5: How to Plant Potatoes?
In a six-inch-deep hole or trench, plant seed potato segments cut-side down (eyes up). Space each piece 12 inches apart, on all sides. Sprinkle 6 teaspoons of a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer between each section. After that, cover both the potatoes and the fertilizer with two inches of the same soil and water it thoroughly.
Step 6: Make Small Soil Hills around the Plant
When the green sprouts reach 8 inches in height, cover them with fresh soil. However, leave the top 4 inches as it is. When the potato plants have grown another 8 inches, repeat the process again. When the vines blossom, it is time to stop doing this.
The much thickened underground part of the stem require darkness to survive. In fact, if they are exposed to light, they will turn green. A green potato, on the other hand, can make you ill if you eat it. As a result, it is critical to keep them covered with soil or mulch.
Step 7: Harvest!
If you reach into the soil or mulch two weeks after the vines have bloomed, you can get a few tiny potatoes. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait till the vines have died back. It can be assumed that the potatoes have achieved maturity when the vines die. With your hands, reach into the container/pot/garden soil and pull the stems up.
Step 8: Post-Harvest
After taking out the potatoes, you let them dry for a few hours on top of the raised beds, as shown. This brief drying time toughens and prepares their skin for preservation. The potatoes should then be carefully brushed free of any loose dirt and placed in double-thickness paper bags.
Step 9: Eat your Potatoes
Thank you for going through this article. Let us know if you ever decide to plant potatoes. If you need any help, you can call us at our free helpline: 051-111 547 726.