Thinking About Growing Potatoes?
Potatoes are usually reserved for traditional vegetable gardens. Although it's possible, they are generally not grown in containers. Potatoes come in a wide variety of sizes and varieties. They are usually ready for harvest 90-125 days after planting.For our purposes, we will divide potatoes into two main categories:
There is a significant difference in the way each type of potato is grown and the type of potatoes they produce. 
Regular Potatoes - These are standard potatoes that come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. This category includes potatoes that are red, yellow, white or even purple in color. They can be harvested early for "new" potatoes, or left in the ground to reach their maximum size. Regular potatoes require cooler weather for successful growing. Most are planted before the last frost. Regular, compact plants are visible above the soil. After harvesting,they can be eaten immediately. Regular potatoes are planted in the garden using seed potatoes. These are basically mini-potatoes that have 1-2 eyes. Seed potatoes are available at most garden centers. You should choose only certified seed potatoes because they have been specifically selected to be disease-resistant. Growing potatoes from certified seed potatoes will also, more than likely, produce a larger crop. Theoretically, you could purchase a regular potato from the grocery store, cut it up into pieces, plant it, and be able to grow potatoes. However, these commercially produced potatoes have been chemically treated to prevent them from sprouting. They are also more susceptible to various potato diseases. You'll have much better results if you purchase and plant only certified seed potatoes. After purchasing seed potatoes and approximately 2 weeks before planting them, you should set the tubers with the eyes facing up in a warm (65+ degrees) location that gets lots of sunshine. Spray them with water every other day. They should begin to sprout within a week. When you see these sprouts, the growing potatoes process has officially begun. 
Sweet Potatoes - These are potatoes that have an orange, sweet flesh. Sweet potatoes like hot weather and are usually not harvested before reaching maximum size. They require at least a 4 month growing season. Sweet potatoes are best grown in a sandy type soil. They produce vine-like plants that are visible above the ground. These vines will run several feet long. Therefore, sweet potatoes require plenty of garden space to grow. After harvesting, sweet potatoes are usually cured for approximately 2 weeks before eating. This curing process brings out the sweetness of the potato.Sweet potatoes are grown from sprouts that emerge from a sweet potato that you would buy in a grocery store. These sprouts are called slips. To get slips, purchase an organic sweet potato from the grocery store. This should usually be done in mid-January to allow enough time to develop the slips before planting time. Leave the sweet potato in your pantry. Once it begins to sprout, submerge the unsprouted end in a jar of water. When you are ready to plant the slips in your garden, use a knife or shears to cut them from the sweet potato. Try to cut as close the the potato as possible. Remember which end of the sprout was attached to the potato as this is the end of the sprout that will be inserted into the soil. The following links should answer all of your questions about growing potatoes. 
Click here for information about planting potatoesClick here for a list of potato varieties Click here to learn about watering and mulching potato plants Click here for information about fertilizing potatoes 
Click here for information about harvesting potatoesClick here for potato recipes Click here to leave the Growing Potatoes section and return to our Home page
|
Potato Quick Links
Planting potatoes
Watering potatoes
Fertilizing potatoes
Harvesting potatoes
Potato varieties
Potato recipes
Growing Potatoes main page