You will find that growing potatoes can be very exciting and fun to do. It is also very easy to do. Here are eight tips that you can use if you want to start growing them in your garden!
Potatoes can grow well and healthy if they are exposed to the full sunlight. Since they are considered to be root vegetables, they can produce great crops when they are planted in the well drained, loose and light soil. You may need to prepare the soil with slight acid composition of 5.0 up to 7.0 pH soil.
The Right Time to Plant Potatoes
You can start growing potatoes in spring. However, you need to pay attention to the soil temperature. You need to make sure that the soil temperature is already within 45 degrees F before planting the crops. The soil needs to be moist but not too water logged.
Cut the Potatoes before Planting Them
One week or two weeks before planting, you need to place the seedlings in the location with the temperature and light in 60 or 70 degrees F. It will help with the sprouting. One day or two before the planting schedule, you need to cut the large seed potatoes into several small pieces. Make sure that the size of each piece should be 2 inches square. This piece needs to contain one or two buds.
You can plant the seeds in rows. You can start digging 6 or 8 inches depth trench. Then, plant the seeds with the spacing of 12 to 15 inches away from each other. You can make three rows and make sure that each row needs to be separated for about 3 feet. if you have smaller planting area, you can reduce the spacing among the seeds.
You can water the plants regularly during the summer especially when the flowers have grown. You need to water them regularly during this period. If the foliage have become yellow and die, you can stop the watering. It is to help the potatoes to cure themselves during the harvest time.
You can harvest the baby potatoes after two or three weeks of the planting producing the flowers. You can dig the soil carefully if you want to eat fresh potatoes and make sure not to be much disturbing. Make sure to take the bigger ones and leave the small ones so that they can continue growing.
You can store your potatoes in your underground cellar. You can also find the location which is cool, dark and ventilated for them. Make sure that the temperature is about 35 up to 40 degrees F.
Save the Seed Stock
You can also save the potato seeds for some generations. You can save the best potatoes for the planting. You may find that as the time goes by, the size of the potatoes start to decrease. It is very typical to happen.