Growing potatoes

Try growing potatoes in straw.

Firs of all prepare your potatoes seeds.

Just cut the potatoes, leaving several eyes on each piece and let them dry for about two days before plant them.

During this time find some decent soil, and a container.

Some gardeners often use a bushel basket or garbage can. Your container can be as large as you want. It is important to be sure that container has drainage holes.

Once you have your container place it in sunny spot you plan to leave it during the growing season. The location you choose should get six to eight hours of sun.

Add 6 inches of dirt to the bottom of the container.

Put the potato seeds in the soil and cover then water it properly. In about a week you will see new growth coming out of the ground.

When the growth is about 6 inches tall, cover with straw. Repeat this process several times during the summer.

The potatoes will get new roots in the straw and in turn will produce more potatoes. You save time, space and digging using this method.

Additionally there are two benefits.

Since the potatoes grow in straw they are dirt free and very clean. The other benefit is that when using this method you don’t get potato bugs.

Growing potatoes in straw and a container, you always have small potatoes to use and they are very easy to harvest, just pull the straw back and pick them. You also can grow a new crop of potatoes mid summer.

Try growing potatoes in straw.

You will enjoy it. This growing process really saves space and makes growing potatoes fun.

Potatoes varieties can be categorized by maturity class: early, mid-season, late.

Also potatoes categorized by use (baking, frying, boiling), or tuber skin characteristics (russet, smooth, or colored).

When selecting varieties take into account your growing environment, primary use, and how much you space have available to grow the potato plants.

Most garden centers and nurseries carry varieties that produce high quality, productive seed tubers adapted to local conditions.

Russet skin type: Butte, Gem Russet, Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank Smooth skin type: Chipeta, Katahdin, Kennebec, Colored: All Blue, Caribe (blue), Cranberry Red, Red Norland, Red Pontiac, Rose Finn, Viking.

For growing potatoes in your garden choose scab resistant varieties.

Here are some that we suggest to try

Estima 

This flavorful yellow potato is from the Netherlands & relatively new to Canada and USA. It is very popular because its nice flavor and and high crop. Flesh is yellow; tubers are oval and large.

Norland

This is our most popular seed potato. It has smooth red skin and creamy white flesh and is early to mature. Very high yielding – excellent for baking, boiling, stores well. Norland is a red potato that has proven itself for generations, so remains extremely popular.

Red Pontiac

If you want a red potato that performs well in clay soil, this is the one to try. Early to mid-season yields.

Plant certified stock, and rotate where you grow your potatoes every 3-4 year. Grow potatoes as a popular food crop and improve your garden soil at the same time. Potatoes are nitrogen fixing and a great crop to grow in new residential yards.

For best yields plant potatoes in sunny location and fertile, well drained soil. You should plant potato seed pieces directly in the garden 14-21 days before the last frost date.

For earlier maturity, plant potatoes through black plastic mulch. Additional nitrogen fertilizer helps growing large plant.

Watering should be deep and frequent.

Organic mulches help conserve water, reduce weeding, and keep the soil cool during tuber growth. If you want to get large potatoes crop control of insect and diseases should be provided throughout the year.

Harvest potatoes as soon as tubers begin forming (new potatoes) or as they mature. Dig storage potatoes after the vines have died, cure them for 2-3 weeks, and then store the tubers in the dark at 40-45ºF.

Soil Preparation for growing potatoes

For best growth and big crop potatoes need organic, rich, well-drained, sandy soil. Before planting, incorporate up to 2-4 inches of well-composted organic matter and 1.5 pounds of all-purpose fertilizer (16-16-8 or 10-10-10) per 100 square feet.

Plant potatoes seed into the top 6 inches of soil.

Planting potatoes

Potatoes are grown primarily from whole or partial seed tubers. Using certified seed will help reduce the potential for introducing disease into the garden. If the seed tuber is particularly large, it can be cut into smaller pieces.

When cutting, make sure the seed piece weighs at least 2 ounces and has one or more “eyes.” You will need 8-10 pounds of seed potatoes for every 100 feet of planted row. Tubers should be planted in the garden 2-3 weeks before the last frost.