Solanum tuberosum
This feature is dedicated to the beginner farmer. If this is the year you want to embark on growing your own food then what better food to grow than everyone’s favorite, the potato! Spuds have always been a crowd pleaser. Even in the Elizabethan era they were referred to as the “apple of love” and we can certainly see why. If it’s not enough that they are delicious and incredibly versatile, they are also very easy and fun to grow!
No yard? No problem. In fact, growing potatoes in containers can make certain that no potato is left behind at the end of season! First things first, you want to make sure that wherever you have to grow potatoes gets a lot of sun each day. Potatoes need 6 hours of good sunlight at a minimum to be fruitful. You also want to plant in loose, well draining soil. The potato we know and love is actually the tuber, or enlarged storage portion of the plant itself. If the soil is too compacted it will result in small and misshapen tubers. These tubers are storing vitamin C and potassium so the bigger the better!
So now that you have your spot picked out and soil amended you are ready to purchase your seed potatoes. Despite the name, they are not in fact seeds at all. You won’t find seed potatoes in the produce section of your grocery store either. You want to get seed potatoes from your friends at Moonfire. Our source is trusted and certified to be disease resistant. With 6 varieties to choose from you can be sure that your harvest will be bountiful. The first thing you want to do is “chit” your potatoes. Chitting is easy. Simply set them in a dry, sunny windowsill. This will encourage them to “eye out” as my grandmother used to say. This process can take anywhere from a week to a month depending on the conditions and the seed potato. Keep in mind though that it’s not a necessary step. If you have already started your potatoes everything is going to be just fine. If you are looking to grow an abundance of potatoes though this is a nice step to potentially double your seed potatoes. If your seed potato is larger than a golf ball and sprouts lots of eyes then you can be confident in splitting each one with a clean knife and planting them separately as individual plants.
However you choose to plant your potatoes whether in the ground or in a pot you will employ the mounding process! If planting in a container you want to plant your seed potatoes low about 4 inches from the bottom with their eyes up. If planting in the ground, you want to dig a nice deep trench about 2-3 feet deep. As the potato plant grows you take this leap of faith and cover up the plant almost entirely so that more potatoes can grow in that section! It’s thrilling! Each time your plants reach 6 inches or so you cover them up with nutrient rich soil leaving just a few leaves poking out of the top of the mound. You continue to do this until you either run out of room in the pot or the plants have reached each other in width in your trench.
However you choose to plant your potatoes whether in the ground or in a pot you will employ the mounding process! If planting in a container you want to plant your seed potatoes low about 4 inches from the bottom with their eyes up. If planting in the ground, you want to dig a nice deep trench about 2-3 feet deep. As the potato plant grows you take this leap of faith and cover up the plant almost entirely so that more potatoes can grow in that section! It’s thrilling! Each time your plants reach 6 inches or so you cover them up with nutrient rich soil leaving just a few leaves poking out of the top of the mound. You continue to do this until you either run out of room in the pot or the plants have reached each other in width in your trench.
Don’t forget to water! Potatoes do take a lot of water. Dry soil will result in small and funky looking potatoes. Start out with moderate watering and as your plants become more lush you want to increase your watering regime. Once the plants mature enough to turn yellow or die back you can stop watering.
OK now for the real fun of harvesting time! If you plant now then you should be able to harvest some potatoes for your fourth of July festivities. That is usually how it works for us anyway. Depending on sunlight and soil quality your results may differ. We personally like to grow potatoes in a container. We like it because when we’re ready to harvest we simply dig our hands down and root around in the container carefully fishing around for the largest options growing down below. It’s sort of like an Easter egg hunt with a blind fold on. Very fun and highly recommended to get kids involved with helping in the garden. You can leave the little ones down there to keep maturing. Nearing the end of the season when the foliage is starting to turn yellow and the weather is cooling down you can pull the entire plant up and harvest everything left. Bon appetit!
