One potato is better than two.Potatoes are easy to grow.All you need to do is plant a seeding potato in a sunny patch in your yard or large pot on your back deck and wait five months for the potatoes to mature.Once they have grown up, dig, eat, and enjoy!
Step 1: There is lots of sun in your yard.
Potatoes grow best with 8 hours of sunlight a day, but they don't do well with too much heat.Plants will be exposed to sunlight but not baking in the heat if you pick a spot in your garden.They can handle slightly hotter temperatures in the summer if they are not exposed to direct sunlight for more than a few hours a day.It's best to plant in late spring.Depending on where you live, expert gardeners recommend planting potatoes around the time of last expected frost.
Step 2: Purchase seed potatoes at a garden supply store.
Only specially-grown seed potatoes from a garden supply store are the best way to grow potatoes.Regular potatoes from a grocery store are often treated with pesticides which can spread disease through your whole crop, so if you want to grow your own potatoes, you can either order your seed from the catalog or the garden store.You can find a variety of seed potatoes, fromrusset to fingerling.You can order any type of potato they don't already have in the store, and the garden supply store will have options for you to choose from.
Step 3: Before planting, allow the sprout to grow for a week.
Unlike most grocery store potatoes, seed potatoes have small protuberances.The buds of new potato plants are formed by these sprouts.Put your seed potatoes in a bowl on your kitchen counter and leave them there for a week.You have one week to grow your sprout between 4 inch (0.64 cm) and 1.3 cm in length.That means they are close to being planted.
Step 4: Cut the potatoes into sections.
Any spud larger than a golf ball should be cut into smaller pieces about 2 inches wide, each with at least two sprout.Just cutting the potatoes in half will do.Leave the cut potatoes in the warm spot for an additional 3 days before planting.
Step 5: Fertilizing the plant site is necessary.
Compost can be raked using a garden fork.Work out any clumps until the dirt is airy and free of clumps.If you don't cover yourfertilizer with at least 2 inches of soil, it could damage your potato roots.If you don't have compost, you can buy a balanced commercialfertilizer, superphosphate, or bonemeal at the garden supply store.
Step 6: The potatoes should be planted in holes that are at least 30 cm apart.
If you want to point up toward the sun, place your halved potatoes down in 4 in (10 cm)-deep holes with the eye.It's best to cover with soil and water well.You should provide your potatoes with 2 inches of water per week.They prefer their soil to be moist.
Step 7: The potatoes need to be raised after five weeks.
Place soil around the stems to create a 1 foot incline on either side.New potatoes will grow above the old ones.You can either cover the entire plant with soil or leave the leaves exposed, as their changing color can signal the potatoes' growth.It will protect baby potatoes from being exposed to sunlight.
Step 8: After 100 days, harvest your potatoes.
Around five months after their plant-date, your potatoes will begin to show signs of maturing.It is almost time to harvest the leaves because they will turn yellow and die back.Leave them in the soil for another 3 weeks, then dig them up with a pitchfork and gather them with your hands.If you leave the potatoes in the ground for a while, they will grow large enough to be eaten after 10 weeks.
Step 9: 1/3 of a large, deep pot should be filled with potting soil.
The bigger the pot, the better, but at a minimum it should be 10 gallons for 3-6 seed potatoes.If you want to grow more than 6 seed potatoes, you should buy a barrel-sized pot.A large drainage hole is also required for your pot.Black plastic pots from the garden store work well for growing potatoes, as the black color holds in warmth and the bottoms have built-in drainage.
Step 10: Plant seed potatoes 6 inches apart.
The edge of the pot is where your potatoes should not be touching.When planted, cover them with 6 inches (15 cm) of soil.The liquid begins to drain from the bottom.If you leave the pot on the front or back deck, it will be exposed to up to 8 hours of sunlight per day.The minimum amount of space in which your potato can grow is 6 inches (15 cm).
Step 11: If the top 2 inches of the soil becomes dry, water your potatoes.
If you want to know if it's time to water, stick a finger into the top of the soil.It's time to water if it feels dry.Continue until the water begins to drain from the bottom of the pot.If you live in a hotter climate, your soil will need to be watered more often.Twice a day.
Step 12: As your potatoes shoot out of the soil, add potting soil.
Continue to add soil as long as you don't expose more than 1 inch of the sprout.You can mix your soil with a commercial mixture from the garden store.
Step 13: When the leaves turn yellow, it's a good time to harvest potatoes.
Potted potatoes will reach maturity after 18 weeks.If you want to harvest your tubers, you have to dig them out of the pot.If there are white, mushy spots on the potato's skin, it means that the potatoes are not safe to eat.They should have tight, firm skins.