How to Plant Potatoes in a Garden

Potato is one of the most staple foods in the human diet, loved by people of all age groups around the world. Potatoes grow underground but they are not roots. Potatoes belong to the group of storage stems which are labeled as 'tubers'. More than a hundred types of potatoes are known and white (very light brown) and red-skinned potatoes with white flesh, are commonly found in home vegetable gardens.

Tips for Planting Potatoes in Your Garden

Potatoes are very easy to grow, you just need to have a little bit of patience. Of course you need to take proper care of seed potatoes. Seed potatoes can be obtained with the help of garden companies sites on Internet or you can directly buy them at local garden centers.

Always use certified seed potatoes that grow well, and not those you get from the nearby supermarket. Once you receive them, open the packet and spread the potatoes over a tray and keep them aside in a ventilated room, for a few hours. Seed potatoes that are free from blemishes are considered to be the best.

The first thing you need to know is that you are expected to plant potatoes at the right time as they prefer cool weather. Taking into consideration that it takes potatoes two to three weeks to emerge from the ground, you should plant them accordingly. When to plant potatoes depends on the weather. Check the freeze/frost probability for your state. You are expected to plant seed potatoes about fifteen days before the last predicted freeze date of 28 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for your state. You may plant them a few days later as well. If you have kept the seeds in the refrigerator, a week before your planting date, take the seeds out and place them in a bright warm window for about a week.

Potatoes can grow in different types of soil. Well drained soil is considered to be suitable to plant potatoes. Potatoes should not be planted when the ground is icy. Potatoes can grow in cool soil and light frost but the growth will not be satisfactory until the soil warms up a bit.

If the question of how deep to plant potatoes in a garden is lurking in your mind, then you should remember that the holes made to plant potato seeds should be around eight inches deep. You are supposed to plant your whole or cut seed potatoes, six to eight inches deep in good, rich soil. A minimum distance of three feet should be left between two rows of potatoes and there should be a distance of twelve inches between two consecutive potato seeds within each row.

How Your Potato Crop Can be of Better Quality

If your potato crop was affected by scab (rough ugly patches on the skin of the potatoes) in the past, then you may want to toss a few dry pine needles beneath your seed potatoes as this will definitely help avoid scab. Remember, it is necessary to move your potatoes to a different section of the garden each year, in order to prevent further scab infection. Choose a sunny location. You may add some fertilizer to the soil in the upper portion.

Potato plants might take one to three weeks to emerge from the soil. This period may vary according to the warmth of the soil and the weather. Once the plants grow about a foot tall, take a hoe, and make a continuous heap of soil, about six to eight inches high, along the entire row of plants. This procedure is known as 'hilling', which ensures that the potatoes will grow deeply under the soil, away from sunlight which would make them turn green. Potatoes will be bitter, if the inedible green parts are not discarded. You need to water the growing plants evenly and regularly because a dry period after a rainy spell might cause some potato varieties (especially Yukon Gold) to develop a hollow core.

Potato beetle is another big problem. The deep orange colored larvae and pale orange colored adult beetles feed on potato foliage and can destroy the foliage. This might reduce your harvest considerably. You are supposed to examine the undersides of leaves and whenever you notice beetle's yellow eggs, you should crush them. Larvae and adults when small in number, can be crushed. To control widespread infestation, you can use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). It is very safe to use and it won't affect the nutritional value of potatoes.

About eight weeks after planting, (the period might vary according to the variety of potatoes), you can begin to harvest small new potatoes. The plants will start blooming and you will be able to dig the entire crop, once the foliage dries and dies back, in the fall. Store the potatoes in a cool, dry and dark place but first, let the outer surfaces of the freshly dug potatoes dry a bit. For this, you may spread them in a dry spot but remember, you should not spread them directly under the sun. For example, you may spread the potatoes in a garage or shed, for a couple of days.

Growing potatoes in bags and tires are a few examples of innovative ways of growing potatoes indoor. These can be helpful for people who dwell in cities and do not have garden space. Freshly harvested potatoes taste better than any you'll buy at a grocery store. Planting potatoes is quite an easy task and it is fun to produce good quality potatoes in your own garden!