Tips for Growing Potatoes

While you can buy potatoes from stores, you can also grow nutritious and organic varieties in your own vegetable garden. They are quite easy to cultivate in abundance. You can even grow them in containers.

Potato is a starchy tuber with multiple buds on its surface - the buds have the potential to grow into a full potato plant. It is a cool-season vegetable ideal for planting just prior to the last winter frost.

Here are some tips on growing potatoes.

• You have to plant 'seed potatoes' to grow potato plants. These are potatoes which can develop buds and eventually form shoots. While the potatoes from your grocery store can also form buds, they are not a good choice for cultivation. They are treated with growth retardants to increase their shelf-life and prevent them from growing.

Certified seed potatoes for different varieties of the vegetable are available in nurseries.

• Prepare your seed potatoes 2-3 weeks prior to plantation. Place them in a warm humid area in your home. This will make the potatoes sprout multiple buds. When the sprouts are about ½" in length, your potato is ready to be planted. You can plant the entire potato but a large mass is more susceptible to underground rotting. So instead, cut off potato chunks with 2-3 sprouts in each chunk. Plant each chunk with the sprouts facing upwards. You can also treat the seed potatoes or the chunks with fungicide to prevent rot. Bigger the chunks, greater the nutrition for your potato seedlings.

• Prepare your garden or container soil for growing potatoes. Let the soil be loose enough to be well aerated and drainage-friendly. Mix organic compost and peat to have a growing medium with a pH slightly below 6. Plant the seed potato chunks 8"-10" deep in the soil. Or make a soil hill and plant the potato in it. Add some mulch to thwart weeds and retain moisture.

• Water the potato plants adequately. Ensure good drainage. Water accumulation can cause rot.

• Fertilize the potato plants once in 3-4 weeks with an organic fertilizer.

• Regularly examine the crops for infestations and egg colonies. Potato beetles are annoying pests which can be hand-picked from potato plants. Place an aluminum foil at the base of the plants to keep pests like leaf hoppers away. High soil pH can cause rough spots called scabs on your vegetables. Replenish your soil periodically with organic compost to control its pH.

• When the foliage turns yellow, it is time to harvest your vegetables. You can also harvest them sooner for baby potatoes. Expect a harvest in 3-4 months from the time of seeding.

Every year, rotate your crops. Do not grow potatoes in a place where vegetables like tomatoes were cultivated in the past couple of years, as these crops share the same pests and similar diseases.