How to Grow Potatoes
There are various ways to grow tasty, nutrient-packed potatoes, all of which are reasonably easy and straightforward. Choose the variety that works best for you and follow these instructions for the perfect crop of root vegetables.
Potatoes can be grouped according to how long they take to mature. There are three types – early, second early and main crop. If you grow a selection of all three, you can harvest potatoes from June to October.
Chitting to start a potato crop
Never plant shop-bought potatoes – you risk introducing diseases to your plot. Buy seed potatoes, which you can either plant directly or chit beforehand.
Chitting calls for placing seed potatoes in a cool, dry, light place for a couple of weeks before planting them in the ground. This important step allows them to start sprouting, which will help produce a better crop.
To chit:
Examine the potatoes carefully to find the side with the most eyes. Place the potatoes in single layers in trays so that the eyes are facing upwards.
Store them in a cool, frost-free place out of direct sunlight. Each eye will protrude a shoot.
As the shoots grow, keep the potatoes cool and check that the shoots look healthy and plump. Rub away any spindly, weak ones.
When the shoots are 1.5-2.5cm long, they’re ready to plant.
Planting your potato seedlings
Plant earlies in late March, second earlies in mid-April, and mains in late-April.
Mark out a trench with a taut line of string. Allow 60cm width for first and second earlies; allow 75cm for mains.
Dig the trench into a V shape about 8-15cm deep.
Add a generous layer of well-rotted organic matter to the bottom and incorporate it into the soil.
Place the chitted tubers, shoots up, in the bottom of the trench at 40cm intervals. Cover them with 13-15cm of soil.
Routine care to prevent disease and damage
If you suspect frost, cover the new shoots with a layer of soil or shredded newspaper. Make sure that tubers are not exposed to light, as this will cause them to become inedible. Keep potatoes moist once they’ve become established, or the roots might split.
Weed crops thoroughly, making sure that annual weeds are pulled out in the first weeks after planting your potatoes. Earth up your plans up at least a few times during the growing period. To do this, use a rake, hoe or spade to build up soil gently over the developing shoots. This protects them from frost and encourages higher yields.
Using the no-dig method for growing potatoes
This is a very simple way to grow potatoes. The advantages are that it eradicates slug problems and can help keep diseases like blight at bay.
Clear an area of all weeds and cover it in a layer of compost which is 9-12 inches thick.
Push your seed potatoes into the compost as far as you can with digging, with the same spacing stated earlier on.
Cover the area with black landscape fabric and pin it down.
As the shoots start to push up into the fabric, cut a slit for them to grow through.
When and how to harvest a potato crop
Harvest first earlies when the flowers have opened. Earlies should be lifted as close to eating as possible, because they’re still growing and full of carbohydrates which deteriorate quickly. Second earlies can be left as late as September, while mains should be lifted once the foliage has died back. Lift potatoes carefully using a fork. Be careful when using the fork: if you stab any spuds they will rot quickly.
Gardening Glossary
annuals
Plants that complete their entire life cycle within one growing season. The plant germinates from seed, grows and blooms, and then produces seed and dies.
Gardening Glossary
biennials
A plant that take two growing seasons to complete its life cycle. It germinates and grows leaves and stems in the first year; produces flowers and fruit (seed) in the second, and then dies.
Gardening Glossary
bolt
When a plant flowers or produces seed prematurely.
Gardening Glossary
cold frame
A wooden or concrete block box in which you can grow plants or hold dormant during the cold winter months.
Gardening Glossary
cole crops
A family of vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. They thrive in cooler weather.
Gardening Glossary
complete fertilizer
Any fertilizer that contains all three of the primary nutrients, N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Phrase is based on regulations governing the fertilizer industry. Does not mean that the fertilizer literally contains everything a plant needs to thrive.
Gardening Glossary
deadheading
The practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers
Gardening Glossary
evaporative-pad humidifier
A humidifier in which fans blow across a moisture-laden pad that sits in a reservoir of water.
Gardening Glossary
harden off
The process of acclimating plants grown indoors gradually to the brighter light and cooler temperatures of the outside world.
Gardening Glossary
hardiness
The ability of a plant to survive is called its hardiness.
Gardening Glossary
humus
A stable end product of organic-matter decomposition that's believed to increase microbial activity in soil, improve soil structure, and enhance the root development of plants.
Gardening Glossary
Bacillus thuringiensis Bt
An effective bacteria that attacks only the larvae of caterpillar family insects. It is safe to other insects, animals, and humans.
Gardening Glossary
macronutrients
Mineral nutrients that plants need in the largest quantities: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Gardening Glossary
mulch
Organic or inorganic material placed over the surface of soil, usually directly over the root zone of growing plants. Used to conserve moisture, kill weed seedlings, modify soil temperature, provide attractive covering to garden beds.
Gardening Glossary
organic matter
Once-living stuff like compost, sawdust, animal manure, ground bark, grass clippings, and leaf mold (composted tree leaves). Used to enrich soil and improve soil texture.
Gardening Glossary
perennials
Any plant with a life cycle of three or more years. Herbaceous (non-woody) perennials include flowering plants and herbs, mainly. Woody perennials include trees and shrubs. Longevity depends on the plant and growing conditions.
Gardening Glossary
pH
The measure of soil's acidity. Soil with low pH means it's too acidic; soil with high pH means it's alkaline. Most plants grow best in soil with a pH value between 6.5 and 7.2. Neutral soils measure 7.
Gardening Glossary
photosynthesis
The process through which plants take nutrients from the air and from the water in the soil to produce sugars that fuels the plant's growth.
Gardening Glossary
primary nutrients
Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are the three nutrients plants need in the largest quantities.
Gardening Glossary
root crops
Plants with edible underground roots such as onions, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips. Most root crops are cold-weather crops.
Gardening Glossary
self-blanching
A type of cauliflower with leaves that naturally curl over the head and exclude light. Requires cool temperatures for leaves to curl effectively.
Gardening Glossary
sets
Small onion bulbs, about 1/2-inch wide, that were started from seed the previous year. Grow onion sets with the pointy end up.
Gardening Glossary
side-dressing
The act of adding a small amount of fertilizer around or "on the side" of plants after they're growing.
Gardening Glossary
succession planting
Planting small, 2-to-4-foot patches of plants every two weeks throughout the growing season so that you can harvest a crop over an extended period of time.
Gardening Glossary
thinning
The act of cutting the least robust seedlings in your garden to give the healthier plants more room to grow.
Gardening Glossary
vining crops
Crops that grow on vines, such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and winter squash. They usually require support (staking, trellising, etc.) to keep them off the ground.
