Potatoes

Potatoes are a staple of our family. They are perhaps my favorite vegetable, and this year, we are growing a lot of them. By planting a lot of them, I am going to have to build a root cellar this fall to store all our harvest.

We have always enjoyed potatoes from the store, but when we grew our own for the first time, it was like an explosion of soft, tender flavor. "Wow" could be heard over and over around our table. Our youngest boy wondered if he had been transported to potato paradise. "These are the best potatoes ever!" I hope I have encouraged you to try growing potatoes. They are simple to grow, and don't take a lot of work to maintain till harvest. We had no pest pressure last year, and we are moving this years planting location to the other side of the garden. We hope if there was a potato beetle that we did not see, its larva will die before finding the location of the new crop.


Varieties

There are many varieties of potatoes. We have only tried a few, and will branch out over time to try more. If you are new at potatoes, try what other area gardeners suggest works well in your area. I suggest you get certified virus free seed potatoes. It is possible to plant again from your own stock, but I hear that the size of the potatoes will diminish over time if you have virus buildup.


Our history for 2012

April 19, planted:

Yukon Gold       75#
Red Pontiac         7#

We have found that 7# of red potatoes took up 80 feet of row space (one row). Also planted 50# of Yukon Gold, and we ended up with 4 additional rows of 80 feet. We have yet 25# to plant.

July 17: Counted up the potato early harvest: 560 lbs. This represents 6/10 of our planted rows,15 bushels. We sorted all of the potatoes and only the firm, uncut and completely dry potatoes went into the seller for longer term storage. Our rows are 90' and 6 rows equals 540 feet, yielding just over a pound of potatoes per foot of planted row.

When harvesting potatoes, we found some of the seed potatoes still intact, but soft or spoiling. We took care to sort these out of our harvest, to not spoil the new harvest.

August 2: Attempted a fall planting, by planting 1/2 bu of sprouting potatoes. We will see how this goes.

November 4: The second planting survived the early October frosts with just some slight leaf burn, but were dead by the end of October. We harvested perhaps 4 bu from the second planting. They were fine potatoes, but since the plants did not die down on their own, I think an earlier planting date would have been helpful to the yield.


Planting

It is suggested that you plant your potatoes about 2 weeks before your last frost. Potatoes can withstand some cooler temps, but not prolonged or hard freezing.

Potatoes can be planted in hills or rows. Last year we tried hills, and we did not have as dense or complete production as we would have had with a row. So, after testing it out, rows is our planting format of choice from now on. You set the seed potatoes 18 to 24" apart within the row, and set the rows from 3 to 5 feet apart.

We have a 3 point implement called a "middle buster" for setting a planting furrow. It will also work perfectly for digging the potatoes in the fall. We have seen this tool demonstrated by a friend last fall. We started with a straight track in the field, and then returned for the next pass and drove the wheel down in the previous track. This resulted in the furrows being just over 3 foot apart, which is perfect for potatoes.

Prior to planting, you can chit the seed potatoes by setting them in a warmer location, out of direct sun light. this will encourage the eyes to sprout, and speed up the early growth process. If you have sprouts, point the sprouts upwards. These will be stems for the plant. If you have large potatoes with several developing eyes, you can slice the potato into sections around each eye. Then each section can be planted on its own. If you do slice the seed potatoes, allow them to sit out for several days for the cut surface to harden a scab. This will help prevent rot that may happen if the cut potato was immediately planted.


Pests

Virus blight and insects are potato crop killers. Crop rotation will help in both cases.


Companion plants

Beans, cabbage, corn, and horseradish are excellent companion plants. Some even claim these make the potatoes taste better.

Tansy, nasturtium, coriander, and catnip planted nearby repel Colorado potato beetle.

Interplant potatoes with lettuce, scallions, radishes, and spinach. All of these crops mature fast and will be harvested long before the potatoes are ready to harvest.


What not to plant with potatoes

Avoid planting potatoes with tomatoes, sunflowers, raspberries, pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers. These plants may encourage blight.

Don't plant potatoes in an area that has been planted with any other Solanaceous crops in the last three+ years. This includes tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.


Family story

Family history has passed down this true story: My great grandfather was Irish and a potato farmer in Iowa. At harvest, he had a wagon piled high of good sized potatoes, and with his horse team he pulled the load into town. Stopping by the grocery, he inquired as to how many potatoes he could sell.

The grocer came out to the street and said, "I won't buy any of your potatoes, not a one! These large Irish potatoes have a holes in them. My customers do not like the hollow space in their potatoes, and I will buy none from you!" My great grand father as convincingly replied, "Not a one of my potatoes has a hole!"  He picked a large potato from the pile, and taking his knife, sliced the potato in half. There to his dismay was a very large void -- a hole in his potato.

The story goes that he said nothing more, but got on the wagon and drove to another grocery. I would guess he limited his claims from then on.


Resources

• Potato Growing Guide (web)
• Potato Diseases (web)