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Member since:11.12.2005
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Have you ever wondered why farmers regularly plant potatoes on their land? Well, potatoes are ideal for breaking up heavy soil, and in areas where you have a heavy clay based soil, they are ideal for breaking apart the soil into a more manageable tilth. They are also a very enjoyable and rewarding plant to grow, and good fun for the little ones. To start with, Potatoes are perennials. Each plant will grow quite large, with an average spread of 60cm, and the same in height. The potato that we eat, is in essence a tuber. There is an enormous variety of potato's, each with their own variation of the tuber.
Potatoes, grow in all sizes, however the average size for a potato is about 7 cm long and 4 cm wide. Generally, potatoes have a white or pinkish red skin with white flesh. However, there are also yellow fleshed varieties, and more surprisingly, blue fleshed varieties! These types of potato are often used in salads. Potatoes are great, as you can use them cooked, raw, and they store well for later use too.
If you want to grow your own potatoes, bear in mind that they do not like hot temperatures. They are generally a cool season crop, and you will be best off growing them at temperatures of between 16 and 18 degrees celsius. With potatoes, as is the case of tomatoes, neither the potato itself, or the plant will tolerate frost to any extent. Potatoes have quite a long growing period. Depending on the variety you have chosen, it will take between 90 and 140 frost free days before they will mature and be ready to harvest.
Potatoes are divided into three categories, depending on the number of days it takes for them to mature. These categories are: early, second early and maincrop. The early crops grow the fastest, however,
in general they will not yield as many potatoes as maincrop varieties. Potatoes, like tomatoes, require a lot of water whilst they are growing. Roughly I would say that they require a minimum of 500mm of rain or watering during the season.
Types of potato: Earlies: Arran Pilot Epicure Foremost Maris Bard Pentland Javelin Premiere
Second Early: Estima Kondor Marfona Nadine Stroma Wilja
Maincrop: Ailsa Cara Desiree King Edward Kingston Maris Piper Pentland Squire Romano Sante
Potatoes are ideally suited to an open, frost-free site. They will prefer a soil that is well-drained and fertile. Ideally at least the top 60cm will be vastly enriched with well rotted manure or other organic material. Although potatoes will grow in a wide range of soils, the ideal PH level for them is 5 - 6, which leaves quite a narrow margin.
Never grow potatoes in the same place too often, typically every four years is enough, as they are prone to several diseases and bugs, and so the planting site should be rotated with other crops on other years. If you add a general fertiliser to the soil just before planting, you will ensure that your plants are well on the way to success. Be aware of the nitrogen requirements of potatoes though. If you are growing an early crop, then they will need a medium nitrogen level fertiliser, whereas a maincrop variety will be better off with a high nitrogen fertiliser.
Different types of potato are recommended for the area in which you live, if you are not sure, ask at the garden centre for the right type of potato for your garden. Potatoes are grown from "seed potatoes". These are basically potatoes that have been raised specially and are certified disease free at the point of sale. In Britain, we generally have a fairly short growing season for potatoes, and it is therefore adviseably to start them off indoors by "chitting" or "sprouting" them. To do this, put your potatoes in a shallow tray, with the buds facing upwards. Then place these in a cool room (but not cold) with an even light distribution (i.e. not a windowsill). Once they have started sprouting, the ideal time to plant them is when the sprouts have reached about 2cm tall, although they can be planted no matter how big the sprouts have got. If you are planting large early potatoes, pull off all the sprouts, leaving just three sprouts per potato before planting. With regards to any other potato, the more sprouts you have when planted, then in general, the more potatoes you will find when you dig them up!
Once the risk of frost has passed, you will be able to plant the potatoes outside. Make large drills between 7 and 15cm deep, or make individual holes and place the tubers in the holes (or drills) and cover with soil. Ensure that the sprouts are facing uppermost as you do this. Potatoes need different spacings dependent on whether they are early or maincrop varieties. For early varieties, plant them at a spacing of 35cm between potatoes, and 43cm between the rows. For maincrop varieties, these should be spaced at about 38cm apart and 75cm between rows. If the weather is still cool, or if you live in an area where it is quite cool in general, you would be safer to protect the newly planted potatoes by covering them with clear plastic sheeting or purpose built cloches. When the foliage emerges from its sleep, cut holes in the plastic and let the shoots grow through. Once the weather has warmed up you will be able to cut the plastic free all together and let them grow of their own accord.
You could also plant early potatoes under black plastic sheeting, which will exclude the light and make earthing up unnecessary. However, I wouldn't recommend this for maincrop potatoes, as it will make watering very difficult. To growe earlies under black plastic sheeting, lay the plastic sheeting on the ground, anchor the edges into the soil (perhaps with rocks, or you could bury it) and plant the potatoes by cutting cross shapes into the plastic and planting through these, then pull the plastic back across so that the potatoes will grow through the slits.
If there is the threat of a frost once you have planted your potatoes and the leaves have appeared, cover them up with some straw or newspaper, and remove this again when the frost has gone the following day. If they do catch the frost very slightly, they will generally recover from such damage, but if hit hard, they will not stand a chance, so be careful.
Unless you ar growing your potatoes under black plastic as described above, they will need earthing up to prevent the sunlight turning the potatoes near the surface of the soil green. If this happens, you should never eat any green potatoes, as they may be toxic. Once the plants are around 23cm tall, you should pull up the soil around the plants to a depth of around 13cm. You could do this in stages if you like. But in doing so, ensure that all the potatoes are well covered. Potatoes will need watering regularly to promote heavy cropping and you can also feed them periodically with an organic liquid feed.
There are many diseases and bugs that can affect potato plants such as:
This should be most of the things that your potatoes may suffer from, and if you spot anything wrong with the potatoes, you should take action immediately, to prevent further damage to the crop.
Early potatoes should be harvested either once the flowers on the plants have opened, or just before the open. If you have planted your potatoes through black sheeting, this should simply be a case of lifting up the plastic and they will all be on the surface. Healthy maincrop potatoes, should be left in the soil for as long as possible. Once the weather starts to cool and the plants begin to die, cut the plants of 5cm above the ground, and then leave the potatoes in the ground for another two weeks or so to toughen up their skins. If you live in a warm damp area, this is when you are most likely to see potato blight, and you should cut back the stems in late summer and burn them. Again, lift the potatoes two weeks later.
If you want to store your potatoes rather than use them straight away, you should dig them up on a dry, sunny day and then leave them in the sun for an hour or two. Storage is simple, put them in paper sacks (definitely not plastic, else they'll sweat and rot) and store them in the dark and away from frosts.
If you want to grow some smaller potatoes for salads, I recommend the following:
Belle de Fontenay Linzer Delicatesse Charlotte (my favourite) Pink Fur Apple Rattle
As with tomatoes, potatoes may also be frozen (although they are never as nice when defrosted)
Thanks for reading.
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What a great review, I thought tatties were just tatties!
rileylumps 17.01.2006 16:57
WOW! You know so much about potatoes! All I really know is they taste great baked and rammed full of tuna, sweetcorn and fat helmans mayo! I am now enlightened i'm going to have to work out how to get some of the facts into my conversations! Thanks : ) Jo
Advantages: EASY TO GROW, VERY VERSITILE, LOTS OF DELICIOUS THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH THEM! Disadvantages: NEED A BIT OF CARE AND ATTENTION AND LOTS OF WATER!
phoenixgreen 16.11.2006 ·
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