The new art of Growing Potatoes H


ave we lost the art of growing pota- toes? At one time, every garden had a potato plot where it


was the pleasant summer chore to go out from time to time and do the hilling and weeding. There was no room for impractical plants such as flowers, and even peas were considered a luxury. Some ambitious gar- deners from the “old country” would even grow potatoes on the boulevard in front of their houses to increase their yields. Today, you can grow potatoes in very


small spaces, including in bags that are com- mercially sold for just this purpose. Not only does this solve the space problem, but it en- sures constant rotation so that there is no chance of pathogen buildup in the soil the spuds are planted in because you will change the soil annually. The secret to this “new” technology is


found in understanding the needs of the plant and how it grows.


How potatoes grow Potatoes, Solanum tuberosum, like their


cousins tomatoes, are deep-rooted plants that need a consistently moist, but not sog- gy, soil to grow in. They prefer soil that is on the acidic side – a pH of 5 to 5.5. Potato scab may result from alkaline soils, and you should never use lime in the potato patch. Potatoes send out two kinds of roots; true


roots that reach down deep into the soil for nutrition and water and rhizomes or under- ground stems that stay closer to the surface and upon which are formed little nodes of starchy material – potatoes, that are storage plants for new growth. Potatoes also produce an above ground


fruit, the true seeds, which are non-edible, but from which new potatoes can be grown by the dedicated gardener.


www.localgardener.net Most home-grown potatoes, however,


are started from existing stock – even those purchased for consumption from the local supermarket can be used. These are called seed potatoes. It’s a good idea to use new stock each year to avoid disease. You can also purchase seed potatoes from nurseries. The first step is to get the potatoes to


sprout, which they will normally do under the right conditions in spring in a cool dark space, including in the ground. The sprout- ing potato can be planted whole or cut into two or three pieces, each one containing two to three “eyes” from which the sprouts emerge. One method is to plant your seed pota-


toes into the ground by preparing an eight to ten inch deep trench and covering the seed potatoes with about four inches of soil, and then topping up the soil from the ridges alongside your trenches as the plant emerg- es. This avoids the possibility of damaging roots by having to dig between rows of po- tatoes for hilling purposes. You can also plant in containers by plac-


ing seed potatoes in a shallow layer of about four to six inches of soil and covering them with another four inches of soil. You will continue to add soil as the plant grows. It takes two to three weeks for the planted


seed potatoes to produce a main stem and leaves that appear above ground. For the first four to five weeks after that, most of the energy of the plant goes into producing this top growth. You can continue to add soil as the stem grows.


Hilling Once the plants have flowered, they will


begin to produce the potatoes on their lat- eral rhizomes. It is now critical that you add soil or “hill” the potatoes to avoid letting any light reach the newly formed tubers. Exposure to light can cause the potatoes


Growing potatoes in bags solves the problems of hilling and crop rotation.


to produce solanine and chlorophyll (green potatoes). This makes them bitter and ined- ible and if you eat enough solanine, it could cause nausea, headache and even death. Hilling also encourages additional potato productions, increasing yields. Nor does the hilling process have to in-


clude soil. Some people hill with thick layers of straw to keep the product dirt free. Harvest can be a two-pronged thing,


where you remove baby potatoes shortly af- ter blooming and leave some to grow into larger spuds, to be harvested when the plant dies back.


Temperatures Potatoes are sensitive to temperature and


should not be planted out before the soil reaches 7 degrees C (45 F). They grow best when the soil is between 15.5 degree C (60 F) to 18.3 degrees C (65 F). Studies have shown that few potatoes are produced be- tween 20 degrees C (68 F) and 29 degrees C (84 F) and production stops completely when soil temperatures rise above 29 de- grees C. `


Foodie 2012 • 9


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