potato
This plant is an annual but you don’t have to replant it each season. That’s because it’s nearly impossible to harvest every tuber that grows in your garden. Those left in the ground reliably overwinter and sprout into new plants the following spring. Cover them with a protective layer of mulch and you can have your own “perennial” potato patch.
VarietiEs
Potatoes come in more than 200 varieties. The most common is the russet potato, with its familiar rough brown skin and white insides. Yellow potatoes, with golden skin and insides, are also popular. Add color to your dishes by planting red potatoes, purple potatoes, or beta carotene-rich sweet potatoes. If you’re looking for a creamy potato, go with sweet, mild white potatoes. Fingerling potatoes are oblong in shape, come in many different colors, and offer an exceptionally buttery flavor.
WHERE POTATOES THRIVE
Regional compatibility
Potatoes love cool weather. They can tolerate temperatures upwards of 80 degrees but won’t produce as many tubers in hot weather. Plant them as a winter crop in hot regions.
Optimal sOIL & sun
Unlike many vegetables, potatoes thrive in acidic soil (pH 4.8-5.5). They prefer a well-drained, sandy loam soil, but tolerate a variety of soil types—except for heavy clay.
The leaves and stems of potato plants love full sun, but mulch the plant to protect tubers from turning green (and unpalatable) in the sun’s rays.
RESILIENCE
Potatoes are amazingly adaptable and almost always grow, even when conditions are less than ideal. They are a choice crop for the rocky, dry, and acidic soil found in New England.
PLANTING
FROM TUBERS
Potato plants grow from tubers planted deep in the ground. You can use potatoes from the grocery store, but may have better luck with buying them from a seed company.
Dig a trench at least six inches deep and toss them in, about six to eight inches apart.
Best time of year to plant
They can be planted in the spring but won’t start growing until the soil has warmed to around 45 degrees.
COMPANION PLANTS
Planting potatoes near coriander, nasturtium, onion or marigold will help deter the Colorado potato beetle.
NOTE: If you live where it’s rainy and soggy soil is a risk, you might try hilling. Once the plants reach about 8 to 12 inches high, use a hoe to push dirt around the stems, being careful to leave space between the dirt and the lowest leaves. This process leaves more of the stem underground, which produces a higher yield of potatoes. It also prevents tubers from coming to the surface and being exposed to (and ruined by) by the sun. Repeat every couple of weeks until the soil height reaches about eight inches.
Growing
Keep potato vines well watered during the summer, especially during the flowering stage. This is when the plants create their tubers, so a steady water supply is crucial for a good crop. Potatoes do well with one or two inches of water per week. Stop watering if the foliage turns yellow and begins to wither. This helps cure the potatoes for harvest so they store better once picked.
WATERING
As with many vegetable crops, potatoes prefer one to two inches of water per week. Water evenly during the growing season to encourage uniform potatoes. (Although irregular potatoes are just as delicious!) Stop watering late in the season when the leaves die back and the tubers are nearly ready for harvest.
Weeding and mulching
Weed potatoes regularly in the beginning. Mulch once, early in the season.
Fertilizing
Potatoes are heavy-feeders, which means they need a nutrition boost to grow well. Add a handful or two of good-quality compost to your potatoes when you plant the tubers, and dress them again midway through the season.
CHALLENGES
Take care to use high-quality seed potatoes in order to avoid underlying disease problems. Give your potatoes a lot of love early in the season – healthy plants will often take care of the rest themselves.
pests & DISEASE
The starchy flesh of potatoes attracts pests, including wireworm, a larval form of click beetles that feed on tubers. Moles, voles, and mice also love to gnaw on them. I always plant a few sacrificial potatoes with my crop. The hungry pests flock to the tubers, which I mark with sticks. After a few weeks I dig them out, along with the bugs that have found their way inside. The Colorado potato beetle can wreak havoc on young potato plants, eating them down to almost nothing. Be on the look out for large, orange and black striped beetles and their young brick red larvae.
Moles and other large pests are a little trickier to curb. I’ve had success relocating them after setting up a have-a-heart trap near badly chewed plants.
Fungal and bacterial rot can damage the roots, especially if the tubers are grown in damp soil. Fusarium wilt stunts the vines and creates hard, dark spots on the potatoes. Prevention is the best defense, so plant your tubers in well-drained soil. Make sure never to replant infected tubers or use them for seed because disease can be passed along to the next generation.
Harvest
Unless you have X-ray vision, it’s hard to know when potatoes are ready to harvest. One clue is that the vines start to yellow and fall over. Don’t wait too long or the vines will die back completely, making it impossible to tell where the tubers are located. You can dig up baby potatoes throughout the season, but eat them within a week because they don’t store well.
Harvest your potatoes by slowly and evenly pulling up the stem. If you apply consistent, slow pressure, most of the spuds will stay attached to the plant. Use a pitchfork to dig up the soil around the plant and find any stragglers, or leave them be so they sprout the following year.
STORE
Cure your freshly harvested potatoes in a dark room with good ventilation and temperatures between 55-70 degrees. After they have been cured potatoes can last months at temperatures around 45-50 degrees.
Preserve
Because of their inherent storage abilities, potatoes don’t need to be preserved in the same way as more tender crops. Just make sure to keep your potatoes in the dark to prevent greening over time.
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