How To Grow Potatoes In Your Home Garden

by Nirodha

2 Materials

$20

1 Day

Easy

Potatoes, like tomatoes, are a sort of fundamental vegetable that everyone uses in the kitchen. Potatoes are inexpensive, nutritious, and simple to prepare. They may be used in fancy dishes or simply cooked with butter and salt for a great finish.

Potatoes are also rather simple to raise. They grow in a variety of environments and may be grown both outside in the garden and in pots, as well as indoors in a variety of containers.

Step 1: Choose Seed Potatoes

certified disease-free seed potatoes obtained from a catalog or farm store.

Step 2: Separate the Eyes

Only small, golf ball-sized potatoes should be planted whole. Cut large tubers into pieces.

how to grow potatoes in your home garden

Step 3: Cure the Cut Pieces

Next, "cure" the cut pieces. Either set them out in the sun, or place them on a table or counter in a warm (about 70°F), moderately lit room for three to five days. This step permits the cuts to become calloused. Calloused seed potatoes will help prevent rot.

Step 4: How & When to Plant Potatoes

Plant seed potato segments cut-side down (eyes up) in a 6-inch-deep hole or trench. Space each segment 12-inches apart on all sides. Between each segment, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer. Then cover both potatoes and fertilizer with 2-inches of soil, and water the soil well.

Step 5: Hill Around the Stems

Because new potatoes form on lateral stems, or "stolons" above the seed potato, it’s necessary to "hill" the vines. When the green sprouts achieve 8 inches in height, bury all but their top 4 inches with soil, chopped straw, or shredded leaves. Hill again when potato plants grow another 8 inches. The more you hill, the more prolific your harvest is likely to be.

Step 6: Harvest Potatoes

Two weeks after the vines have flowered, you can, if you wish, reach into the soil or mulch and retrieve a few baby potatoes. Otherwise, wait until the vines die back. Dead vines signal that the tubers have reached maturity. Now reach into the soil with your hands and pull the tubers up.