How To Grow Potatoes

You can grow delicious potatoes in your own garden without too much work. Growing potatoes is best in soil with a PH of 5.0 to 6.5. You will want to find healthy soil that is not too heavy and is in an area to receive a good deal of sunlight.

Purchase seed potatoes to use to start your potato patch. This is the best choice if you want to reduce the incidence of diseases in your potato garden. You can plant the potatoes about a month before the last frost. Potatoes can be planted in rows or in mounds.

The mounds will need to be at least three feet apart from one another and each mound should be about 4 inches wide. If you plant Potatoes in rows, you will want about 12 to 15 inches between each plant. You should dig at least one foot down in the soil.

The seed potatoes will need to be placed somewhere between 4 to 8 inches down in the soil. When you are growing potatoes, you will learn that they do not need much “food.” You can probably get away with just one application of compost or natural fertilizer. Never use any products containing manure when growing potatoes.

You should rotate the potatoes at some point during their growing season to help reduce the risk of disease. You can dig trenches in which to plant your potatoes. This helps to provide the Potatoe plants with enough moisture.

Your potatoes will need about 1 or 1 ½ inches of water each week to stay healthy. When you are trying to fertilize your potatoes, it is ideal to have planted the Potatoes in soil that is about 60 or 65 degrees. In order to grow larger potatoes, you should mound the plants once they reach a height of 8 inches or so.

A mound of dirt around the stem that is at least 4 inches high will do quite well. Do not be afraid to add about an inch more of soil to the Potato mound every week or so while your new potatoes are popping up. You want to keep soil around the potatoes so that the plants are in full sunlight but the potatoes themselves are not directly out in the sun.

Some gardeners will use mulch layers for the potatoes to grow inside the mulch. You will know it is getting close to harvest time when the potato plant stops flowering. If you wait about two weeks from that time, you can start to harvest your potatoes. You will want to wait a little longer if you want to grow even larger potatoes.

Potatoes can be harvested with a pitchfork. Store Potatoes in a cool location after you allow the potatoes to dry out for a few days. Remember to wash your potatoes before use and enjoy! If you like potatoes then why not try something different and learn How To Grow Sweet Potatoes or How To Grow Yams

NEW! Visit our Online Potato Shop

If you have problems growing them then find out about Potato Pests And Diseases

By Richard Allen -