#37. Tips to Grow Potatos
Potatoes are starchy tubers, a vegetable that is enjoyed in almost every country of the world. The tubers grow underground, swelling and growing larger as the plant matures. The potato is actually a finicky vegetable to grow because of pest and disease problems. While they are not very expensive to buy, growing your own will give you a healthy supply of toxin and chemical free potatoes.
There are said to be over a thousand varieties of potatoes for growing. It is the texture more than the flavor that differs in each variety. One thing potential potato growers need to remember, there is no knowledge of how the potato crop is faring until it is harvested. By which time of course it's too late to do anything.
The following are some general guidelines for growing your own potatoes.
Planting: potatoes are not planted in seed form, the vegetable has no seeds. Full size potatoes are allowed to grow shoots that are called the potato eyes. This happens in everyone's kitchen when potatoes have been residents of the kitchen for way too long. The potato is generally cut into pieces and the pieces containing one or two eyes planted. It is preferred to leave the cut pieces overnight to callus over and plant the next day.
Planting in cool climes is generally done mid to late spring and in warm climes, in late summer or late winter. This avoids the plants growing during peak summer months. By choosing to plant early, main and late season varieties you will get potatoes all year round.
Harvesting: potatoes are considered ready for harvesting when the top of the plants that is visible above ground dies. Potatoes can be left in the ground for a few weeks after they are ready for harvesting, provided the ground is not wet.
Use a digging fork and small hand trowel to gently turn the soil over to disclose its treasures. Small potatoes are just immature ones that people use for roasting and in salads. You can harvest these by gently feeling around for them under the soil.
Pests and diseases: monitor your potato plants right from the start. Beetles and aphids defoliate and should be stopped before it becomes a major problem. You can check the undersides of the leaves for massed eggs. Late blight turns the foliage black and then moldy. You need to burn the foliage. Wait several weeks before harvesting the potatoes if you have this problem.
The safest way to ensure that you get a good healthy crop of potatoes is to buy guaranteed disease-free potatoes.