![]() Once your potatoes are planted, caring for them is easy. Then simply add a layer of soil, your seed potatoes, and another two-inch layer of soil on top. If your bin is indoors, you’ll want to set something under it to keep the floor clean. Use a regular five-gallon bucket or an unused trash can or bin for this. For those of you who want to grow potatoes indoors or who want an easier way to harvest your potatoes, you can grow your potatoes in a bin. If you’re growing your potatoes indoors, you can use a mixture of potting soil and compost as your base. Make sure your soil is rich in nitrogen and has decent drainage. Preparing the planting site is the next step. Belmondo and Yukon gold are good choices for this as well. These immature potatoes are called new potatoes. Some potatoes can also be harvested before they’re fully mature. ![]() In general, you’ll see better results with faster-growing, earlier harvesting potatoes, such as Yukon gold or Belmondo. Starting your potatoes off right can save you a lot of trouble in the future, and the first step to that is choosing a good variety. Potatoes typically take two to four months to be ready for harvest, so consider that when choosing a start time. You can start your indoor potatoes at any time, since you won’t need to worry about damage from the cold. You can still grow potatoes in containers indoors or in greenhouses, though. In regions with harsher winters, you should avoid growing potatoes outdoors during winter. However, hard freezes or heavy snow can damage or kill potatoes. In regions with mild winters, potatoes can be grown outdoors and planted at the end of summer or the beginning of fall. Your start date will depend on how harsh your winters are and how you intend to grow your potatoes. When should you start potatoes for winter? How and when should you harvest your potatoes?.When should you start potatoes for winter?.This is called ‘earthing up’ and I’ll offer more advice on this in due course. ![]() The foliage of young potato plants is very susceptible to frost, so as soon as the tips of the plants show, cover with soil. If you have never eaten a potato lifted straight from the ground, you are in for a real treat! Caring for your precious crop Once planted, cover each row of potatoes with a shallow ridge of soil, then stand back, admire your handiwork and think of those wonderful new potatoes that you will be harvesting in a few weeks’ time. First and second early varieties should therefore be planted 12” (30cm) apart in rows spaced 24” (60cm) maincrop varieties – 15” (40cm) apart in rows spaced 30” (75cm). Potatoes are hungry plants and if planted too close, the resulting tubers are likely to be disappointingly small. Simply fill the base with 6” (15cm) of rich compost and sit a couple of seed potatoes on this then add layers of compost as new shoots appear, just covering these until the container is filled to the top – then let the foliage grow on. If you are limited for space, a small crop of delicious new potatoes can be grown in a suitable container. Over the years, I’ve tried various methods of planting and the resulting crop has been of a similar quality. If you are planting a number of potatoes of several varieties, digging and preparing trenches is a time-consuming task and a simpler way is to space your seed potatoes out along a row, then use a trowel and make as deep a hole as possible in well-dug ground and pop a potato in. The traditional way of planting potatoes is to dig a narrow trench approximately 6” (15cm) deep, then add a layer of well-rotted manure, compost, Comfrey leaves or similar material to feed the potato plants as the tubers develop. Growing potatoes is a great way of clearing a neglected piece of ground, as you’ll find that you dig the soil three times – once when you plant, once when you earth up, and once more when you dig up the crop and turn over the soil – by which time, all traces of grass and weed will be eliminated. ![]() ![]() If you wish to grow potatoes in containers (large pots or special sacks), start a week or two earlier. When to plant different varietiesĪs we live in a milder part of the country, potatoes can be planted earlier than elsewhere - first early varieties in late March second earlies in early April maincrop spuds later that month. Gardening folklore has it that potatoes are traditionally planted at Easter, but given that the dates of the Easter weekend vary widely from year to year, here is a better indication of planting times to ensure a great crop of tasty spuds. Those seed potatoes that you bought a few weeks ago and set to ‘chit’ in a cool place should be developing sturdy pale shoots, a sure sign that they are ready for planting out. ![]()
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