Hello, farmers and future farmers! Have you ever looked at a golden mound of mashed potatoes with a square of butter on top of it? If you have seen that sight then the butter has yet to melt. Time to put on your gardening glasses on, and join me as we dig into the fascinating food called a Potato.
1. Potato eyes/seeds
The journey begins at the local garden center or your online shopping store, where a tiny seed must be chosen - the potato seed or also known as eyes and are 1 to 2 inches. They are not actual eyes. Each one is equipped with potential to grow up and become a big potato. Be sure to checkout certified seed potatoes to ensure they're healthy, disease-free and ready to start growing in the soil.
2. Ground soil
Next, is choosing the home where the potato will grow. No matter where the home is the ground will be a patch of soil that’s well-drained, since potatoes don't grow well in extremely soggy conditions. To get even more technical, they also prefer lightly acidic soil, with a pH between 5.0 and 7.0 (checkout Mississippi State's webpage on this pH topic). Add a generous scoop of compost to enrich the soil and ensure a nutritious environment for growing these spuds!
3. Plant the Plant
It's time to bury those potato seeds in the dirt! Keep them about 1 foot apart in a trench and around 4 inches deep in the soil. As you cover them with about 3-4 inches of soil, imagine the potatoes growing full size in the location . If you've have more than one row, give them some space – probably about 3 feet should do it.
4. Start of Potato growth
A few weeks will go by and the potato will slightly get bigger. Make sure the soil remains evenly moist but not waterlogged when watering the plant. Once the plants reach about a foot tall, it's time for a technique known as "hilling." By mounding the soil around the base of the plants, we keep the developing potatoes out of the harsh sunlight so they don't turn green.
5. The Harvest and the Complete Potato
So now about 2-4 months have passed and depending on the variety, we have reach the final stage of the potato age. The plant's leaves will begin to turn yellow and die back, which means it's time to unearth your home grown potatoes! Dig around the plant gently, and there you have it - your very own crop of wonderful potatoes!
Read more about how to plant potatoes here: https://www.canr.msu.edu/potatooutreach/potatohomegardening.pdf
Written by M.L.
