How to grow Potatoes in your home garden

Around the world Potatoes plants are one of the most home grown vegetables.  Potatoes are very prolific in production,  each plant will produce around 6 kilogram of potatoes.   They are also very easy to grow.   Potatoes will grow from the tropics down to cool temperate regions.  Basically anytime of the year that gets sufficient warmth for the plants do develop.  This means that they are mainly grown in spring in most regions, but also can be grown in summer, and in warm climates all year around.    Potatoes are frost sensitive, this is why they cannot be grown in winter.   Potatoes can be eaten in their early development,  sometime called baby potatoes.   They can also be eaten once they have develop to large size.  

How to prepare the garden bed for potatoes

Potatoes are very easy to grow, they grow best in a full sun position, in well drained soil.   Potatoes will grow in heavy soils to light sandy soils (with sufficient organic matter).     The best soil to grow Potatoes is loam soil.     Position your garden bed so it gets as much sunlight during the day as possible.   In regard to soil improvement, if you have a heavy soil with bad drainage, or a clay soil, use Gypsum when preparing your soil.    Gypsum will help break up the soil to allow root development and drainage.   Dig over your soil to a medium till,  with small soil clods.  

The addition of organic matter will also help break up the heavy clods and supply slow release nutrients.   There are some options regards organic matter, you can use compost (Mushroom compost is excellent) Cow, and Sheep manure.   You can also use Chicken manure to a lesser extent.  Don't over do it with the Chicken manure, it is very high in nitogen and will develop lots of foliage, but little in the way of potatoes. 

Potatoes are grown in mounded rows.    The mounding of Potatoes (soil is raked up along the row to cover newly developing potatoes)  is done to cover newly developing Potatoes and to improve drainage.  You do not want your potatoes sitting in wet soils, it increases the likelyhood of fungal attack, and the Potatoes will rot.   Form up your rows into mounds of around 15cm high.   Rows of about 4m long, with around 4 or 5 rows will give you quite a few potatoes, and is sufficient for a small family.  

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How to plant seed Potatoes in the home garden

Potatoes are not actually planted from seed, but from last years tubers (Potatoes).    This is what makes growing Potatoes so cost effective and easy.    Basically the process is to cut a potato in half and leave it for a week in the sun.     The potato will then turn a green colour, you are then ready to plant your seed potatoes.      One problem with growing from your last years potato crop is that you can transfer fungus from (on the potato) last years crop.    Fungal attack is the worst pest of growing potatoes.  As a result, many people purchase what is known as "certified seed Potatoes", this means that they are certified to be free of fungus and or plant virus.   You can buy these Potatoes from nurseries and produce stores. 

Now you are ready to plant your seed Potatoes.     Plant your Potatoes around 10cm deep into your mounds with a spacing of around 40cm apart.   You can now add some granular fertiliser (unless you are going organic in which case you will use blood and bone or similar)  A general purpose granular NPK vegetable fertiliser will be sufficient.   Now water your garden bed.    Potatoes will start sending shoots up within two weeks. 

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Why is mounding up around Potatoes important

Mounding up around your Potatoes (using a rake to drag soil up around developing root system) is very important,  it improves drainage and also covers up the root system so that the young potatoes are kept out of the sun and under the soil.    The process involves dragging up soil around the base of the Potato in an ever increasing mound.   This can be done every week.  It is also a great way to reduce weed development.   Another very effective way of doing this is to use some slightly composted straw.   The straw is added around your rows of Potato mounds, every couple of weeks.  The potatoes then grow under the straw.  This is another great way to grow your Potatoes, conserve water and keep down the weeds. 

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