| Selecting and Growing Potatoes |
| An introduction to types of potatoes and planting basics. |
From "Fresh from the Garden"
episode DFFG-302 |
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Joe Lamp'l shows several of the many beet varieties available, including red, white and yellow varieties. He explains the growing requirements of beets, including their special requirement for boron. After preparing the garden plot and planting the beet seeds, Joe comes back after the beets have sprouted and demonstrates how to thin beet seedlings.
Potatoes are planted from seed potatoes, or potato tubers that have an eye on them (figure A). An eye is the bud or sprout on a tuber, the point where new plants grow. Use certified seed potatoes, because grocery-store potatoes, even those that have been organically grown, can harbor diseases that may ruin an entire crop.Certified seed potatoes are inspected by state agriculturalists and guaranteed to be disease-free. You can order certified seed potatoes from a catalog or buy them at a local garden center. They come in various sizes (figure B): B-sized tubers weigh only an ounce or two, and larger tubers weigh six ounces or more.
When choosing which seed potatoes to purchase, you will have a wide variety of cultivars from which to select (figure C). Good choices are Kennebec (a good all-purpose potato with brown skin and creamy white flesh), Red Pontiac (with red skin and white flesh, especially good when eaten shortly after harvest ) and All Blue (with purple skin and blue flesh that becomes paler when it's cooked).All potato varieties have the same growing requirements. To grow well, they need plenty of sunshine and loose, loamy soil (figure D). Potatoes grow best in cool weather, so plant them in early spring, about three weeks before your last frost. After the potatoes mature, in two or three months, you can plant another crop for a fall harvest. To ensure a healthy potato crop, you need the right pH level. Potatoes do best when they are grown in soil with a pH of 5.0 to 6.0. Test the soil by sending a sample to your local extension service, or use a pH meter (figure E).
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