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Described here are the basic qualities of the plant, planting instructions, expected yield and other useful information for the home garden.

Traits

Potatoes is a relative of a number of other food crops, such as the tomato and the pepper. However, unlike its cousins, the potato prefers cool weather, though it is killed by a frost.

Potatoes prefer sandy, slightly acidic soil. Also important is that potatoes will not form tubers, the edible portion of the plant, in soil that reaches temperatures exceeding 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Planting

Potatoes are planted either from whole small potatoes, called sets, or from medium sized seed potatoes which are cut into sections.

While sets are planted whole, seed potatoes are cut into pieces, each piece containing at least one potato eye and leaving as much meat as possible. It is important to use potatoes specifically intended for this purpose. Store bought potatoes generally are not well suited to replanting. Set the cut pieces out to dry for one week before planting them. As an extra protection, the cut faces of the see potato can be treated with fungicide.

When the soil is soft enough to be worked, potatoes can be planted. The exception to this, though, is in areas prone to a particularly late frost, where potatoes should be planted 3 weeks before the last expected frost date.

Plant the sets or seed pieces 3 inches below the surface, 1-1/2 feet apart. Multiple rows of potatoes should have 3 feet between them. As the plant begins to grow and its vines begin to shoot upward, mound up dirt to the bottom of the potato leaves. This may need done a couple of times during the growing season.

Because the tubers grow very close to the surface, machine cultivation is not recommended. Remove any weeds that are problematic by hand.

Harvest

Potatoes can be harvested as soon as the potato blossoms open, approximately 3 months from planting. However, for larger, mature potatoes, wait for the greens to die completely before removing the potatoes from the ground. Potatoes intended for storage should be kept cool and dry after initially drying them in the sun for a few hours.


Any potatoes that have not been sufficiently covered with earth as they grew may have green sections in their meat and skin. This green portion can contain a poisonous substance called solanine, which can be fatal. Cut away any green portions before using the potato.

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