Sowing Spuds

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Seed potatoes can be "chitted" to hasten the development of the crop. To chit them, spread the tubers in open-topped crates, boxes or flats in a single layer (standing them in egg cartons also works well). Position the heaviest concentration of eyes to point upwards. A week or two before planting, place them in a warm location with a medium light level but no direct sunlight; the seed potatoes will produce strong, stubby sprouts.

TO HILL OR NOT TO HILL

Chitted (pre-sprouted) potatoes, ready for planting, sit in an egg carton.

Traditionally, potatoes are planted in "hills." A trench is dug about 4 to 6 inches deep, and the seed spuds are set in it, 12 to 15 inches apart. The trench is then back-filled until it is level with the soil surface. For home gardeners, the recommended spacing between rows is 24 inches.

When the plants are 8 inches tall, they are half-buried by hoeing soil up and over them from each side of the row. This is done at least twice as the plant grows, each time being sure to let some leaves show for continued growth.

After that, the hills should be heavily mulched with straw, dried leaves or other organic materials. Mulching helps the soil retain moisture and controls weeds; otherwise, frequent, shallow cultivation must be done. Mulching also assures that light does not reach the tubers; potatoes exposed to light turn green and produce a toxin that renders them inedible. (Such green tubers can, however, be safely used for seed stock the following spring.)

Klettke mulches, too, but in a different way. For starters, she reverses the hilling method by first hilling up the rows to create long, thin, raised beds, which leaves deep walkways in between the rows. She plants seed potatoes about 4 inches deep in the beds and then covers the beds with mulch. As the plants grow, she adds more mulch. "When I started, my soil was solid clay," she says, "so I added leaves, grass, straw — any organic matter — to continually improve it." Potatoes also can be grown successfully in various containers — and even without actually planting them in soil (see "Surface-Sown, No-Dig Spuds," Page 42).

HARVEST TIME

`Russian Banana' fingerling potatoes.

How big a harvest can you expect from these rows? "More than most crops," says Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Farm. "There are three factors that affect potato yields: relative fertility — rich soils produce greater yields; watering — the soil surrounding them should be consistently moist but not soaking wet; and to what extent you successfully keep insects and disease pressures at bay."

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