All about Growing Potatoes
Native to the mountains of South America, potatoes should be planted first thing in spring, when the soil is still cool. Gardeners can tap into a deliciously diverse selection of varieties, and it’s easy to save and replant your favorite varieties from one year to the next.
December 2008/January 2009
By Barbara Pleasant
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From early to late varieties, potatoes vary greatly in size, color and texture.
KEITH WARD
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Types to Try
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Potatoes vary in size, shape, color, texture and time to maturity. Maturation time is the most important variable, because potato tubers grow best when soil temperatures range between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to get your crop harvested before hot summer temperatures arrive.
Early varieties that mature in less than 90 days are good fits for any garden. Creamy, round ‘Irish Cobbler,’ purple-skinned ‘Caribe,’ and prolific ‘Red Norland’ fall into this group, along with ‘King Harry,’ which is resistant to Colorado potato beetles.
Midseason varieties mature in 100 days or so, and include ‘Yukon Gold’ and ‘Red LaSoda,’ which is often the top-producing potato in warm climates.
Late varieties need 110 days or more of growing time, but they typically produce a heavy set of tubers that keep well in storage. ‘Butte’ is an all-purpose brown-skinned potato that performs well when grown in the Midwest; ‘Katahdin’ and ‘Kennebec’ rule in the Northeast.
Elongated fingerling potatoes vary in their maturation times and come in a range of colors and sizes. None are very early, but late-maturing fingerlings will size up earlier if you presprout the seed potatoes before you plant them.
(To shop for seed potatoes, visit the Mother Earth News Plant and Seed Finder. — Mother)
When to Plant
In climates with short springs and hot summers, plant the early and midseason varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date.
In climates with long springs and hot summers, plant early and midseason varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date; plant late-maturing varieties in early summer so they will mature in the cooler fall.
In climates with cool summers, plant early, midseason and late varieties two to three weeks before your last spring frost date.
How to Plant
Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil to at least 10 inches deep. Potatoes adapt well to acidic soils with a pH below 6.0, which is lower than what is preferred by many other vegetable crops. Thoroughly mix in a layer of compost or rotted leaves, along with a half-ration of alfalfa meal, soybean meal or another high-nitrogen organic fertilizer (follow label directions). Do not use manure because it is correlated with an increase in rough patches on spud skins.
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