When and How to Plant Potatoes

(Page 2 of 2)

April 1, 2007
By Cheryl Long 
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Over the years, Stout's deep mulching technique will help you build wonderful soil fertility plus conserve water. In the meantime, working some organic fertilizer (we like fish meal) into the soil while you are building the organic matter and fertility will pay big dividends with any method of growing potatoes, including Ruth's.

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As to laying the seed pieces on top of the ground, shallow planting the potato seed piece into 1 to 2 inches of soil beneath the deep mulch would be a good compromise and would provide superior results because it is more in keeping with tried and true traditional potato planting methods Also, be sure the mulch is not so dense and packed that the developing potato plants can't find their way to sunlight. One final word of caution: If you have big problems with slugs or mice the deep mulch method can add to your troubles.

If you have more questions about growing potatoes, or want to try out some of Wood Prairie Farm's 16 organic varieties, you can reach them at www.woodprairie.com or 800-829-9765. (And if you have trouble with insect pests on your potatoes, be sure to try their new 'King Harry' variety, which is naturally highly resistant to flea beetles, Colorado potato beetles and leafhoppers.)

*Browse our customized search tool, the Mother Earth News Seed and Plant Finder to find mail-order companies offering the specific potato varieties you want to grow. 

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  • ann 6/27/2009 9:19:27 PM

    Hey Andria. I do the same to those colorado beetles. I just shake the plant a little and go around stomping them all. (Daily) I plant my potatoes in deep hills about 8 inches deep and then I make a mountain of soil of top. They love all that dirt. I planted pontiac reds and yukon golds this year. Im getting ready to dig them up this week. I can my potatoes, Im interested does anyone else do that?

  • Ken 4/25/2009 6:04:21 AM

    I've got kennebec's, red pontiac's and swedish fingerlings growing in raised beds. I've been growing spuds for four years now and they have done great except for last year. Last year I figured i'd grow a tall crop with the low potatoes. I chose sunflowers, BAD choice. I didn't know until harvest time that sunflowers are toxic to potatoes. Bummer man!

    Ken

  • Pat Snyder 4/9/2009 8:06:18 AM

    Dear Sirs: I have a question. I want to plant my potatoes on the west side of my garade - so they would only get a half days sun. Is this enough to grow potatoes?

  • Peg 3/27/2009 10:25:51 PM

    "Sure, potatoes are easy and fun to grow but they are
    high in carbohydrates and have little or no nutritional value otherwise. So, at least limit your intake of this and most types of "below ground" vegetables."

    As Sherrie noted above, this post is 100% nonsense. Besides the silly comments regarding potatoes, does Alex actually believe that carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, celeriac, turnips, and beets have "...little or no nutritional value..."? Where on Earth are you getting your 'facts'?

    FYI, the only veg I can think of that has "...little or no nutitional value..." is the eggplant, sad to say. So eat your damn potatoes!

  • Sherrie 2/25/2009 11:27:59 AM

    It's not true that potatoes are poor sources of nutrients: they have more potassium than bananas, and are also a good source of vitamin C, B6, and several trace minerals.

  • WENDY Rawady 4/24/2007 12:00:00 AM

    We used to plant our potatoes in rich compost (almost a compost
    heap) of about 45 cm high on top of the ground with no digging. Put
    a tyre around each heap of seed potatoes. Then as the shoots
    appear, add a tyre and more of your mix and some blood and bone.
    More tyres. More soil and so on. As you need spuds, delve in and
    pick a few new ones but leave he plant growing. After the plants
    flower and wither, then you should be able to harvest many kilos of
    veges per tyre stack and it makes a good use for the tyres as well.
    It's also a good way of protecting the veges from kangaroo and
    rabbit attack and conserves water, important in
    Australia.

  • Alex Ross 4/7/2007 12:00:00 AM

    Hello All,Sure, potatoes are easy and fun to grow but they are
    high in carbohydrates and have little or no nutritional value
    otherwise. So, at least limit your intake of this and most types of
    "below ground" vegetables.

  • B K- still a newbie 4/6/2007 12:00:00 AM

    I tried a new technique last year with my potatoes- I used three
    5 gal buckets. I planted about 6 pieces per bucket. I did soil in
    the bottom and then used straw on top of the plants as they
    emerged. I cut most of the bottom out of a bucket to put on top of
    the other bucket once the plant was close to that height. I did not
    have a huge yield, but I did have enough for 2 dinners of freshly
    grown 'new' taters! Yummmm! I think this year I am going to try it
    again, but instead of a 5 gal bucket, I'm going to use a 18 cu ft.
    round compost bin (I picked up a couple of these for $10 each thru
    my county environmental service).

  • ANDRIA Merritt 4/5/2007 12:00:00 AM

    If you're new to planting potatoes (as I was last year) this may
    be helpful...When those reddish-brown slimy looking insects (maybe
    the Colorado potato beetle?) start chewing up your poor little
    plants, don't despair. Just pick them off, or squish them right
    then and there. Even if your plants get horribly chewed up, they
    can survive. Just try to get most of those buggers off your plants
    each day and soon you'll be enjoying those delicious homegrown
    spuds!

  • FRANK DE%20BLOCK-BURIJ 4/4/2007 12:00:00 AM

    in the potato article you mention fish meal as organic
    fertilizer.With fish stocks in the oceans becoming exhausted that
    is very questionable.if used at all, (that is the first question)
    fish meal should go to aquaculture, to feeding carnivore and fish
    not directly to fertilizing soil.Aquaponics give a way to combine
    both: use fish meal to raise fish, use the nutrients excreted by
    the fish to grow vegetables, possibly
    potatoes.greetingsfrank

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