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Process of growing potatoes


How to Grow Potatoes From Potatoes

It's easier than you think.

By Corey Williams Updated April 16, 2020

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Growing potatoes is surprisingly easy—but you’ve got to know what you’re doing:

How Do Potatoes Grow?

Potato Diagram Getty 4/16/20

Credit: Tigatelu/Getty

Tigatelu/Getty

Unlike many vegetables, potatoes thrive in darkness—that’s why they grow underground.

The potatoes themselves are called “tubers” and they grow on a stem called a “stolon.” The main stems, which grow above ground (that’s how gardeners can easily find their potato plants), are bright green and produce non-edible flowers.

What’s the Best Climate for Growing Potatoes—And When Should You Plant Them?

Potato in Soil Getty 4/16/20

Credit: Ezra Bailey/Getty Images

Ezra Bailey/Getty Images

Potatoes can grow well in all sorts of climates. It’s important to note, however, that potatoes prefer cool (but not frosty) weather.

The best time to plant your potatoes depends on where you live.

“In Southern regions, potatoes can be grown as a winter crop and planting times range from September to February,” according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. “Where winters are relatively mild, you can plant a fall crop in September. In central Florida, gardeners plant potatoes in January; and in Georgia they plant in February.”

Gardeners who live in colder climates, meanwhile, should plant 0 to 2 weeks after their last spring frost.

The most important thing to consider when choosing a planting time is the temperature and texture of the soil, not the season.

The ideal soil temperature for planting potatoes is at least 50°F (10°C).

“The soil should also not be so wet that it sticks together and is hard to work,” the Almanac advises. “Let it dry out a bit first. Like other seeds, potato seed pieces will rot if planted in ground that’s too wet. ”

How Long Does It Take to Grow Potatoes?

Depending on the potato variety you’re growing, they’ll be ready to harvest anywhere from 70 to 100 days.

How to Grow Potatoes

Planting Potatoes Getty 4/16/20

Credit: Westend61/Getty Images

Westend61/Getty Images

When was the last time you saw potato seeds for sale? Probably never (though it is possible). Most potatoes are produced by vegetative propagation, which means a new plant grows from a fragment of an old plant (farmers replant potato pieces and new potatoes grow from those pieces).

This doesn’t mean you can use any old grocery store potato, though. Often, those potatoes have been treated with growth inhibitors to keep them fresh for longer. Organic potatoes may not work either, as any diseases from the previous year will carry over into this year.

Your best bet for a successful potato crop is using certified seed potatoes, which means they’ve been declared disease-free by a government authority. You can get seed potatoes at your local gardening center.

Once you have your seeds potatoes, you can cut them into smaller pieces—just make sure each piece has at least one “eye,” or bud.

Do this a couple days before you plant. Letting the cut pieces sit for a while can help them seal, which can prevent rotting and disease.

Potatoes grow best in rows in a garden, but you can also grow them in containers (like these). Pick an area that gets at least six hours of full sunlight every day.

To plant potatoes in a garden:

  1. Dig trenches that are about eight inches deep. Keep the rows about three feet apart.
  2. In the trenches, plant a seed potato every 12 inches or so. The “eye” should be facing upward. Cover each potato with about three inches of soil.
  3. After a few weeks, the potato plants will begin to sprout. Then you can gently fill the trench with another few inches of soil, leaving the top of the plant exposed. This is called “hilling” and it protects the potatoes from the sun, as well as supports the plant.
  4. Hill the potatoes every 1-2 weeks. Maintain even moisture throughout the growing process—1-2 inches of water per week is ideal.

How to Harvest Potatoes

Potatoes in basket Getty 4/15/20

Credit: Ekaterina Smirnova/Getty Images

Ekaterina Smirnova/Getty Images

When your potatoes are ready to harvest depends on the variety you’re growing.

To harvest potatoes:

  1. Dig them up gently on a dry day.
  2. Remove only the biggest potatoes and leave the smaller ones alone so they can continue to grow.
  3. Don’t leave harvested potatoes in the sun too long, as too much sunlight can turn them green and toxic.

Growing Potatoes: Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Potatoes

The taste and texture of homegrown potatoes are far superior to those of store-bought spuds! Garden “taters” also provide a bounty of nutrients. Here’s how to grow and harvest potatoes in your home garden.

About Potatoes

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a member of the nightshade family, which includes tomato, pepper, and eggplant. This cool-weather vegetable typically yields bigger crops in the northern portion of the U.S., however, they can be grown as a winter crop in warmer climates.

The edible part of the potato is the underground “tuber” which is an enlarged underground storage portion of the potato plant. The tuber develops from underground stems called stolons once the plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, or around 5 to 7 weeks after planting.

Potatoes are an ancient vegetable that was first documented by the Incas in Peru. According to the Maine Potato Board, this vegetable arrived in the American Colonies in 1621 when the Governor of Bermuda sent potatoes to the Governor of Virginia at Jamestown.

Now America’s #1 vegetable, potatoes are a fat-free, cholesterol-free source of carbohydrates (energy). But it’s the skin that you should not discard; the skin provides 45% of your daily vitamin C and 18% of potassium, as well as thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc.

Learn more about planting potatoes below. 

Planting

Plant potatoes in a sunny place with at least 6 hours of directly sunlight each day. The tubers need to grow in fertile, loose, well-drained soil; hard or compacted soil leads to misshapen tubers. Ideally, soil is slightly acid (pH 5.8 to 6.5) and the soil temperature is at least 45º to 55ºF  (7° to 13°C). Before planting (preferably in the fall), mix compost or organic matter into the soil. Learn more about compost, soil amendments, and preparing soil for planting.)

When to Plant Potatoes

Garden potatoes can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. For many gardeners, this is about 2 weeks after the last spring frost. But aware that early crops may be ruined by soil that’s too wet as the potato seeds will rot. Pay more attention to the soil than the calendar to determine planting time. The soil should not be so wet that it sticks together and is hard to work. Let it dry out a bit first. If you have a late and wet spring, you can plant later—through April (depending on location) or even June, especially in containers. 

In cooler regions, some gardeners will plant the first crop of “early-maturing” potatoes in early to mid-April, 6 to 8 weeks before the average last frost date. These varieties can withstand frost.

In warmer regions, potatoes can be grown as a winter crop and planting times range from September to February. Where winters are relatively mild, you can plant a fall crop in September. For example, in central Florida, gardeners plant potatoes in January, and in Georgia they plant in February.

See our Planting Guide for the best dates to plant by zip code or postal code.

How to Plant Potatoes

Note: Potatoes are usually planted in the ground, but they also can be grown in large containers or baskets. The same planting information applies.

Use certified (disease-resistant) seed potatoes from which eyes (buds) protrude. (Do not confuse seed potatoes with potato seeds or grocery produce.

Preparing seed potatoes for planting. Photo by tanyss/Getty Images.

Technology of growing potatoes - AgroBaza

Place in the crop rotation

Potatoes are notable for the fact that with the use of fertilizers and good tillage, they perfectly tolerate re-planting. In crop rotation, its share varies between 25-50%. When planting, one should adhere to the following principles:

  • do not plant potatoes after nightshade;
  • early potatoes can be used as a cut or in a busy fallow after winter rye.
    • Mineral nutrition and fertilizer for potatoes

    With natural soil fertility, potato yield is 8-15 t/ha. For the growth of one ton of tubers and tops for it, potatoes will select 5-6 kg of nitrogen from the soil, phosphorus - 1. 5-2 kg, potassium - 7-10 kg, which is much more than most cereals consume. To compensate for this, organic fertilizers are very well suited, the recommended application rate is 20-40 t/ha, and for poorly fertile soils 40-60 t/ha [Manure spreaders]. Each ton of manure or humus will add 0.2 t/ha to the crop.

    Microfertilizers in the form of copper, boron, zinc and molybdenum are used to increase the resistance of potatoes to diseases. It is good to process potato seed in a 0.05% solution of microelement salts [Root dressers], or the plantings themselves are sprayed with the same solution in the bud setting phase [Boom sprayers].

    Tillage

    Stubble cultivation [Disc harrows] is carried out after harvesting the stubble predecessor after 2-3 weeks [Plows]. For erosion-hazardous areas non-moldboard processing is carried out. Early spring harrowing [Tooth harrow coupling] [Spring harrow] is carried out in spring in 2 tracks, and cultivation to a depth of 12-14 cm is carried out before planting. [Cultivators are universal]. Such a complex is applicable for light soils, and for heavy soils, plows without mouldboards of 22-27 cm [Ploughs] are carried out in the spring, but with the installation of skimmers to a working depth of 12-14 cm.

    Preparation of tubers for planting

    Calibration and sorting of tubers is carried out by fractions using KSP-25 (potato sorting station) [Root crop sorters]. A fraction of 50-80 g is suitable for planting. If there is a lack of planting material, then the balls can be cut, while they can be additionally dried and treated with pesticides [Root dressers].

    Tubers are sorted and selected suitable 10-12 days before planting.

    Dressing of tubers is done to protect them from diseases [Root dressers], in addition, dusting with ashes or wetting with solutions of mineral as well as humic fertilizers is performed. The depth of planting tubers is 6-15 cm. Potatoes are planted with row spacing of 70 cm and a step of 25-35 cm [Potato planters]. The landing method is chosen the most suitable for the current conditions.

    So ridge planting has advantages in forest-steppe regions with sufficient moisture supply. The ridges are cut before planting with cultivators with ridge formers [Cultivators with ridge formers] or after planting with cultivators-hillers [Cultivators with ridges]. On the ridge surface, the ground warms up faster, which allows you to start planting earlier.

    And in areas with an excess of moisture, a ridge-tape planting is used

    For planting, ridges are created 35 cm high and 140 cm wide. to 30 cm. In ridge plantings, inter-row tillage can be done even before emergence [Cultivators for Inter-Row Cultivation].

    After germination, one to three inter-row treatments are carried out as needed.

    Traditionally the depth at the first treatment is 10-12 cm, and at the second 6-8 cm. From the first to subsequent treatments, the protective zone increases by 5 cm on each side of the bushes, starting from 10 at the first pass. Hilling is carried out together with inter-row processing.

    Protection against diseases and pests

    Diseases and pests kill 30% of the potato crop. Therefore, the plants must be sprayed with [Bar sprayers]. Since potatoes suffer not only from the Colorado potato beetle, but also from the wireworm, it is also necessary to destroy weeds when growing it. As protection against the nematode, mustard and rapeseed are used, which are sown as intercrops in the crop rotation.

    Phytophthora is one of the most dangerous diseases of potatoes, which affects the crop with excessive moisture and a lack of trace elements, or with an excess of nitrogen fertilizers.

    Harvesting

    The degree of potato ripening is clearly determined by the state of its tops, its death indicates the readiness of the crop for harvesting. An important step in the harvesting of potatoes is the mowing of the remaining haulm and weeds [Haulm Breakers] to dry the ridges, ripen quickly, prevent infection and improve the quality of the tubers. To accelerate the ripening of diseased and late varieties, desiccation is used - 10 days before harvesting, magnesium chlorate (25 kg/ha) is sprayed. [Rod sprayers].

    Harvesting potatoes on medium and light soils is done with a combine [Potato Harvesters], unloading the combine bunker directly into a truck.

    On medium and heavy soils, separate harvesting is carried out with laying potatoes in a swath [Potato diggers] for drying, and then picking up a swath with a combine [Potato harvesters] [Potato diggers-loaders].

    If the soil is excessively moist, a technology is used that includes: digging up the tubers with a potato digger [Potato diggers] and manually collecting them from the field surface.

    Sorting [Root Graders] and storage after harvest. When processing seed potatoes, they try to damage it as little as possible, so if there are less than 25% of impurities, it is recommended to lay it without sorting at all. To store potatoes, they build special storage facilities equipped with ventilation systems or bury piles with an exhaust hood in trenches.

    7 elements to increase the efficiency of growing potatoes - Agrovesti.net

    Growing potatoes
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    According to statistics, in Russia, there is a tendency to reduce self-sufficiency in potatoes. So self-sufficiency in potatoes in 2015 reached 105.1%, in 2016 - 97.7%, in 2017 it was 90.7%. But this situation should not be considered critical.

    There are many uncontrollable factors in potato production technology. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to those factors that can be controlled. These will include such as the share of potatoes in the structure of cultivated crops, its yield, equipping with special equipment, as well as reducing losses during storage and logistics.

    In this article, we want to propose methods and approaches to achieve the objectives of increasing the efficiency of potato production. On the one hand, they are known to many, but not everyone succeeds in fulfilling them. This means that methods for improving efficiency are in smaller details that are not obvious.

    1. If you don't have this, don't grow potatoes! The potato industry is characterized by relatively high labor intensity. Therefore, a lot of manual labor is involved in the production (especially after harvesting, unloading and loading operations).

    But manual labor is generally low-skilled and characterized by high turnover. And here a dilemma arises: leave everything as it is, or organize a mechanized process, risk incurring high costs for equipment, but at the same time, become independent of the coincidence of circumstances, and technological processes will become controllable.

    Growing potatoes requires a complete set of equipment: a planting complex for simultaneous soil preparation, fertilization in rows, planting tubers and forming ridges; the presence of a potato harvester, a mechanical loader for potatoes. Unloading and loading should be mechanized, a potato storage facility with a climate control system should be built, lines for sorting and washing potato tubers should be installed, because this will increase the price segment of products.

    2. The use of fertilizer is an essential part of obtaining a high yield of potatoes, so 10 tons of tubers take out about 50 kg of nitrogen, 20 kg of phosphorus, 90 kg of potassium. To obtain 30 t/ha of potatoes, it is necessary to provide a nitrogen level of about 120-150 kg/ha, and as practice shows, a further increase in fertilizer doses reduces the quality of the crop, and the keeping quality of tubers worsens during storage. To fully provide the culture with phosphorus and potassium, it is enough to apply 35-40 t/ha of rotted cattle manure or 10-12 t/ha of bird droppings for irrigation. When planting potatoes in rows, it is advisable to add 30-35 kg / ha of the active substance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, for this there are azophos, nitrofoska, etc.

    As a rule, nitrogen fertilizing is divided into 3-4 times of application during the growing season, it is advisable to apply manure from autumn for the main treatment. Potatoes grow well in acidic soils with a pH of 5.5-6.0; these are northern regions with light peaty soils, but potatoes are also sensitive to an overly acidic reaction of the soil environment (pH below 5.5), as a result of which the yield drops. Therefore, liming of such soils should be carried out and such forms of fertilizers should be selected that gave a physiologically alkaline reaction (for example, manure) or neutral (from nitrogen, for example, urea). The increased alkaline reaction of the soil solution pH above 7.5 also negatively affects; this leads to reduced yields and increased disease damage like scab. Such soils are located in the south of Russia. Potato is a rather flexible crop, but its maximum cultivation efficiency is observed in a non-hot climate with soils that are light in granulometric composition.

    Application of lime for potatoes

    On sandy and clay soils, the most effective way to increase the content of organic matter is to grow green fertilizers - green manure. According to experimental data in Germany and the UK, over 25-30 years of green manure plowing has increased the humus content by an average of 10-20%. Sowing lupine with a biomass of 40 t/ha is equivalent to 40-45 tons of manure. Lupine has a technological advantage - in the northern regions, and in the southern regions - mustard, oil radish. When the green mass of plants is in the budding phase, the field is disked. This technique is effective with sufficient moisture or irrigation, because the activity of the microorganism, bacteria in dry soil slows down.

    3. Soil preparation. Potatoes can be grown after almost any crop. The only exceptions are cultures of the nightshade family: tomatoes, peppers. For potatoes, return to its original place, every 3 - 4 years.

    The main task in soil preparation is to provide loose soil for planting potatoes in ridges. Therefore, on heavy soils, such as clay and loamy, it would be advisable to plow from autumn to a depth of 25-30 cm during the physical ripeness of the soil - before the onset of prolonged rains, because otherwise "plasticine" will be obtained. And this will be the last treatment before the spring planting of potatoes.

    What to do if it rained all autumn season? In this case, you should wait for severe frosts -10 -15 ° C, so that the earth freezes and excess moisture evaporates, and the ice in the ground breaks the dense layers of soil.

    If there is stagnant moisture in the fields, it is necessary to carry out a slotting with a subsoiler to a depth of 45-50 cm in advance. This may well be an alternative to deep plowing.

    Poor quality of plowing

    On light soils, such as soddy-podzolic, sandy and sandy loam, it is enough to disk 10-12 cm from autumn, because it makes no sense to work deeper. Processing after harvesting the predecessor should be to preserve moisture and prevent the growth of new weeds, for this it is enough to surface the ground with disk implements with rollers or spring harrows by 6-8 cm.

    Farmers sometimes use rototillers in the spring before planting to create a loose layer. This is a valid option if ridges from plowing have remained since autumn. But the main disadvantage of this technological technique is the strong drying of the soil and the shallow depth of processing. That is, after deep plowing of the field, we carry out milling of the earth, then we plant potatoes. A small working width leads to more frequent driving across the field and, accordingly, compaction of the earth by the tractor wheels. Which, in turn, worsens the water and air regime of the soil and, as a result, low potato yields. Therefore, it is so important to prepare the soil for planting potatoes at a time in the fall.

    4. Planting of potato tubers begins when the soil warms up to +6…+8 °C at a depth of 8 - 10 cm, summer planting is allowed in the southern regions of Russia, but they are less productive than spring ones due to hot weather in summer. With a planting pattern of 70 × 22-25 cm and an average mass of potato tubers of 50-70 g, about 2. 8-4.0 tons of tubers per 1 ha will be needed. Planting machines of foreign manufacturers are designed for a row spacing of 75 cm, this is of course a better option, because a larger volume of ridge with loose soil is formed, which will allow the plant to lay more tubers, the main thing is not to allow excessive compaction of the ridge itself during its formation.

    It is advisable to purchase seed material from the northern regions, because the potato degenerates in the south. In advance, potato tubers are treated with an insecticidal disinfectant based on imidocloprid to protect against the bear, wireworm and Colorado potato beetle; against root rot, late blight, scab, preparations based on thiram are used.

    Planting potatoes

    For planting potatoes, it is best to use special planting complexes with a fertilizer compartment in rows and ridge formation. Leaving the technological track will prevent soil overconsolidation during subsequent technological operations - spraying and watering.

    5. Agrochemicals. Close attention should be paid to the protection of potato plants from pests, diseases and weeds. The main pest in the fields with potatoes is the Colorado potato beetle, per day with a population of 30, insects can completely destroy the bush along with the stems. Therefore, preparations containing the active substances imidacloprid, cypermethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, dimethoate are used against the Colorado potato beetle. Alternating drugs from different classes of chemical groups will avoid pesticide resistance.

    Weed control when growing potatoes begins in advance, in the presence of perennial root weeds, such as field mustard, sow thistle species; rhizomatous weeds: hogweed, creeping wheatgrass; quarantine weeds: species of ragweed, dodder. As a rule, since autumn, there is an outflow of nutrients from the leaves, stems to the roots of plants, therefore, 3-4 weeks before the main tillage, vegetative weeds are chemically treated with preparations containing glyphosate, with the addition of 5 kg of ammonium nitrate per hectare, in order to strengthen herbicide effect. After 2 - 3 such treatments, the fields become clear of weeds, and it is important to prevent insemination of weeds in the future, because this will lead to an increase in seed reserves.

    Preparations based on the active ingredient metribuzin should be used with caution and detailed study before use on potato crops, because this chemical is persistent in the soil and has an aftereffect. Therefore, it is impossible to sow any vegetable crops next year, legumes, sunflower, rapeseed, mustard, beets, cereals. These are the cultures that are listed in the recommendations for use. In general, preparations that remain in the soil are best used in monoculture for 2-3 years, and if there is any doubt about the use in crop rotation, it is better to consult a specialist from the Rosselkhoztsentr.

    Of the permitted preparations of the State Catalog of Pesticides and Agrochemicals on potatoes, promethrin, MCPA acid, rimsulfuron are also used with active ingredients.

    Preservation of the leaf apparatus of potato plants throughout the growing season is a prerequisite for obtaining a large number of products. With the help of fungicides, it is necessary to prevent damage to crops by late blight and reduce the spread of Alternaria to a level that is not associated with a threat to reduce yields. There are times when the application of fungicides is most effective. Comparison of different timing of treatments proves that spraying crops with a low level of infestation gives the best results. The delay in the treatment with fungicides at a scale of damage of more than 15% leads to unsatisfactory results. Against such diseases as late blight, alternariosis, vegetative potato plants are sprayed with preparations based on mancozeb, metalaxyl, and copper salts.

    6. Irrigation. Potato plants during the entire growing season should not experience a lack of moisture. Only under this condition can one be sure of obtaining a high yield of potatoes, especially in the arid soil and climatic conditions of southern Russia. The irrigation regime should provide for constant maintenance of soil moisture at the level of 70 - 75%. An excess of moisture will also negatively affect the size of the potato crop, on lands with a close occurrence of groundwater, therefore, drainage is being built to lower the level.

    Irrigation rates should be small to avoid flooding on clayey, loamy soils and erosion of ridges in potato crops. Therefore, sprinklers on irrigation machines are selected with a finely dispersed outflow of water. Irrigation rate is within 400 - 450 m 3 /ha. The need for the amount of irrigation is set according to soil moisture sensors, in hot conditions the irrigation rate can reach up to 4500 - 5500 m 3 /ha per season. Stop watering 2 weeks before harvest.

    7. Harvesting potatoes is an important and final step before placing tubers for storage in storage. In a ripening potato, the tops begin to die off, and a dense, non-peeling peel forms on the tubers. Late potatoes, laid down for winter storage, are harvested when they are fully ripe. An early potato grown for summer consumption. The earth on potato tubers is dried so that it flies off. In the process of sorting, loading and unloading, this issue is resolved by itself. When harvesting in wet and rainy weather, the potatoes must be dried for 2 to 3 days in the warehouse. When storing potatoes in bulk in heaps, active ventilation is carried out to remove excess moisture.

    Separate harvesting of potatoes and picking them with a combine harvester

    Damage to potato tubers during harvesting should be minimal, because they intensively undergo respiration processes and consume a lot of dry matter, putrefactive diseases may enter. But wounds on potato tubers have properties for wound healing under the condition of a high temperature of about 20 about C, free air access and air humidity of 90 - 95%. This mode is maintained for two weeks, and only then the temperature is reduced to 2 - 3 o C.

    Improving the efficiency of growing potatoes involves reducing the manual physical labor of people in favor of using machines and tools for growing potatoes.

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