Potatoes(~May-August?

)
● Planting Area
○ Roughly 6x6 area, rows 1’ apart
○ Works in clay soil too2
● Clearing and Trenching
○ Set out 4 corners and rough edges
○ Trench down 4-5 inches down
■ Reduces need to till… too much work for too little reward
● Planting
○ Place potatoes eyes up in the ground
■ If no eyes, choose a side to be the “higher side”
○ 1 foot apart from each other potato
■ Leave labels of types at end of row
○ ‘Clean up’ rows by flattening out surface for consistency
● Mulching
○ Straw mulch (GradenStraw) can work, but really anything is good. Straight on top
of the rows
■ Goal is to maintain moisture in the soil
■ About 3-4” max of mulch, really just sprinkle on to cover
● Watering
○ Water in the mulch, liberally.
■ Then, they don't need much until they develop roots and then start
watering normally. If in a rainy area/time period, you may not need to
water much at all.
● Maintenance
○ 2 weeks-3 weeks
■ Sprouts begin and green comes up
● Cover any exposed root systems with a little straw (mulch) only if
needed
○ 3 weeks- 1 month
■ Check in with Larger growth and ensure any small potatoes that begin to
form are covered with your mulch
● We do NOT want any potatoes to be hit by the sun while they are
growing
○ 5weeks- 2 months
■ Issues may present themselves between last check in and this one.
● Mottled spots may be potato blight… pest, etc. May be worth
harvesting young plants if infected.
○ 6-8 weeks
■ Most potatoes will be ready! How do you tell?
● Full yellowed/browned out leaves are a sign that energy is starting
to be sent down to the tubers.
● As berries or flowers start to form and fall off of the plant, that’s a
good sign your potatoes are about ready to go
● Harvesting
○ Grab from the “front” of the plant with potato form or other thronged tool and then
pull up and through the plant. This will pull up some soil to reveal growth but
shouldn’t cause too much damage to any surviving plants in the area.
■ This is so your tool doesn’t puncture the potatoes that you are trying to
harvest. The potatoes will be about 3-4” down, and you want to aim
around 1-2” down
■ Should come out as one plant, if possible!
○ Can do it all by hand and just dig through the soil too, if you want :)