Planting Potatoes

Planting Potatoes

It is early spring and that means it is time to plant your
potatoes. William and Judy took us out to the garden to show us how to plant potatoes and maximize your harvest. First we looked at the seed potato. Seed potatoes are not always like the ones you find in the store. Some of the potatoes in the store have been treated so they don't grow in the vegetable aisle.

Click arrow to begin video.

Find a couple varieties at your local garden center. Look for good, firm spuds. Next, when you get home. Cut them into sections making sure that you have 3-4 'eyes' in each section. An eye is the little dented part of the potato where the new growth occurs. Leave them sit for a day and let them dry over the cut. The next day you can plant them.

Find a place with rich well-drained soil. Make sure the soil is amended so it is nice and loose, that will let the plant produce more potatoes. Dig down about 8-10 inches and place the potato at the bottom. Cover it with 3-4 inches of soil. Once it starts to grow you can start to fill in the hole a little bit. Wait until the plant is 6 inches tall and cover up the bottom half. Let it grow some more and do it again. This will allow the plant to produce more tubers!

The potato will eventually flower and then die. Once the vines are completely dead in the late summer you can dig up your crop. Judy also showed us how to grow potatoes in a recycled garbage can. This is really easy because you just fill up the garbage can until harvest and then you can just dump it out to harvest! For more information check with your local, independent garden center..

(Originally aired on GardenTime TV. See the GardenTime web site for more videos and information about the show)