How to Grow Potatoesplanting potatoes If you want to know how to grow potatoes, read on for some advice and tips. Potatoes like to be grown in a sunny, frost-free spot and most soil types suit them. Add a lot of manure or rotted compost to the soil before planting. Two weeks before planting, rake a fertilizer through the earth. It is also a good idea to leave a couple of seasons between growing potatoes in the same spot if you want to know how to grow potatoes the best way, else pests and diseases can build up there. This also applies if you have grown tomatoes there. Preparing the Potatoes You should use only certified seed potatoes because they are disease free. A couple of weeks before planting, seed the potatoes somewhere between 60º and 70ºF to encourage sprouting. Slice the potatoes into inch squared pieces containing at least two eyes a couple of days before planting. You can plant small potatoes whole. Planting the Potatoes Potatoes grow best in rows. You need to plant seeds at fifteen inch intervals and space the rows two and a half to three feet apart. Cultivate and turn the soil one more time before planting at eight inches deep. Add some organic material such as manure or compost. Place the potato seeds in the ground cut side down and put three or four inches of soil on top. The sprouts should start to show within a couple of weeks. When they do, add another three inches of soil. To know how to grow potatoes the best, you should make sure you add more soil as soon as you notice the shoots. Caring for the Potatoes After a few weeks, you will need to add more soil halfway up the stem of each potato plant. Then you will need to add another inch every week or two weeks. If there isn't enough soil above the potatoes, they will rise above the soil and get exposed to light. This turns them green and makes them poisonous. Keep the potatoes well watered, especially when they are flowing and just after. It is best to water them early in the day so they can dry out by the evening. This is because wet foliage can encourage diseases. Harvesting the Potatoes How to grow potato is about harvesting as well as care. You can harvest them a couple of weeks after they have flowered. These are baby potatoes. If you want to wait, this is fine, and you can wait another few weeks for larger potatoes. Let the potatoes lie on the soil for a couple of days to dry out. If it might rain, put them somewhere cool and sheltered. This process matures the skin which protects the potatoes in storage. Cut all the foliage off at the end of September if the potato plants have not started to die back. This allows your crop enough time to mature before the winter. You can store potatoes in a dark, cool, well-ventilated place and they will keep for up to six months.
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