Potatoes are a nutritious product and can grow almost all year round under the right conditions. Planting potatoes in pots minimizes the space required and also the risk of pest infestations and diseases. All you need is a deep and heavy pot, since potatoes grow underground and need a lot of space in the soil.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Choosing the Potatoes and Tools
Step 1. Buy seed potatoes
Unlike the potatoes you buy at the supermarket, these, also known as "tubers", are grown for the purpose of being buried and are not intended for consumption. Some food grade potatoes can also be used for planting, but they don't usually produce a large yield.
Step 2. Know which potatoes to plant and when
There is a wide range of potato varieties you can choose from, but they generally fall into five main categories, based on harvest times: early, new, mid-season, main, late. Knowing which category your potatoes fall into allows you to know the timing of sowing and harvesting.
- The precocious must be sown at the beginning of the year, already in February, and is harvested around May.
- The novella is sown a few weeks after the precocious one, around March, and the harvest takes place around June or July.
- The mid-season variety is sown around April and harvested around August or September.
- The main one is sown in mid-spring, around May or June and is harvested around October.
- The late variety is sown around July and harvested in November or December.
Step 3. Choose a large vase
A potato plant needs a container with a capacity of about 10 liters to grow well. The bigger the pot, the better the plant grows.
Step 4. Make sure the pot has many drainage holes
The seed potato rots if it is left to soak for an extended period of time and drainage holes are needed to prevent this from happening. If the pot or container you choose doesn't have holes, make two or three in the bottom.
Step 5. Prepare the culture medium
A mixture made of equal parts of potting soil and multivalent compost will provide your tubers with nutritional support rich in organic material. You can also add a few handfuls of fertilizer. Choose an organic fertilizer, such as manure, bone meal, fish meal, or seaweed.
Part 2 of 4: Pregermination
Step 1. Leave the tubers in a cool, dark place
A closet or storage room in the basement is fine. Place them in an egg carton or other container to keep them raised and come back every day to check if they emit the jets.
Step 2. Move the potatoes to a light but still fresh area until a couple of sprouts form
Store the potatoes in this place, keeping most of the shoots facing up, until they take on a dark green color.
Step 3. Cut off any excess shoots
The more you have, the more potatoes will grow, however if they come from just one tuber, the potatoes will be small. Choose the three strongest shoots and remove the others with your finger or by cutting them with a sharp knife.
Step 4. Cut the potatoes in half
If you don't want to cut the potato sprouts, cut the tuber in half and treat each of the halves as two different seeds. Each half should weigh between 40 and 50g and each half should have two or three shoots.
Expose each half with the cut side facing up to harden it. The part of the "pulp" dries and hardens further if you leave it outdoors for a couple of days
Part 3 of 4: Planting
Step 1. Cover the bottom of the vase with shards (broken pieces of earthenware) or small stones
These materials help drain water and prevent it from staying in the ground for too long.
Step 2. Fill the pot with 10-15cm of the soil you have prepared
Press it lightly with your hands to make sure it's compact and stable enough to hold the potatoes in place, so they don't sink as they get heavier.
Step 3. Put the tubers in the pot
Most of the shoots should be facing up. Leave a sufficient and uniform space between one tuber and another and do not crowd the pot. As a general rule, a container with a diameter of 30 cm should only contain 3 tubers.
Step 4. Cover the potatoes by adding 10-13cm of soil
Use your hands to press it hard enough, but not too hard so as not to crush the tubers.
Step 5. Water lightly
The soil should be moist to the touch, but not soggy.
Part 4 of 4: Daily Care and Harvest
Step 1. Add more soil as the plants grow
At the beginning, the potatoes should sprout by a maximum of 2.5 cm. Keep adding soil and compost until you reach the edge of the pot. Ideally, the soil should be about 45-60cm deep.
Step 2. Keep the potatoes constantly watered
The soil should be moist, but not soggy and never completely dry. You can usually feel the moisture level by sticking your fingertip into the soil.
- During the summer, potatoes may need to be watered twice a day, especially if you live in a hot, dry climate.
- During the colder season, most potato plants only need about 2 to 3 inches of rain per week to grow well, but if there are long weeks without rain in your area, they may need to be watered manually. Place a rain gauge near the pot to assess whether the plants regularly receive enough rainfall.
Step 3. Place the pot in an area that receives sun and partial shade
Potatoes need sunlight, but if they are exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time they suffer and may die.
Step 4. Check the pH of the soil with litmus paper or another type of test
You should do this in the middle of the season, especially if the leaves turn yellow or become weak. Potatoes thrive in soil with a pH of around 6.0.
- Add more compost or manure if you need to lower the pH.
- Add agricultural lime if you need to raise the pH.
Step 5. Fertilize the potatoes once every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer
Providing nourishment to your plants will make them bigger and the yield will be richer.
Step 6. Watch out for parasites
Many of these, such as the leafhopper, can be eliminated by hand. For others, however, it may be necessary to use an organic pesticide to ward off infestation or kill them.
Step 7. Check your plants for signs of disease
Many diseases, such as downy mildew, are contagious, so if potatoes show signs of disease, you should immediately move them away from other plants.
Step 8. Dig into the soil a few weeks after flowering
The first potatoes are ready at this time and you can tear or twist the root. Generally, those that are at least the size of an egg are ripe, but you must first pop them out of the ground to check the color before fully harvesting them. If they are green, they are unripe and poisonous.
Step 9. Stop watering them two weeks before the final harvest
You will be able to tell when the other potatoes are ready by observing how much foliage dies. When the leaves and stems are completely yellow, the potatoes are ripe.
Step 10. Pull out the dead leaves and stems
Wear gloves to protect your hands. Remove any potatoes hanging from the dead foliage and dig into the ground to eventually find others that may have been submerged in the potting soil.
