Potatoes are a staple food and hardly anyone doesn't love them - no wonder, as they are so versatile. In addition, the potatoes are easy to store and can be stored for a long time. Of course it's worth growing them in your own garden. However, while it is usually very easy to tell whether the fruits are ripe with above-ground vegetables by looking at them, you are usually not so sure about tubers that grow underground, especially as a beginner. We come to your aid with this article and explain important things about how to harvest potatoes and store them correctly.
When can you harvest potatoes?
If you want to harvest your potatoes, the timing depends primarily on the variety. There are early potato varieties (from June), medium early (from the end of July or August) and also late (from the beginning of September). If you combine these in your garden, you can even have one continuous oneHarvest all season longabout benefiting.
A selection of varieties at a glance
How long do potatoes take to harvest depending on the variety? Below we have summarized some of the most popular ones:
When do you harvest potatoes depending on the variety?
Early potato varieties; approx. 115 days ripening time; Harvest from the beginning of June
- Annabelle
- White
- Christa
- Chilean
- Examples
- Frieslander
- Gala
- Gloria
- Glorietta
- Margaret
- Rosara
- Sieglinde
Medium early varieties; approx. 130 days ripening time; Harvest from mid-August (sometimes as early as the end of July)
- Sour
- Berolina
- Bintje
- Chilean
- Hansa
- Linda
- Melina
- Nicola
- Pamela
- Fourth
- Saskia
- Dryness
- Victoria
Late potatoes; approx. 150 days ripening time; Harvest from mid-September
- Adretta
- Sour
- Atlanta
- Bamberg croissants
- Blue Anneliese
- Charles
- Donella
- Granola
- Heiderot
- Laura
- Panda
- Pink pine cones
- Sarpo Mira
- Vitelotte
Harvesting potatoes – this is how you know the right time
In principle, the potatoes are ripe about three to four months after they are planted outdoors. But especially if you have planted several varieties at once, it might happen that you can't really remember when that time was. Luckily, the tubers still have an above-ground part that you can use as a guide. As long as the potato plant is still green, you can assume that the potatoes are still ripening and are not ready for harvest. Wait until it turns yellow or dries up.
Now it should also be said that the potatoes can still be eaten if you dig them up a little too early. The only problem here is that these then have the same skin texture as new potatoes. This means that these are then not suitable for storage, as you will find out in more detail below. You also don't have to worry about harvesting your potatoes too late. This only makes the shell thicker, which in turn is an advantage for storage.
Notice: When the plants begin to wilt, this can be more than just an indication of the beginning of the dormant phase and harvest maturity. Also atthe so-called late blightthe herb dries up. Sooner or later this disease will also be transmitted to the potatoes, so in this case you should emergency harvest the tubers as soon as possible.
Correct storage depending on the type of potato
Check the tubers when harvesting and sort out any unsuitable ones. If you find that some of them are already rotting, they are no longer suitable for storage. Potatoes with green spots are also unsuitable for consumption as theycontain toxic substances(formed due to too much light during germination). Discard them. Save small tubers (less than 3 cm in diameter) as seed potatoes for next year and use those that you damage when digging up as soon as possible.
Danger: Have you noticed any berries on the potato plants that look like tomatoes? Stay away from them because they are not suitable for consumption and are poisonous!
Harvest potatoes and choose the storage location after sorting
The potato box is the perfect container for storing the harvested potatoes because it offers good ventilation to prevent or delay the fruit from rotting. The storage location should also be as cool as possible (but frost-free), dry and dark, because heat and moisture promote spoilage and early germination, while too much light can cause the green spots mentioned above. Nevertheless, not all types of potatoes store well or for a long time. What does it depend on?
Interesting: Temperatures below 3 degrees make potatoes sweeter, as the starch is then partially converted into sugar.
Which potatoes can be stored and which cannot?
New potatoes have a very thin skin that does not provide sufficient protection for long storage. In addition, they also contain more water than late varieties for example and, as you know, moisture is one of the great enemies ofstored foods. Therefore, you should only store early varieties temporarily and ideally process them within a short period of time. Later potato varieties have a thick skin. This allows storage until spring.
Of course, there will always be exceptions in the form of tubers rotting early. For this reason, you should check all stored potatoes at regular intervals and dispose of any rotting ones immediately, otherwise the rot could spread to the other fruits.
And can you store potatoes in the refrigerator?
Nope. There's not much that speaks against it, that is, the tubers wouldn't automatically spoil. The disadvantage, however, is that the temperatures in the refrigerator could be sufficiently low to cause the effect described above, namely that some of the starch turns into sugar. And of course that would give the potatoes a different taste. Furthermore, the ventilation in the refrigerator is not particularly good and this means that the tubers will rot prematurely. So even if you don't mind the change in taste, you shouldn't keep the potatoes in the fridge for too long.
