It often happens that inexperienced gardeners have to deal with various post-cultivation problems when planting potatoes. Although this can be frustrating, most mistakes can be easily avoided through proper plant care and consideration of various factors. If you also have to deal with this or plan to grow potato plants, the following information and tips can help you.
What should you consider before planting new potatoes?
As a rule, potatoes are not particularly demanding after planting if you have done everything correctly. However, for healthy plant growth, most potato varieties need a dry andwell prepared garden soil. There is also a risk of growing them too early when the soil is still too wet. This would likely lead to rot rather than germination. The best time to start sowing is about two weeks after the last frost date in spring. However, if it rains too often in the spring months, you may need to push the planting date back even further.
An important step in such cases would be to check the garden soil for moisture.When soil compaction occursor clay soil, you should be patient for a while and postpone cultivation. As for soil temperatures before planting, they should be at least 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. However, this does not necessarily guarantee a good harvest, as there are common mistakes when growing potatoes that you need to avoid. This should lead you to consider some key influencing factors to get the best possible return.
What mistakes are common when growing potatoes?
Many hobby gardeners make the mistake of growing tubers too early, too close or too shallow in their garden beds. In addition, the potato roots, or the so-called potato eyes, may be missing during cultivation. Overwatering is also a common mistake, and this is due to a variety of factors. Therefore, if you are inexperienced or impatient, it would make sense to learn how to plant potatoes correctly to prevent future complications. This will ensure that all your efforts have been worth it so that you can enjoy healthy, home-grown vegetables. Here are some common problems and what you need to do to solve them.
How can you replace incorrectly chosen seed potatoes with the right ones?
It is very important to choose suitable seed potatoes before growing. As already described above, these should first and foremost have the appropriate germination approaches. In fact, potato eyes are the places from which sprouts emerge, something that inexperienced gardeners often forget to look for before planting their potatoes. In such cases, the probability of poor germination is high. It may also be that the potatoes do not germinate despite the eyes being present. Therefore, you should force seed potatoes to grow about a month before planting them in the garden by leaving the germination roots undamaged. You must therefore handle such sprouting potatoes carefully so that no sprouts break.
Additionally, when choosing seed potatoes, you should also consider size, with the optimal seed potatoes being about the size of larger eggs. Also avoid growing grocery store potatoes that are sold for eating. These are often treated with chemicals that prevent them from germinating, so many never get around to it. Additionally, when you plant store-bought potatoes, you also run the risk of introducing diseases into your vegetable garden. For this reason, it is important to use certified and disease-free seed potatoes.
Why shouldn't you plant potatoes too close together?
Although it can be tempting to have multiple plants in the garden bed for a richer harvest, this is undesirable when growing potatoes. You shouldn't overcrowd your beds with them, as potatoes need more space to reach their full potential. Instead, aim for balance by sticking to an optimal growing distance of 30 to 40 cm. Planting potatoes close together would lead to a number of problems due to nutrient deficiency. Since potato plants compete for soil nutrients, they should also be able to grow as a collective. Otherwise you will most likely end up with stunted, leggy and misshapen vegetables.
In addition, you should aim for a distance of at least 60 cm between rows. However, this also depends on the potato varieties. Normally early potatoes are smaller and can be planted at a distance of 30 cm. For varieties that stay in the ground longer and are harvested in the late season, the distance between the potato plants should be at least 40 cm. When growing in planters or containers, be careful not to pack in too many seed potatoes to achieve a larger yield.
What happens if you don't plant potatoes deep enough?
Growing potatoes too shallow is another common mistake that could result in poor or no plant growth. If the seed potatoes are too close to the surface this will cause problems, so ideally you should place them at a depth of 20cm. In addition, the soil above should be at least 10 cm high. During the growing season, potato plants will bunch up, and if planted too shallow they can become exposed to sunlight. This causes the vegetables to turn green and inedible, while also making them more susceptible to pests. However, you also shouldn't dig too deep when planting potatoes. This can cause seed potatoes in garden soil that is too cold and wet to freeze and grow slowly or not at all.
How can underwatering or overwatering be prevented?
After growing potatoes, it is common for many beginning gardeners to overwater. However, overzealous watering of seed potatoes can lead to complications or even complete loss of the crop. In the worst case scenario, overwatering could cause rotten potatoes in soggy garden soil. Although the vegetable likes to grow in consistently moist soil, flooded soil, especially during cold periods, could cause a lack of oxygen. Excessive watering can also cause the tubers to become misshapen, also increasing the risk of powdery scab.
To prevent all of this, you should water seed potatoes moderately immediately after growing. After they become established and produce flowers, maintain moisture levels by watering 1 to 2 inches weekly during dry periods. You should stop watering if you notice the plant leaves turning yellow and wilting near harvest time. In addition, overwatering in the initial and final stages or insufficient watering in between can lead to deformation. Check the soil moisture level by inserting your fingers to a depth of about 6 inches.
Planting potatoes and harvesting them too early
Last but not least, a common mistake is harvesting grown potatoes at the wrong time. However, you should wait until half of the plant is completely dead before harvesting. During this phase the potatoes form a thicker skin. However, it is also important to note that the best time to harvest potatoes depends on the potato variety planted. Baby potatoes or early potatoes should typically be ready about two to three weeks after flowering. On the other hand, mature varieties take two to three weeks after their foliage turns yellow and wilts.
