IN THE GARDEN: Got spuds?

by Chuck McClung

Potatoes are one of the easiest veggie crops to grow. Because they store well, they’re one of the best homegrown staple foods for winter. In the right conditions and with a few helpful hints, even the novice gardener can realize a tremendously large harvest, this year – it’s not too late! So here are the basics so you’ve got spuds!
Plant only certified seed potatoes. Potatoes from the grocery store may have been treated to prevent sprouting. Be sure that you plant a variety of potato that’s suitable for your needs. Some varieties are too “wet” for hash browns; some are less drought tolerant.
The most common question I hear is “When do I plant?” Planting time is determined by two things: soil moisture and soil temperature.  Potatoes like deep, light, loose, but moist, well-drained soil in as much sun as possible. If you have puddles, it’s too early to plant potatoes. If you dig down in the soil and it’s still pretty wet, it’s still too early. Wait for the soil to drain off.
Potatoes dislike cool soil temperatures. Preferably wait until soil temperatures are in the 50s. It may still be too cool and/or too wet depending on your situation; many garden spaces, however, are ready for potato planting.
Amend your soil with compost, not sand, to loosen clay soil. Potatoes are one of the few veggie crops that prefer slightly acidic soil; so there’s no need to add lime. Avoid planting potatoes in the same place each year to help prevent disease.
Use an organic fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus (the middle number) to encourage a large potato harvest. Side dress two or three times during the season as plants grow. Stop fertilizing after the potatoes have finished flowering. Yes they flower and they’re quite showy too – I won’t tell you the color; you’ll have to find out for yourself.
Those large “seed” potatoes in the nurseries are meant to be cut into quarters, or so, and planted as “seed”. I recently saw for the first time Fir Bark Dust (powdered fir bark), a natural alternative to powdered, synthetic fungicides that are applied to the cut ends of seed potatoes to prevent rot and disease.
As potato plants grow, and create actual potatoes (tubers), they tend to grow up out of the ground. If the potatoes are exposed to sun they will burn and become bitter. So, gently “hill” or pile up soil around the plant to encourage more tuber growth and prevent sunburn. You hear of people growing potatoes in tires and filling them with straw as the potato plants grow up. This does work. But surely couldn’t one create some other kind of makeshift “hilling frame” besides tires?!
Early varieties are ready 2-3 months after planting. One can harvest a few potatoes from the sides of these plants as they grow, which also prolongs the harvest. For mid and late season potatoes, stop watering when vines die down, and harvest about two weeks later.
Store potatoes in a cool, dry place, much in the same way one would store dahlias for the winter; do not let them freeze.
Chieftain is a great early variety for the foothills that tends to resist scab and blight. Yukon Gold is one of the most popular early varieties great steamed, boiled or baked, but too moist for hash browns. German Butterball is a classic multipurpose good keeping mid-season potato.
There are also many varieties of fingerling potatoes like French Fingerling or Rose Finn Apple that grow smaller, narrower tubers. Most fingerlings aren’t ready until the end of the season, but they seem to have a more natural resistance to scab and diseases. Plus, you get bigger yields than with other potatoes, and it takes fewer pounds to plant the same space.
So here’s hoping this year, you’ve got spuds.

Chuck McClung helps others solve their gardening dilemmas and may be reached at orchidfruit@hotmail.com.