How To Grow Potatoes

How to grow Potatoes

Potatoes are easy to grow, and a good choice for new plots because they tolerate and help to break up recently cultivated soil. Crops have large leafy tops and sprawling roots and require lots of room for a family sized crop.

Early or main crop?

There are quite a lot of varieties to choose from, first thing you need to do is learn the terminologies, from earlies to second earlies and main crop. This is the amount of time it takes for them to mature.  As you might expect earlies grow fastest and are ready in about 90 days, while main crops can take up to 150 days. Most gardeners choose to grow earlies because they can be planted closer together and produce a crop of baby potatoes by early summer. They do give lower yields than main crops which are a better choice if you want tubers to lift and store

Eating qualities

Before deciding which to plant its best to pick what you like to eat, there not point growing a potato you’ll hardly use in your cooking.  The most important factor is whether the skin has a waxy or floury texture, Waxy potatoes stay firm when cooked, which are better for boiling. Whereas drier floury textures disintegrate when boiled but are wondered baked, roasted or chipped.

Disease resistance

Potatoes are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases. If you are aware of any diseases or finding them in your potatoes then go for built in disease resistant varieties such as Lady Balfour, Sarpo Mira and Valor