Spouting potato

I bought too big of a bag of regular potatoes from the grocery store and now they are sprouting. My son is 4 and I think it would be fun to "grow" potatoes together. Even if I never harvest anything, and it's just a weird looking plant, it's okay. How do I do this? TIA, Tamara

Easy, plant it....

Potatoes prefer loose, fertile, slightly acid soils. This means don't add lime. It helps to mix in a bit of organic matter, but not too much. A 2" layer of compost or good "garden soil" (bagged) from a garden center can be used. Mix this 2" layer into the top 6-8" of soil. Do not use manure. E.g. to "amend" your soil, put a 2" layer of good "garden soil" (bagged), compost or other organic matter, and thoroughly mix it into the top 6-8" of soil.

You can also buy a good container planting mix and grow the potatos in 14-18" pots or larger on your patio/back yard.

Large potatoes should be cut into sections or pieces, each containing 1 or 2 "eyes" or buds. Small potatoes may be planted whole. "Eyes" are the sprouts you see.

If you cut the potatoes, Put them in a container (cardboard box is fine) dry and then put a bowl with water inside the box, too. This was a trick I learned from my father. Cover the box with plastic. This will raise humidity inside the box. Leave them for several days at 60-70F with high humidity for the potato pieces to callus (avoids a condition called seed pie decay).

Place the potatoes cut side down approximately 1 foot apart in rows about 4 inches deep. If you create more rows, space the rows
a few feet apart so you can work between them. For a container planting, plant one small or 1 cut piece per 14" pot only.

If space is limited you can also try the "mouting" method. Each 3-4 foot diameter mound can support 6 to 8 potato plants.
Mounting is easy: loosen the soil where your potato mound will be and mix the small amount of organic matter into the soil as described above. Space 7-8 potato pieces evenly around your circle, and cover with the 4 inches of soil. Make sure the soil above and below is "amended" (e.g. mixed with a reasonable amount of organic matter).

In a few days to a few weeks you should start to see the sprouts coming up (your potato vine).

Keep your potato vines well watered throughout the summer period, especially during the flowering period, and some time after this period, too. At this time, the plant creates the new potatos, and water is critical. Water early in the day so that the foliage has time to dry completely before evening. (Wet foliage can make your plants more susceptible to several potato diseases.) When foliage turns yellow and dies back, stop watering to allow the tubers to "mature" for a week or two before harvesting.

For small baby potatos (very delicious) you can harvest your potatos 2-3 weeks after the vine has died back. At this time the potatoes are very small. You can also bypass the small baby potatoes carefully and only pick the larger ones, and then leave the smaller ones to grow larger. Checking every week is a good idea (be carefull here not to rip the small baby potatoes from the root net which is formed). I usually dig down with my finger tips and gently pick out the larger ones. My father used to say that if you do not have dirt under your nails after picking potatoes, they wont taste good. Try it.. he may be right..

Remember to cook your potatoes well because raw potatoes which has been watered well in the vine stage (makes for best taste) can be poisionous. Always cook potatoes carefully.

TY, TY, TY! That is very helpful! I can't wait to get started. :-) Tamara

kdjoergensen,

ooooh, so sorry to intrude, but if you happen by a short guy by the name of Kenny Delnegro (who lives in North Plainfield,) please tell him Sonny's mommy says hello! My Mom used to own a house near the Brook on Westervelt Ave.

~* Robin

PS: Thanks for the info about doing potatoes in containers.... gotta try that too.

This message was edited Apr 29, 2005 9:28 PM