Growing Potatoes

Post date: Mar 7, 2020 4:11:41 PM

March 9 is the sowing date for potatoes, onions, arbi and any other plant that should take root in spring.

I follow the moon cycles and full moon and the waning period is for root growth and transplants.

Buy seed potatoes and onion sets. Store bought potatoes are usually sprayed with chemicals to prevent sprouting. They can also be diseased.

If you plan to make chits (cut seed potato is called a chit) ensure three eyes per chit. Leave the chit to air and develop dry scab before planting.

Space plants half to one foot apart and rows two foot apart. Allow space for hilling the potatoes. Look up online for more info. Don’t sow too deep. Half a foot in is good enough.

Full sun. Soil or pot is fine. Ensure pot drains well. Early crop sown now will be ready for harvest by end June.

Potatoes will take 90 days to begin fruiting and 120-140 days for harvest.

Late potatoes can be sown in April/May. But Atlanta gets too hot in July/August and that affects the yields. Fruits don’t set if soil is warm. Try your luck!

Potatoes don’t tolerate frost. Nor do they like hot soil. You have to capture a window where soil is neither too cold nor hot.

After sowing, if there is a frosty night, pls cover the potato patch with a plastic sheet or tarpaulin for protection.

Making sets:

1. Once you brought home your bag of potatoes, keep them for a few days in a warm place, preferably indoors to encourage sprouting.

2. Mixing a few onions with the potatoes and keeping them in a airy basket will encourage faster sprouting.

3. Once they have sprouted, take a clean knife and cut them into chits or sets. Ensure 1-2 sprouting eyes per piece.

4. Leave the chits spread out in a warm place to allow exposed areas to form a new dry skin. Or callous to protect from rotting.

5. If you can’t wait, and if you don’t worry about getting as many plants as possible from the seed bag, plant them whole as is!

Chitting or making sets helps you get more plants.