“Some mornings it just doesn’t seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.” – Emo Philips
“Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.” – Earl Warren
PAUL’S PLANT PICK
April 2010
Archive Paul's Plant Pick
Oh sure, I could have picked some new, sexy, flowering perennial this month, but that would be way too predictable. Besides, I love potatoes. I love them more than any other food crop. And I’ve been growing them every year for 32 years, without fail.
Along the way, I’ve grown dozens of different varieties, but I still prefer Yukon Gold above all others. It’s got just the right amount of starch, and it’s so buttery it almost doesn’t need butter. (Notice I said almost.) I also love fingerling potatoes, which are long and narrow and, of course, quite tasty.
Potatoes
Solanum tuberosum
Yukon Gold Potato from www.sunset.com
Potatoes are considered a cool-season crop, and should be planted in late winter to early spring throughout most of the country. In warmer regions, including my own, you can plant a second crop in late summer for a fall harvest. Well-drained soil is a must, and a slightly acidic soil is ideal.
I tend to break from tradition when it comes to planting potatoes because I don’t cut them into pieces. Instead, I select tubers about the size of a lemon and plant them whole. The practice of cutting potatoes will certainly save you money, but it also exposes the tissue to soil-dwelling fungi, which can lead to rot. If you insist on cutting your tubers, dip the cut portion into some sulfur and let the tissue callous a day or two prior to planting to minimize the threat.
Yukon Gold Potatos from www.chiotsrun.com
Plant the tubers four- to six-inches deep and space them roughly 12- to 18-inches apart. Be prepared to mound additional soil around the base of the vines as they develop, or add a thick layer of mulch (hay or straw) so that the potatoes aren’t exposed to sunlight, which will make them turn green and produce a slightly toxic alkaloid called solanine.
A really cool alternative planting method is to plop the potatoes on the ground and cover them with a foot of hay (or straw). As the vines grow and the hay decomposes, add more hay as needed to maintain a depth of one foot. When it comes time to harvest, you simply reach into the hay and pull out the potatoes.
As flowers begin to form on the vines, you can begin to harvest so-called “new” potatoes for eating fresh. Dig around the base of the vines and harvest as few or as many tubers as you like. The plant will continue to produce more potatoes so long as you don’t disturb it too much. Once the vines have withered, you can begin to harvest “keepers,” a term used to describe potatoes that have “cured” in the ground and as a result will store longer.
Along the way, make sure your potatoes get even moisture, but don’t get too carried away with fertilizers. In fact, if you enrich your soil with compost prior to planting, your potatoes won’t need fertilizer. However, don’t use compost that contains a lot of manure – it can cause problems such as scab.
Potatoes can be ravaged by a number of pests and diseases. The most notorious pest is the Colorado potato beetle, but cutworms, aphids, leafhoppers, leafminers, blister beetles, and flea beetles can be a problem as well. Control aphids and leafhoppers with insecticidal soap. Try Neem or Spinosad for the other pests.
Diseases such as black leg, early and late blight, ring rot, and scab are tough to control. Look for resistant cultivars, rotate crops as best you can, provide good air circulation, purchase certified disease-free seed potatoes, and remove affected plants as quickly as possible.
The history of the potato is as fascinating as the tubers are tasty. And it’s a story I’ll share with you once I harvest this year’s crop.
