Potatoes are an indispensable food in any healthy diet. Luckily, it is very easy to grow them organically at home. Here’s a step-by-step guide about how to grow potatoes at home. The process is really simple. Continue reading to learn how to grow potatoes in a pot.
Potatoes are a widely cultivated plant species, scientifically known as Solanum tuberosum, that belongs to the nightshade family. They are native to the Andes Mountains in South America and were domesticated there over 7,000 years ago.
There are many varieties of potatoes, each with unique physical and culinary characteristics. Some of the most popular varieties include Russet, Red, Yukon Gold, and Fingerling. These potatoes have varying levels of starch content, which affects their cooking properties, making some better suited for mashing or baking and others for frying or boiling. Continue reading to learn how to grow potatoes in a pot.
How to Grow Potatoes in a Pot
How to Grow Potatoes in a Pot? These are the steps for growing potatoes in pots, take note!!!
1- Select a place with good lighting, remember that light will be indispensable in the cultivation of potatoes.
2- Start the crop with the tubers that have the largest sprouts.
3- Prepare the pot, for this you must add a layer of 12” (30 cm) of the substrate.
4- Next, sow your potatoes in the pot. To do this, the correct position is to place the sprouts pointing upwards.
5- Cover the potatoes with soil. In this step, you should make sure that the substrate is slightly moist. Also, be careful not to fill the pot to the top. You will need some space for the growth of your crop.
6- Add substrate as your crop grows. Remember that there is nothing better than including homemade compost to provide nutrients. You can take as a reference to add layers of only 4” (10 cm). The important thing is not to spoil the leaves, as your potato crop will depend on their growth.
7- It’s time to harvest potatoes in pots! If you have followed the above steps in a short time your harvest will be ready. To remove the potatoes you can empty the entire contents of the pot and take them one by one.
Also, you can plant your potatoes in grow bags. Potato grow bags are specially designed containers for growing potatoes. They are made of a porous material, such as fabric or coir, that allows for proper aeration and drainage of the soil and roots.
Below you will see a picture of a grow bag that is not only for growing potatoes. I used these bags to grow potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes and obtained a very good harvest.
- Large capacity: 5 pack-7 gallon. Get the best planting bags and buy them at once to meet all your needs.
- Sturdy Fabric Material:Made of 300G thickened nonwoven fabric wihich is fairly permeable,environmental-friendly and without any poisons.Sided window opens to make it easier for you to get fruits.
- Great Drainage:Whether they are small/large or indoor/outdoor plants, these fabric pots are great at growing plants due to they do not restrict or retain any water except for being damp after a watering.Allow your roots to breath which results in both faster growth and greater plant vigor
Watering Potatoes Plant
If you’re learning how to grow potatoes at home, you’ve probably asked yourself this question. Luckily, we have the answer. You should simply water whenever necessary to keep the substrate slightly moist.
However, during watering, you should avoid letting the water stagnate in the pot. This could cause you to lose your entire crop. A great alternative to avoid this problem is to plant potatoes in textile pots.
When to Harvest Potatoes
When to Harvest Potatoes? One way to recognize that the harvest is ready is when the plant begins to die. This will be the right time to remove the fruits from the potato crop. This is likely to happen after seven to eight weeks after sowing.
At this time you should withhold irrigation and cut the stem of the plant. After this, you should wait about 10 days to begin harvesting. Simply peel off the tubers to start harvesting the ripe potatoes. Learn more about when are potatoes ready to harvest.
