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Home grown potatoes and yams are a wonderful treat. Custom Search Potatoes as we buy them at our local produce markets, bear very little resemblance to fresh grown tubers from your own garden. Not only are these vegetables we purchase limited in varieties, they are usually shipped long distances and than stored for long periods of time, which causes them to lose much of their freshness and taste. The difference in taste is amazing! These vegetables, when grown under favorable conditions, are one of the most productive of all root vegetables in terms of food per acre of land. They are a cool weather crop so that if you live in a cool climate, plant them as soon as weather and soil conditions permit. In some sections of the country ground may freeze slightly, but this is seldom harmful unless the sprouts have emerged. Warm climate potatoes can best be planted in either late summer or early winter, so the plants are not trying to grow during the hottest months. In the north, plant two types of potatoes; one to provide an early crop for summer use, the other for storage and winter use.
A site with full sun and mellow, fertile, well drained soil is suitable for production. These plants want an acid soil, as alkalinity will promote the development of a skin disease called “scab”. If your garden has been limed and you still want to grow potatoes, add sulfur to lower the PH of the soil to between 5.0 and 6.0. Do not plant where tomatoes or eggplant were grown the previous year as these are in the same family of vegetable and could possibly attract similar pests and problems. When purchasing seed potatoes, avoid buying them from the grocery store, quite often they are treated so they will not sprout. Buy certified disease free seed potatoes. Cut the seeds into sections about the size of an egg, making sure each section has two or three eyes. Plant these sections separately so that each section produces a strong plant. Before the sections go into the ground dip them in sulfur or captan, which are fungicides to prevent rotting of the cut surface. Then leave them exposed to air and sunshine for three to four days. This dries up the cut surface as a further precaution against rot when the sections hit the cold damp soil.
The crop is mature when the leaves of the plant die off. New potatoes are nothing more than small immature babies. It is often quite worthwhile to feel around gently in the soil under the plants with your hands so as not to disturb the rest of the plant. Carefully harvesting a few of these little tubers will not harm the plant. You'll probably find some babies that are absolutely delicious. Brush the dirt from the potatoes when harvesting but do not wash them. They need to cure several weeks before storage,. At that time store them in a cool, dry, dark place with a temperature range of between 40 and 60 degrees with a 90 percent relative humidity, In as much as mature tubers are sensitive to ethylene gas, do not store them with fruits and vegetables such as apples, that produce this gas.
Sweet potatoes and yams
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