Getting your potatoes going is an easy process, but it takes a little bit of time. If there are no drainage holes at the bottom of the container, drill them yourself.Finally, make sure you select a clean, food-grade container or bucket that has never been used to store any nasty chemicals.So if you’re feeding a family or just love potatoes, do more containers or bigger ones. Expect a 5-gallon bucket to yield a couple of pounds of potatoes.If you’ve only got 5-gallon buckets, plan on using only two potatoes. You can plant five seed potatoes into a 10-gallon bucket and about three into a 7-gallon.If you can’t find seed potatoes, buy some organic ones at the supermarket and plant those instead.Some 5 to 10-gallon buckets or containers.And guess what? You don’t need a whole lot of gardening space to grow them. If you’d like to learn more, get in contact with Frymax.There’s nothing like the taste of a freshly harvested potato! It’s unlike anything you’ll get at the stores. Our sustainable, premium-grade palm oil is relied on by chippies across the country to serve up high-quality fried foods. If you’re looking for a stable frying oil that will cook your potato chips to perfection, choose Frymax. Try to harvest on a day when the soil is quite dry, and use your hands to lift them out of the soil rather than a fork. Potato rot – Soft, grey or blackened potatoes are generally the result of the skin becoming damaged, which lets bacteria into the tuber, and very wet conditions can make your potatoes more vulnerable.Watering thoroughly once or twice a week should help keep scabbing to a minimum. Luckily, it’s not the end of the world! Simply peel your potatoes and they’ll be perfectly safe to eat. Potato scab – This condition is usually only noticed when you start to harvest your potatoes and see these dark, raised lesions on the skin. To prevent this issue, try to rotate your crops, and buy resistant species like Pixie, Charlotte and Saxon. It’s best to remove affected plants immediately and destroy them. Potato blackleg – This bacterial infection causes black rot at the stem base. Try to plant blight-resistant cultivars to lower your risk further. Make sure your beds are well-draining or plant your potatoes in a greenhouse or sheltered area where you can control the watering. It’s difficult to stop blight once it starts, so it’s all about prevention. You’ll see a brown, watery rot that affects the stems, leaves and eventually, the tubers. Potato blight – This disease commonly occurs when summers are too warm and too wet. This should be applied every 2 weeks during the growing season, and the bed should be enriched with organic compost and manure before planting. Not enough nutrients – Use a 2:2:3 organic fertiliser to help the plants thrive and produce a good harvest. Not enough water – Water is essential to the growth of tasty potatoes, so make sure they are well-watered once or twice a week during the growing season. Any damaged potatoes should be eaten quickly and not stored.Ĭommon problems with growing potatoes at home Keep them in hessian or paper bags (it’s fine if they still have some soil on them, and store them in a cool, dry, frost-free space. Be careful to gently lift them out of the soil without damaging the skin, as this can let in bacteria that causes rot. Maincrop potatoes will store for the longest because their skin is thoroughly developed from the longer growing season. Leave the plant until the stems completely die off before you gently dig up your potatoes, and they should be a good size! They should be ready to harvest around mid-September. Remember to water them well once or twice a week during the growing season to keep the tubers growing. They should be planted around mid-April and left for a longer growing period of about 15-20 weeks. Maincrop – This is your full-size potato crop.Again, wait until your plants have finished flowering and gently unearth some potatoes to check that they’re the right size. Second earlies – To make your harvest season lasts longer, plant a second crop of earlies around late April so that they are ready for harvest in mid-July.Only harvest what you need, as they’ll stay fresh and growing for the next 2 weeks. To see if your potatoes are ready to harvest, wait until the plant has stopped flowering and gently dig up a few to check the size. They tend to be small new potatoes and are ideal for salads and boiling. First earlies – First early seed potatoes are planted in mid-March to mid-April and can be harvested in 10-12 weeks.
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