Potato Theory of Growing

Durgan · May 21, 2013

There is much mis-information published in garden books and on the internet about growing potatoes.Potato growth along the stem has been debunked. A potato is a forgiving plant and anybody can grow them. But growing for perfection is another matter. My objective is to grow the plants for maximum production and quality, under the best conditions available.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?NZXFE 2 May 2010 Planting Potatoes

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EBGHM 12 June 2010 Potatoes. Growth from 2 May until 12 June 2010.
New tubers of the potato plant grow about six inches above and around the seed stock in a circle. The new tubers must be covered to prevent light turning them green indicating solanine, which is harmful if ingested. This is the sole and only reason for hilling.There still persists an irrational belief that potatoes grow from stolons along the stalk, and often high hilling is undertaken to encourage this imaginary growth. This practice hides the leaves of the plant, which is forced o produce more leaves for survival, which is self defeating.My method is to plant the potatoes in a small trench, and when the plant is six to eight inches high to fill the trench with soil to a depth of about six inches above the seed potato. Potatoes need constant moisture, so the hilled potatoes are heavily mulched after a heavy rainfall to prevent moisture evaporation. The vegetation is allowed to flourish, generating food for the new tubers. Hiding the vegetation by unnecessarily concealing by hilling is bad culture practice.Commercial growing or a very large patch required mass hilling due to the effort required. But the small home gardener can produce ideal conditions.

Production should be measured by the weight and useful size produced by each plant. There are other criteria mostly subjective, texture, no hollow centres, no knobs, eyes not deep, nice shape, and probably others. Comparing the seeded weight to the harvested weight is utter nonsense, particularly in a small patch. I have rather unscientifically estimated that anything above four pounds per plant is acceptable. Carefully tabulating to get a realistic weight value per plant over several years will give a realistic figure.

The seed potato produces suitable vegetation if two or more eyes are in the planted portion. Even one eye is suitable with a bit of body attached. Planting a fist sized seed or a suitable cut piece produces identical sized new tubers.

Most of the potato nutrients are within an annulus about half and inch from the skin of a potato. Peeling without cause removes a lot of nutrients.

May 21, 2013	#1
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	Potato Theory of Growing There is much mis-information published in garden books and on the internet about growing potatoes.Potato growth along the stem has been debunked. A potato is a forgiving plant and anybody can grow them. But growing for perfection is another matter. My objective is to grow the plants for maximum production and quality, under the best conditions available. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?NZXFE 2 May 2010 Planting Potatoes http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EBGHM 12 June 2010 Potatoes. Growth from 2 May until 12 June 2010. New tubers of the potato plant grow about six inches above and around the seed stock in a circle. The new tubers must be covered to prevent light turning them green indicating solanine, which is harmful if ingested. This is the sole and only reason for hilling.There still persists an irrational belief that potatoes grow from stolons along the stalk, and often high hilling is undertaken to encourage this imaginary growth. This practice hides the leaves of the plant, which is forced o produce more leaves for survival, which is self defeating.My method is to plant the potatoes in a small trench, and when the plant is six to eight inches high to fill the trench with soil to a depth of about six inches above the seed potato. Potatoes need constant moisture, so the hilled potatoes are heavily mulched after a heavy rainfall to prevent moisture evaporation. The vegetation is allowed to flourish, generating food for the new tubers. Hiding the vegetation by unnecessarily concealing by hilling is bad culture practice.Commercial growing or a very large patch required mass hilling due to the effort required. But the small home gardener can produce ideal conditions. Production should be measured by the weight and useful size produced by each plant. There are other criteria mostly subjective, texture, no hollow centres, no knobs, eyes not deep, nice shape, and probably others. Comparing the seeded weight to the harvested weight is utter nonsense, particularly in a small patch. I have rather unscientifically estimated that anything above four pounds per plant is acceptable. Carefully tabulating to get a realistic weight value per plant over several years will give a realistic figure. The seed potato produces suitable vegetation if two or more eyes are in the planted portion. Even one eye is suitable with a bit of body attached. Planting a fist sized seed or a suitable cut piece produces identical sized new tubers. Most of the potato nutrients are within an annulus about half and inch from the skin of a potato. Peeling without cause removes a lot of nutrients. Last edited by Durgan; May 21, 2013 at 07:54 PM.