Article contributed by Douglas Ravnholdt
March is the month to start your seeds indoors to get a good start on your outdoor garden.
Despite how inexpensive it is to purchase potatoes, they are fun to grow and here is why you might want to try planting some. Even if you don’t have a vegetable garden you can plant some. All you need is a large bucket or some other type container. Add fertile soil to the container. Make sure there is a hole in the bottom for drainage.
The story of planting Mr. Potato Head is as follows:
First cut Mr. potato head in half so some of his 'eyes' are on each side of the slice.
He should be planted 2 to 3 inches deep approximately 12 inches apart. He can deal with cool soil, so you can plant him in early spring. He will be happy as a clam.
The family of young potatoes should show growth in 2 to 3 weeks. Mr. Potato Head‘s family will need additional soil, hilling up, so the young ones don’t break the surface and turn green.
The potato family can be dug up in the fall when the foliage has died back. A sad day for Mr. Potato Head as he will never see his family again. The worst is yet to come.
His oldest son is peeled, cut into pieces and plunged into a pot of boiling water. The hurt continues as his other child is scrubbed, poked with a fork and put into a hot oven with a stranger from the grocery store. The stranger says it’s getting warm in here. Mr. Potato Head’s son thinks to himself, holy crap I'm talking to a potato!
Tip on growing potatoes purchased from a grocery store: best to purchase potatoes from a reputable nursery or order potato seedlings online to ensure best vigor. Grocery store potatoes can be planted, but is not recommended because unlike seed potatoes, which are certified to be free of disease, grocery store potatoes may be harboring pathogens like blight or fusarium. If you’re concerned about introducing disease-producing plant pathogens into your garden soil, you can always grow sprouted potatoes in a container. At the end of the season, discard the growing medium and sanitize the planter.
Read more here: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/can-you-grow-store-bought-potatoes.htm
March is the month to start your seeds indoors to get a good start on your outdoor garden.
Despite how inexpensive it is to purchase potatoes, they are fun to grow and here is why you might want to try planting some. Even if you don’t have a vegetable garden you can plant some. All you need is a large bucket or some other type container. Add fertile soil to the container. Make sure there is a hole in the bottom for drainage.
The story of planting Mr. Potato Head is as follows:
First cut Mr. potato head in half so some of his 'eyes' are on each side of the slice.
He should be planted 2 to 3 inches deep approximately 12 inches apart. He can deal with cool soil, so you can plant him in early spring. He will be happy as a clam.
The family of young potatoes should show growth in 2 to 3 weeks. Mr. Potato Head‘s family will need additional soil, hilling up, so the young ones don’t break the surface and turn green.
The potato family can be dug up in the fall when the foliage has died back. A sad day for Mr. Potato Head as he will never see his family again. The worst is yet to come.
His oldest son is peeled, cut into pieces and plunged into a pot of boiling water. The hurt continues as his other child is scrubbed, poked with a fork and put into a hot oven with a stranger from the grocery store. The stranger says it’s getting warm in here. Mr. Potato Head’s son thinks to himself, holy crap I'm talking to a potato!
Tip on growing potatoes purchased from a grocery store: best to purchase potatoes from a reputable nursery or order potato seedlings online to ensure best vigor. Grocery store potatoes can be planted, but is not recommended because unlike seed potatoes, which are certified to be free of disease, grocery store potatoes may be harboring pathogens like blight or fusarium. If you’re concerned about introducing disease-producing plant pathogens into your garden soil, you can always grow sprouted potatoes in a container. At the end of the season, discard the growing medium and sanitize the planter.
Read more here: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/can-you-grow-store-bought-potatoes.htm
Hilling up is a gardening method where a small round hill is created six or seven inches high and seeds are planted into the hill. This aids seeds in germinating through better drainage and warmer soil. Some gardeners prefer to dig 12-inch deep trenches to plant potatoes in, then cover them with soil and keep adding soil as the plant 'greens' show and grow. Potatoes like to have dirt covering almost all of the green growing parts.
An example of the trench method is shown in the photo above.