Time to plant potatoes

According to the old wives’ tales, if you want to have a bountiful potato crop you need to plant your potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day. Well, St. Patrick’s Day will be here before we know it, so it’s time to get seed potatoes in the ground. Actually, any time from mid-to-late March is fine for planting potatoes. Be sure to buy seed potatoes, not the ones bought for cooking. Seed potatoes are certified disease free and have plenty of starch to sprout quickly as the soil temperature gets warm enough. Most seed potatoes can be cut into four pieces; though large potatoes may yield more. Each seed piece should be between 1.5 and 2 ounces to insure there is enough energy for germination. Each pound of potatoes should yield 8 to 10 seed pieces.

Cut the seed potatoes 2 to 3 days before planting so the freshly cut surfaces have a chance to suberize, or toughen, and form a protective coating. Storing seed in a warm location during suberization will speed up the process. Plant each seed piece about 1 to 2 inches deep and 8 to 12 inches apart in rows. Though it is important to plant potatoes in March, emergence is slow. It is often mid to late April before new plants poke their way through the soil. As the potatoes grow, pull soil up to the base of the plants. New potatoes are borne above the planted seed piece and we don’t want sunlight hitting the new potatoes. Potatoes exposed to sunlight will turn green and produce a poisonous substance called solanine. Keeping the potatoes covered with soil will prevent this from happening. These are just a few tips to help your potato crop be more successful. If you have any questions feel free to stop by or contact me in the in the Washington office, 785-325-2121 or [email protected].