By: Mirela Golec |
How to cultivate eco potatoes |
|
Do you like potatoes? Crispy, fried, boiled or combined with other vegetables?
You want to plant potatoes in your garden, an organic potato that will not be treated with any chemicals?
We can show you how!
You need the following ingredients:
- one fertile bed
- eco compost
- eco potato seeds
- one mattock
- one spade
- one rake
- plenty of sunshine
- sufficient amount of rain
- lots of love
Organic cultivation of potatoes
Potatoes are best planted in a sunny or sun-streaked location.
The minimum temperature for planting potatoes is 6-8 degrees C. The optimum temperature for growth of the tuber is 17-20 degrees C.
At higher temperatures potato yield is reduced, and at temperatures above 30 degrees C tuber growth stops completely.
The time needed for a plant to bare fruits is two to four months.
Potato is not demanding in terms of heat, but it is very demanding when it comes to water, especially during the pollination of tubers.
Drought and high temperature adversely affect potatoes, and that results in lower yield.
Soil quality
As in the case of cultivation of any plant, potatoes also need fertile soil enriched with high-quality organic fertilizer.
Dig over the bed in late fall or early winter and fertilize it with quality compost.
Digging the beds and fertilization will prevent the development of weeds and moisture loss in the soil.
Do not use such treated and fertilized soil during winter.
In the spring, before planting potato dig over the ground again to chop it and fertilize the surface layer of the bed.
Seed potato
Potato seeds are not really seeds, but real potatoes that have sprouted.
Potatoes can be planted whole or they can be cut into multiple parts so that each part has one or two sprouts.
Use high-quality and ecological potato seeds when planting potatoes.
When you have bought potatoes that you have chosen for planting, or you have grown your own, put it in wooden crates and arrange in rows so that the pink ends – those that have the most sprout buds are uppermost.
Keep crates in the bright, cool, dry, airy room or conservatory, where, after four or five weeks potatoes will sprout and be ready for planting. Discard any potato that looks sick.
The ideal length of the sprouts should be between 5 and 15 mm.
Planting potatoes
In sheltered areas, mid-March is the best time for planting, and in frosty and open areas planting should be postponed until later, until the end of April.
Use a mattock to dig a straight trench for each row of potatoes, about 10 cm deep with a light type of soil, or about 15 cm deep in heavy soil. Arrange the trenches at intervals of about 60 cm.
Place potato seeds at the bottom of each trench at every 30 cm with sprouts facing up. Gently cover potato seeds with soil. Do not stamp the soil with your feet.
By placing the soil over seeds, we are protecting the fruit from direct sunlight, because sunlight would prevent fruits from ripening.
When sprouts break out from the soil, place more soil over them. Keep placing more and more soil over the plant until the plant has reached a height of 10 to 15 centimeters.
If young leaves develop and there is still a danger of frost, cover them with dry straw.
Potato care
To obtain a greater yield, it is necessary to care for healthy fruits. Potatoes are nurtured by hoeing, hilling and by fertilization.
If you have problems with drought, regularly irrigate the soil because potatoes need water for growth.
When the plants grow to about 23 centimeters, begin hilling.
Break the crust of the soil that has created between potato rows and sprinkle it with eco fertilizer.
Then retrench and loose the soil, sprinkled with eco fertilizers, in order to create a steep mound above each row. Mounds should be about 15 centimeters in height with top width of about 12 centimeters and the base width of about 20 centimeters.
A week later, add more soil to the top of the mount in order to raise if for another three centimeters. Three weeks later, when the plants grow to a height of at least 30 centimeters, raise the mound for additional three centimeters.
Regular fertilization
Fertilization ensures better structure of the soil, better storage and water binding in the soil and provides a balanced diet for plants in the soil.
But be careful to not overdo it, because potatoes do not like very rich soil.
Hoeing, hilling and fertilization will protect plants from weeds, pests and diseases, and potatoes will repay your investment with rich yield.
Application of manure in the autumn fertilization allows the soil to heat up faster, so it is possible to plant potatoes even earlier that usual.
Protection from disease and parasites
Your garden will be under the threat of birds, insects, mice and snails. Be prepared with an adequate protection.
You can protect your plants by regularly weeding weeds, removing old and diseased plants, and by planting them in more spaced rows.
Potato beetle is a parasite that primarily attacks potatoes.
It begins to emerge from the soil when the temperature at a depth of 10 centimeters reaches 14.5 degrees C.
Once out of the ground, the beetle can live for ten days and after it finished feeding it starts mating. Female beetles lay eggs on the inside of the potato leaves.
Beetles have few natural enemies in our region. Ducks and turkeys eat it and eggs are attacked by some parasites. Natural enemy is also Rhaphigaster nebulosa (European stink bug).
Your best defense against potato beetles is to "keep watch" over your crops from the very start.
As soon as you see the first eggs, destroy them mechanically and pick adult specimens by hand and take it somewhere where it cannot do you any damage.
You will also frequently find ladybugs on potatoes. Do not kill them, because they very beneficial insects in bio garden.
Natural enemies to potatoes are snails and mole crickets. They attack potatoes underground.
You can get rid of snails with the help of coffee grout. Specifically, snails do not like coffee grout because it is toxic to them in higher concentrations.
Pour coffee grout over affected plants, which will not only repel snails, but will also slightly fertilize the soil and at the same it will prevent plant flies from attacking your crops.
Be moderate in treating the soil with coffee grout, because it raises the acidity of the soil.
You can also sprinkle ashes or stone dust on the soil around plants attacked by snails. To keep snails away from your plants, repeat this procedure after every rain.
Snails can also be repelled by some plants such as nasturtium, sage, thyme and castor. If you plant any of these plants along the edge of flower beds, snails will not come close to your crops.
Mole crickets are one of the frequent pests. Their favorite foods are tubers and roots. Mole crickets are nocturnal and come to the surface only at night.
Their trench is not deep in the ground, so you will easily catch them if you place into the soil a container with water and place the strips on the side which will direct them into the container.
Mole is a useful animal, because it destroys mole crickets, caterpillars and worms, but at the same time it makes a molehill that impairs the aesthetic appearance of the garden.
The easiest way to repel moles if you place an empty bottle into its mole hill, but be careful not to close the bottle opening. Sounds made by the wind passing trough an empty bottle can chase moles away.
To reduce the possibility of infection and parasite attacks on potatoes, plant chamomile, calendula and milkweed.
Never plant potatoes in the same bed where you have previously planted tomatoes because they use the same ingredients from the soil.
Never plant potatoes next to tomatoes, because they have a common enemy - potato beetle.
Natural agents for spraying potatoes
The first agent that can be applied in early spring is a soup of elderberry leaves. The smell of elderberry masks the smell of potatoes so that potato beetles looking for food can not smell it.
Horseradish also repels potato beetles. You can make a soup by soaking horseradish in rain water for three to five hours. Use that soup and spray it over your crops.
You can also make a nettle soup that is equally effective in the fight against pests.
More on natural resources for protecting the garden can be found here.
Potato harvest
Time for harvesting potatoes is when the tubers finish their development, and aboveground plant begins to wither.
In order to preserve the quality and the freshness of your potatoes, it is necessary to remove it from the soil only after the stem has completely dried so that the subcutaneous layer of the potato has become fully firm.
It is necessary to harvest potatoes in dry weather to ensure the minimum quantities of soil and moisture left on them.
Potatoes can be removed before maturity, in which case we are talking about young potatoes.
Young potatoes should not be removed until you want to eat them. It grows rapidly and can double its weight within two weeks.
Before the final harvest, cut the stem with leaves, then use your garden forks for extracting potatoes, thrust the forks next to the plant and push them deep enough so that you do not pierce the potatoes.
Storing potatoes
The ideal temperature for storing potatoes is between 4 and 5 degrees C with occasional mandatory ventilation.
Potatoes have to be stored carefully and kept from rotting and sprouting to preserve its appearance and taste.
To keep potatoes from sprouting and rotting, place it on the sand to absorb excess moisture.
If you decide to keep potatoes in bags, put apples inside bags to prevent germination.
Interesting facts about the potato
Potato is an annual herbaceous plant and is one of the most common foods in the world.
It was introduced in Europe by Spanish sailors who brought it from the mountainous regions of Peru more than 400 years ago. In Croatia, it has been cultivated for 250 years.
Potatoes have a high nutritional value because they are rich in starch, high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals.
Energy value of potatoes is only 86 kcal per 100 g of cooked potatoes.
In 100 grams of raw potato you will find 80.96% water, 0.14 g of fat, 1.89 g of protein, 15.90 g of carbohydrates (13.35 g starch, 1 g sugar) and 1.7 g of fibers.
The same quantity of potato contains 2.5 times less carbohydrates than bread, which makes it an ideal food for weight loss.
Potato is a valuable source of vitamins and minerals: vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, thiamine, folate, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and manganese.
During thermal processing of foods, vitamin C is largely destroyed, while the potato loses vitamins C only if it is cooked peeled and sliced.
When the potatoes are cooked in a crust, one third of vitamin C is preserved, and there will be an insignificant loss of vitamin C content in potato peel if you bake it.
Vitamins and minerals are found in the peel and directly below it, which is why it is recommended to peel of only a thin layer or to cook and bake unpeeled potatoes.
Young potato contains more sugars, vitamin C and water, while older potato contains more starch.
Liked the article?
Share it with your friends!
