Everything You Need To Know About Growing Potatoes In Raised Garden Beds
The garden beds is great, isn't it? Even if you live in a place with bad soil, you can still have a beautiful garden with garden beds.
In spring, the soil on the garden beds heats up faster, which means you can start gardening faster and keep warm for a longer time, thus extending the autumn growing season.
Weeds are usually less treated on garden beds. You can finally control the soil content. Not to mention, they are usually easier on old knees.
However, despite their convenience, some vegetables are reluctant to grow on garden beds.
It is understandable that potatoes are such a vegetable. As for ordinary vegetables, potato plants are large and require considerable space. In fact, potatoes perform very well on garden beds, mainly because of the control of soil content. So, if space is not a problem for you, then yes, you should plant potatoes on a raised bed.
In fact, potatoes perform very well on garden beds, mainly because of the control of soil content. So, if space is not a problem for you, then yes, you should plant potatoes on a raised bed.
If you are not sure, try planting some potatoes in an area on the garden beds this season to see how they are done. Like me, you may eventually expand your gardening space to make room for those delicious potatoes. Making a bed specifically for potatoes is not unheard of, and may be the best way to grow potatoes.
But Tracy, potatoes are too cheap. Why do I bother to plant them first?
Aha, I hope you will ask. There are two good reasons to grow potatoes.
First, you can control their growth conditions. If you want to eliminate chemical pesticides from your garden (and your diet) and grow them organically, you may find that planting potatoes is worth your time and effort.
The second reason is that there are more choices than the boring potatoes provided by the local supermarket. White, red and yellow. Those should be crayons, not potatoes.
Delicious Atlantic potato, what's the dream of home-made potato chip lovers? Or use some Adirondack potatoes to stir up a batch of paradise lavender colored mashed potatoes. Maybe, like me, you like delicious red skin potato salad? Then strawberry claw is for you.
Potatoes are easy to grow and are a great addition to any garden.
First, you can control their growth conditions. If you want to eliminate chemical pesticides from your garden (and your diet) and grow them organically, you may find that planting potatoes is worth your time and effort.
The second reason is that there are more choices than the boring potatoes provided by the local supermarket. White, red and yellow. Those should be crayons, not potatoes.
Delicious Atlantic potato, what's the dream of home-made potato chip lovers? Or use some Adirondack potatoes to stir up a batch of paradise lavender colored mashed potatoes. Maybe, like me, you like delicious red skin potato salad? Then strawberry claw is for you.
Potatoes are easy to grow and are a great addition to any garden.
Potatoes need at least six hours of sunshine every day to do well. Naturally, they like the well drained soil that makes up an ordinary garden beds.
When you plant seed potatoes, it is best to mix some compost and bone meal together to provide them with the nutrients needed in good seasons.
As far as water is concerned, most potatoes do well in terms of average rainfall. However, if you live in a particularly dry area or have experienced airflow, you will want to water them thoroughly and soak them deeply. Water the bottom to avoid wetting the leaves or splashing dirt on the leaves, as this promotes disease.
I will give you a brief overview here, but ideally, you will want to read Elizabeth's excellent article on diced potatoes.
Put the seed potatoes in a warm and sunny place a few weeks before planting, so they can germinate. A few days before planting, you need to cut the whole potato into small pieces and leave scabs before putting them into the soil.
Planting and planting on garden beds - you have a choice
A raised bed can produce great potatoes. Even if you don't have a deep bed, you can still grow better potatoes than directly underground. Let's look at two options for growing potatoes on garden beds.
Deep bed
If you have an garden beds at least one foot or deeper, you can grow potatoes as if you were in the field.
Dig a trench about six inches deep in the soil, running lengthwise through your garden beds. Keep your trenches about a foot apart. Place your seed potatoes in the ditch, one foot apart, making sure the eyes of the potatoes are up. Next, add any soil conditioner, such as compost and bone meal, and then cover the seed potatoes loosely with soil.
In a few weeks, your potato plants will sprout in the soil. Once the sprouts are about 6-8 inches tall, pile soil around each plant so that only the top leaves emerge from the soil.
If you like, you can choose to pile the potatoes again when the bean sprouts reach 6-8 inches again. However, this is not required. From this point on, you can make your potatoes grow.
Shallow bed
If your garden beds is at the shallow end, don't worry, you can still grow potatoes. Fortunately, this method is very easy to do, making it easy to harvest potatoes.
You will use straw to make up for the dirt.
You will also make trenches on the length of the garden beds; However, your trench is only an inch deep. Again, separate the ditches by one foot and plant potatoes every twelve inches.
Now, instead of covering them with soil, cover them with a layer of straw about four inches deep. It needs to be thick enough to block light. Wet the straw thoroughly with a hose to help it stabilize so that it does not float around. You can also cover it with cardboard and some stones a few days ago to help tamp it, although you need to remove the cardboard so that plants can grow through the straw.
Just like growing in the soil, your straw covered seed potatoes will germinate in about two weeks. They also need to climb at a height of about 6 to 8 inches. Once again, you need to cover the bean sprout with a thick layer of straw to expose the tip of the bean sprout. Wet the new straw and compact again.
From this point on, no matter which method you use, planting potatoes is the same.
Make your potatoes big and thick. Watch out for those pesky Colorado potato beetles. If you are dry for a long time, please water them. Otherwise, potatoes are a good "once and for all" vegetable.
If you use the straw method to grow potatoes, I find it helpful to check them occasionally, and if it starts to compact or thin in some areas, add more straw. You want to create a dark environment for the growth of potatoes. No light can enter and produce green potatoes. These potatoes are slightly toxic.
When and how to harvest
How do you know when you can harvest a vegetable growing underground? Potatoes give us some good clues about when we can eat potatoes.
If you are looking for early ripening potatoes, please pay attention to the bud. You can harvest new potatoes when the flowers begin to wither, or if the buds never open, when they begin to fall off the plant.
For autumn harvest, pay attention to the leaves. Once the dense green plants begin to turn yellow and dry, you can harvest potatoes. This usually occurs at the same time as the first frost. If you want to harden the potato skin for long-term storage, please wait a week or two after the leaves die, and then dig them out.
If you plant potatoes in the soil, you need a garden fork to gently lift the tuber off the ground. Be careful, because potatoes can easily pierce, making them unsuitable for long-term storage. However, they can still be eaten.
Those of us who grow potatoes with straw are lucky. All you have to do is peel off layers of straw (you'd better wear gloves) and dig out your beautiful potatoes.
Pickled and stored potatoes
For hundreds of years, potatoes have been the staple food for good reason. They are prolific, easy to grow, and can be stored for months if properly stored. You don't even need a cellar to do this, although it does help.
Once you dig out potatoes, it is important that they be cured before they are stored. Put them on the soil for several hours, so that the soil will dry. After a few hours, knock off large pieces of turf and gently brush off the soil, but do not be too careful. A thin layer of dirt helps protect potatoes so they can be stored longer. If your garden fork cuts or pierces any potatoes, pull them out and eat them immediately.
If potatoes are to be stored for several months, the thicker the skin, the better. Thick skin is the target of pickled potatoes.
Place potatoes in a dark and dry place on a layer of newspaper, dry waterproof cloth or large piece of cardboard for curing. Separate them so that they do not touch; You want to make sure there is good airflow around them. Now, keep your potatoes in the dark for 7-12 days.
Now that your potatoes have been cured, they can be stored for a long time. If potatoes are stored in a cool, dry and dark place, they can be kept for several months. Lydia has everything you need to know about storing potatoes, so they can last for months.
If you have room in your refrigerator, you can freeze potatoes for storage.
So, are potatoes a paradise for garden beds? Only you can judge.