What do you think that we learn today how to grow potatoes at home? ? Potatoes are a great source of nutrients and can be stored for long periods after harvest. And its cultivation needs the unusual steps, but it is easy and simple and does not need many tools, but it needs caution in dealing.
If you have a sunny window or some lights that help plants grow, you can grow potatoes indoors all year round! If you have a bucket, a cup of water, some toothpicks, and soil, you have everything you need to grow potatoes at home. Let’s start with the steps
Potato cultivation
Potato planting and potato growing
Potatoes need to go through the germination process before they are planted, so let’s start from the beginning and start buying the plant
1. The first step is to buy potatoes that have a lot of eyes. Potato eyes are small spots on the outer skin of a potato. This is the part that sprouts. One potato with 6 or 7 eyes can produce up to 1 kg of potatoes. Alternatively, you can buy potatoes and leave them near a window for a few days until these eyes start to appear and swell.
Potato cultivation
2. Scrub each potato to remove dirt. Use a vegetable brush and scrub each potato under running water until it is completely free of dirt. Make sure to clean gently around the eyes, as you don’t want to hurt them before they grow. This will also remove pesticide residues and growth inhibitors if you’re not using organic potatoes.
3. Cut the potatoes in half, the width of the longitudinal side. Lay the potatoes on their long side on a cutting board; Slice the potatoes, as if you were going to make round potato chips. Be careful not to get close to the sprout’s eyes, as this is what will sprout.
4. Place 4 toothpicks a quarter of the way into the potatoes. Place the toothpick between the cut end and the top of the potato with the cut end hanging down. They have to face 4 different directions like a compass. The goal is to get them far enough into the potato, spaced evenly enough, that they make the potato stand up poise when you put it in a glass of water.
Potato cultivation method
5. Submerge the cut side of the potato in a full glass of water. Allow the toothpick to rest on the edge of the glass. Reset the toothpick if the potatoes are not level with the edge of the glass. Make sure the potatoes are partially submerged in water, otherwise they will not sprout.
6. Put the potatoes in the sun for 5-6 hours a day until they start to grow roots. The roots should sprout after a week; They will be long, spun, and white in colour. The water in the bowl should be changed if it becomes cloudy. Add water if necessary to keep the potatoes submerged.
Growing potatoes at home
Potato cultivation
1. Find a 9.5 liter pot with a drain hole. Because using a container with a capacity of at least 9.5 liters, this ensures that you get a high percentage of large potatoes. Make sure to thoroughly wash and rinse the pot before beginning the planting process.
2. Cover the bottom of the pot with a size (2.5 to 5.1 cm) of small stones so that the bottom is covered. Your potatoes will need adequate drainage to grow. Placing small stones or pebbles at the bottom of the pot will ensure that the water can escape from the soil and not cause mold. Alternatively, you can also use a container with drainage holes in the bottom.
How to grow potatoes
3. Fill about a third of the container to the top with the loosened, mixed and well aerated soil. Use loose, granulated soil to fill your container about a third. You will need to add soil as the plant grows, so do not fill the pot at this point.
Acidic sulfur helps nourish the potatoes, so test your soil and make sure the pH is around 5.5. Add elemental sulfur (sometimes called a soil acidifier) to the soil if the pH is above 5.5.
4. Plant the potatoes with the roots down. Place the potatoes with the roots facing down the soil. Make sure the tallest sprouts are pointing to the sky. Do not place any of the potatoes next to the edge of the pot.
5. Potatoes should be covered with soil (5.1–7.6 cm) of soil. Potatoes need to avoid exposure to light in order to grow. To achieve this, cover them with plenty of soil.
6. Put the pot in the light so that it gets 6-10 hours of sunlight per day. Keep your container in an area that gets plenty of sunlight, such as near a window. Alternatively, you can use lights that help plants grow. Keep it at least 10 hours a day to replicate external conditions.
7. Keep the soil constantly moist. Potatoes need moist soil to grow, so check the soil every 2-3 days. If it begins to dry out, moisturize with caution. The soil should be as moist as a wet sponge.
8. Add more soil when the plant grows (15 cm) above the soil. When the potato vine has reached the top of your capacity, mulch the soil around the plant. As the plant grows upward, potatoes will begin to grow on the vine. Potatoes need direct sunlight on their leaves, but not on the potatoes themselves. Thus, you must maintain the process of “annealing” (the process of earthing dirt as the plant grows) until the plant reaches the top of the container. The potatoes should be ready to harvest in 10-12 weeks, or when the plant’s leaves begin to die.
harvest potato crop
1. Potato harvesting begins when the leaves of the plant turn yellow for the new young potatoes. Once the plants turn yellow or begin to die, the potatoes are ready to harvest.
For more mature and larger potatoes, wait 1-2 weeks before harvesting.
2. Gently pull the potatoes out of the soil with a small gardening tool or your hands, and pull the entire plant out of the container. Pull out all the potatoes with your hands and remove the soil from each one. Be careful not to cut or injure the potatoes at this point, as the skin will be tender and easy to tear.
3. Let the potatoes dry for 2-3 hours, then rinse them. Place the potatoes in a sunny location and allow them to dry. Then, scrub them with a vegetable brush under running water to remove and clean the soil.
4. Store harvested potatoes in a cool, dark place for up to 5 months, between 45-55°F (7-13°C), to avoid spoiling.
Keeping the potatoes for at least two weeks in this state will help them “heal,” which hardens the skin and helps them last longer. Potatoes will last about 5 months in a cool dark place. If you don’t have a storage basement, you can store it in a vegetable container in the refrigerator. Refrigeration will prevent the starch in the potatoes from turning into sugar, so be sure to use them within one week.
If you have tried growing potatoes before, share it with us and we will try to share information and discuss it together to get the best results.
