Our friend Angela rightly asked about the varying ways to judge maturity in potato plants. This is a really time question. Here is my response: First off, early, mid-season, and late season has to do with when the plants are mature and the tubers are at maximum size. Potato varieties are selected for the relative earliness of their tubers. Think of it on a large scale for farmers... One field might be harvested (early Warba) before a late crop of Kennebec. So they are not all coming mature at the same time. In loose terms, potato plants signal an approach to maturity when they bloom. The flowers might be white, mauve, or deep purple. And fruits might follow flowering very similar to what you would see on a tomato plant - little green fruits appear. Dont eat them. Not all varieties set fruit, and the seed inside the fruits is wholly unreliable in terms of growing a new crop because it could have potato pollen from a dozen or more locally grown varieties. After flowering, you will notice your potato plants above ground begin to die back. Moisture is key now. If its hot and dry as it is at this time in early August, 2014, cut back watering by half. The plants should continue to die back. After ten days, just stop watering, and let the vegetative tops to the plants dry out, fall over, and wither. Now its time to harvest. If wet weather is expected during this key phase, consider putting a tarp over them. You can flatten the above-ground plants no problem. At harvest time, ideally the soil should be relatively, if not completely dry. The drier the soil, the better the skins will develop on each tuber. In broad terms, thicker skins means better storage potential. But some varieties are selected for thin skins. Red Chieftain, for instance, is a thin skinned, mid-season potato. You dont want it to get a thick skin, and you should use it up early in the fall. Norkotah is a russet, with a thick skin and great storage potential. If you havent harvested your potatoes yet, you should start thinking about it. Watch your plants carefully and judge for yourself. Take pictures! Make notes! These will really help you improve from year to year. Potatoes are a gloriously economical crop to grow, and you can grow them pretty much any place. So first, choose your varieties carefully. Second, watch their maturity arrive in a general sense, and third, do what you can to mitigate too much water at the end of the season, just before harvest. Then make pierogies! Enjoy your potatoes - like everything else you grow, they are measurably better grown locally. Your garden is where local happens! Cheers, Mark @ West Coast Seeds
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 06:04:42 +0000