▷ How to plant potatoes: professional advice for beginners

It seems that how to plant potatoes should be clear to everyone. But experts say potatoes are often planted too thickly and too deeply. See detailed instructions on how to plant potatoes or read below.

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Rugilė Gikarė and Živilė Vasiliauskienė from the certified seed potato farm “Vfarm” showed how to plant potatoes and presented the entire process step by step, from choosing the variety to planting and subsequent care.

Preparing the soil in autumn

Potatoes need fertile, loose soil, so it would be best if you could prepare the soil in which you will plant them later in the fall.

If you grow potatoes organically, you can improve the soil in the fall with a natural fertilizer: rotted manure. And that’s it, calmly wait for spring.

Soil preparation in spring

When growing potatoes, it is worth stocking up (more on this later). Therefore, it is more convenient to grow them in furrows.

Furrows are usually formed more densely, but potato seedlings need both space and minerals to fully develop and reach their potential. If you want a seed to give maximum yield, don’t compact it.

Another common mistake is planting potatoes too deep. So it is difficult for them to germinate. Remember that the potatoes will pile up later, so it is not worth planting them deeply at the initial stage.

Certified seed potatoes

Before planting potatoes you need to do your homework and choose the right variety, says Rugilė. It is very important not to choose edible potatoes: they are perfectly suitable for consumption, but they will not give a good harvest.

Instead of food potatoes, choose certified seed potatoes that are propagated and grown on specialized farms, such as “VfarmIn Lithuania you can easily buy seed potatoes online (advertising). Choose the variety you prefer, put the desired quantity in the cart, choose delivery by courier to your home or collection at the “Vfarm” warehouse, and pay. They are sold every year as early as January with delayed delivery from March.

Certified seed potatoes have numerous advantages:

they do not contain viruses;
they have stronger protection against diseases (some varieties are completely resistant to plague);
they are “programmed” to produce higher returns.

The sale of certified seed potatoes is strictly controlled, so it will not be possible to purchase such potatoes on the market – they are sold in specialized stores.

On the blue label you will find all the necessary information about the specific potato variety: name, class, tuber size, etc.

New generation potato varieties

We all know traditional potato varieties such as “Vineta” or “Laura”, but do not limit yourself to them: now there are many new generation potato varieties that are productive and, most importantly, resistant to drought and viral diseases.

As an alternative to the “Vineta” and “Laura” varieties, Rugilė recommends choosing the “Camellia” and “Alouette” varieties, which are perfectly adapted to Lithuanian climatic conditions.

If you want to have potatoes already after midsummer, choose the earliest varieties, such as Colomba, Adora or Primabelle. They will make the tubers grow quickly and give a fresh harvest.

In this article we talked a lot about new varieties of seed potatoes resistant to heat and drought – open to read.

Potato germination

The need to sprout potatoes depends on two things: the variety chosen and the time of harvest. If you plan to plant early varieties for a cool summer harvest, germinate the potatoes. If you plant late varieties that you plan to keep over the winter and keep until spring, germination is not necessary.

How to sprout potatoes:

Spread potatoes in well-ventilated boxes in 2 layers;
Take the box to a warm, sunny room;
The most suitable temperature for germination is +15°C – +20°C; don’t let the room get too cold during the night;
Store for 3-5 weeks;
Check back from time to time to make sure everything is fine;
The result is potatoes with green (not white!) sprouts.itė

If you want to have a fresh harvest already after St. John’s Day, germinate the potatoes at the end of February – beginning of March, so that they have time to germinate before planting.

When to plant potatoes

Potatoes are usually planted between late April and early May. It is important that the soil warms up to at least 6-8 degrees Celsius.

Try to plant potatoes no later than mid-May so that they have time to grow.

How to plant potatoes

Planting process:

make furrows;
plant potatoes about 30cm apart (about 30cm apart); if you sprout, it would be good to plant the shoots upwards;
add fertilizer to the furrows (if you didn’t fertilize in the fall);
cover with earth;
water it;
cover with agricultural film (if for early harvest)

If you fertilized with manure in the fall, you won’t need more fertilizer in the spring (because you may overfertilize).

If you did not fertilize in the fall, now use a chlorine-free complex fertilizer: pour a handful of fertilizer into the furrow, into the spaces between the potatoes, and only then cover it with earth.

Spread the fertilizer into the spaces between the potatoes – only add a good handful of fertilizer at a time. photo Lina Lubertaitė

Pay attention to the fact that the fertilizer should contain not only basic elements, but also trace elements, which are very important for the taste of potatoes and the quality of tubers.

Three elements are most important for potatoes:

Nitrogen promotes the growth and yield of potatoes;
Phosphorus promotes root growth and helps germination and tuber formation;
Potassium promotes the lushness of the bush.

You can use universal fertilizers, you can use them specifically for potatoes, but it is important that they are chlorine-free. Excess chlorine can cause the inside of potatoes to turn black (you’ve seen this many times when you buy it in the store). The agricultural company “Vfarm” has been using complex fertilizers “Baltic agro” without chlorine for many years. You can use these too.