How to Grow Organic Potatoes

Potatoes are cool weather vegetables as they are native to the Andes Mountains of South America. They grow quite easily in the Northern parts of the US. If you are in a southern state, no fear, you will want to add organic potatoes to your garden in early spring or late fall if the same if you live in the southwest. You can now find disease-resistant varieties of seed potatoes that come in many shapes and sizes and colors. A few of the cool colors include purple, bright red, and various shades of white and yellow. Here are some tips on how to grow organic potatoes.



It is best not to start seed potatoes from the ones you pick up in the grocery store. Often times these have been chemically treated so they won’t sprout in the store. You are better off ordering organic disease-resistant seed potatoes off the Internet or buy them at a local nursery. In order to grow organic potatoes, you must start with organic seed or starter potatoes.



Potatoes can take up a lot of space if you are not growing vertically. They need good air circulation and well-drained soil. They do prefer acidic soil which also helps to prevent the potato disease, scab. You can plant the potatoes whole or cut them up so there are 2-3 eyes on each piece. They need to be cured which means to let them air dry out for 24 hours before planting them.
If planting in rows, plant the seed potatoes 6” apart and hill them. Make sure to keep the tubers covered, as the plant gets larger. If planting in containers, fill the bottom up with organic potting soil and place the tubers in. Each week add another layer of soil and you can also add in more tubers for succession planting.







Once the plant start to bloom you can stop hilling. Add good organic mulch around the plant and water it well. Blossoming is the first signal that the tubers are ready. At this stage is when you harvest new or small potatoes. Once the plant dies back naturally, all the tubers are then ready to be harvested.



Dogs love fresh cooked potatoes. You might want to take the skin off before mashing some up in a bowl for them and make sure they are not too hot when you serve them. Dogs should not be allowed to dig the potatoes out of the garden themselves as raw potatoes can be reason for a trip to the Veterinarian but once cooked they make for a great treat.