December 11, 2009, Newsletter Issue #423: Planting Winter Potatoes

Tip of the Week

Here in the mid-west there is still time to plant winter potatoes. In fact, winter potatoes can be planted anytime from the last week of November through the last week of December.


Irish potatoes are the ones most commonly planted, but other potatoes work well too. I have planted the blue fingerling, Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac potatoes as late as the end of December here in Indiana, USDA zone 5/6, and had success. Potatoes planted this late in the year are generally ready for harvest the end of May or the beginning of June.


Here is the key to success with winter planted potatoes. First, dig a hole twelve inches deep. Line the hole with four inches of leaves, grass clippings, composted manure, straw or other similar materials. Cover the materials with a thin layer of compost or garden soil. Lay the sprouted potatoes on top of this. Cover the sprouted potatoes with a little soil, more leaves, grass clippings, straw or composted manure. This material should equal about two inches. You want enough to cover the potatoes and the sprouts.


I like to erect a cold frame over the top. This can be one you bought, one you made out of conduit or simply a piece of 6 mil. plastic stretched over the open hole and held down with rocks. Be sure whatever you use is well secured so it cannot blow away on windy days. In the event of a heavy snow fall, go out and check on your structure. You do not want the plastic touching the potatoes.


Once spring begins to arrive, you will see the potatoes sprouting. Cover them with compost or garden soil just as you normally would making sure to keep all the new sprouts covered. Potatoes will grow up the sprouts. Once the potatoes begin making flower buds, pinch them off and cover them again right to the tip of the green. Removing the flower buds will encourage the potatoes to keep growing.


Once the vines die back, go ahead and dig up your potatoes. Any potatoes that get nicked should be used right away. To store the potatoes, lay them out in a single layer in a cool, dark place. Allow the skins to dry up. This will take about three weeks. Once a thick skin has developed, you can store your potatoes for several months. Potatoes harvested in the fall will have thicker skins normally than ones harvested in the summer.

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