excellent post to cultivate-How to Grow Organic Potato at Home

Potato is the fourth most produced food in the world, after corn, wheat and rice. Peru is the point of origin of this tuber, with more than 4000 varieties. Potatoes are a good source of calories, they contain vitamin B, C, iron, potassium and sodium. In this article you will learn how to grow potatoes in your garden, their care, characteristics, curious facts and some recipes.

¿Seed potato?

Source

Most of our fruits and vegetables start with a seed, the potato can be reproduced by seed or by tuber. Producing a potato plant by seed takes longer and is more complicated than by tuber. If we observe a potato, we will see the eyes or buds, from these the roots and stems are produced. The tubers that we choose to grow must be adapted to our area or at least to similar characteristics.

Varieties

There are more than 4000 potato varieties in the world, although only a few are known in the market. In Mexico we can find white potatoes and chambray. The white potato has a large size with light brown skin and white interior. On the other hand, the cambray potatoes are small, round and reddish on the outside.

Planting of potato

The potato is native to the mountains in Peru, requires cold weather and full sun to develop, so the best time to plant potatoes is in August or December. In urban gardens, space is an important factor. The potato develops in the soil, so it needs space to develop properly. If you have your garden in containers, it is advisable to use a pot or containers about 60cm deep or use sacks. The soil is very important for a good development, the mixture must have a lot of compost and good drainage. Black earth or clay retains moisture and can cause disease. To have good drainage, you can use a good percentage of sandy substrates, coconut fiber, chopped tezontle, which will help filter the water.

If you are sowing in your garden, the distance between plants is 25-30cm and the depth of about 10-15cm depending on the variety. For a sack or pot we can place up to two plants. The seedlings of the potato will begin to sprout in a couple of weeks.

Care

Keep our containers free of weeds to avoid pests and diseases.
Irrigation every week, do not over saturate the soil.
Place mulch or vegetable cover.
Associate with aromatic herbs or flowers to ward off pests and diseases.
Remove old and sick leaves.
Observe our plants once or twice a week to avoid pests and diseases.
If you notice that some potatoes are growing on the surface, it is important to cover them with soil. But its color will start to be green.

Plagues and diseases

Salta leaves (Empoasca ssp): it is characterized by being very small (3mm), elongated grayish green. We can find it at the base of the plant, it feeds on the sap and injects a toxin that stops the growth of the plant. Like the aphids, the leaping leaves can transmit diseases.

Whitefly: very small insects that transmit diseases to plants. When flying, they look like a white powder.

Aphids: small green color sucking insect that transmits diseases. We find it on the underside of the leaves.

Potato moth: makes galleries in the leaves and perforate the tuber.

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans): most important potato disease. It can kill the crop in 10 days. There are brown or black lesions on the leaves and yellow color around the stems. The fungus appears in environments of high humidity, we can avoid it by being careful with watering and good exposure to the sun. This fungus spreads on the ground, so having your plants in different containers can prevent infestation to your other plants. If your planting is in a cultivation bed, you can separate your plants with aromatic herbs or other vegetables to prevent the fungus from spreading.

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