POTATOES
- EASY TO GROW IN ABUNDANCE
Pat Featherstone of 'SOIL FOR LIFE' explains how to grow a
great yield of thses ever-popular vegetables.
POTATOES, an extremely popular vegetable, are easy to grow. They're
hardy, give a good harvest, can be planted pretty much around
the year in more temperate climates and make an excellent crop
for planting in newly prepared ground. With the extremely cold
weather that has been experienced around the country in recent
weeks, just beware of the frost; as it decimates potatoes.
If you have tried sheet mulching over an existing lawn to make
way for an extended foodscape, then growing potatoes in this area,
while you wait for the underlying grass to die (yes, even Kikuyu)
and for the earthworms and other soil creatures to loosen up the
soil for you, is the ideal way to go. Real lazy (wo)man's gardening!
However,
these days few people have a large enough area available for the
luxury of planting into the ground for a really large harvest.
As luck would have it, potatoes lend themselves to container planting.
They can be grown in old pots, containers of any sort, wooden
boxes, inside stacks of old tyres, and in plastic bags.
Here's how to go about creating a tyre stack: Plant three
to four seed potatoes in a circle (about 20 cm in diameter) in
loose, well-drained soil which has been mixed with compost. When
they shoot (after about 14 days), place an old tyre around them
and fill it with rich soil, leaving the newly sprouted leaves
uncovered. When the plants shoot out again, about 20cm above the
soil, place another tyre on top of the first one and fill with
good soil. The process may be repeated until you have between
three and five tyres stacked on top of one another.
At harvesting time (after about five months), remove the tyres
and, from that limited space, you will get a bagful of fresh potatoes.
A word of warning when planting in tyres:
Black tyres absorb and hold heat in the hot summer months and
potatoes do not like hot 'feet'. To avoid this, cover the tyres
with hessian or paint them with a light-coloured paint that will
reflect the heat away from them.
Alternatively, grow a bag of potatoes:
Make a few drainage holes in a large black plastic bag - the ones
you use for your garbage. Roll the top of the bag over several
times so that it is about one third of its original height. Place
a mixture of soil and compost at the bottom of the bag to depth
of 30cm. Plant three or four seed potatoes in the centre. As the
plants grow, keep earthing up the stem, unfolding the bag until
the soil reaches the top. When the plant starts to die back, that
is the sign that your harvest is ready. Slit the side of the bag
and out will roll the crop.
Take care of your potato plants while they're growing:
•
Potatoes prefer a rich, light, well-drained soil. Add lots of
compost to the soil.
• A
side dressing of potassium-rich wood ash will help the formation
of tubers, as will a foliar feed of seaweed tea.
• Too much nitrogen will produce lots of leafy growth and
very few tubers.
• Soil, straw or compost should be hilled up around the stems
of the plants to prevent the tubers from turning green in the
sunlight. Remember that green potatoes are poisonous and you cannot
eat them. Rather put them aside for planting.
• Keep the plants weed-free. Weeds compete for nutrients.
• Do not over-water. In fact, in winter rainfall areas watering
will not be necessary at all. Make sure in the latter case that
the containers are very well drained.
• As the plants mature, gradually reduce watering to encourage
ripening and prevent deformities in the tubers.
• Do not water the leaves as this encourages diseases.
To
all who must eat to live, there is hope. Grow your own food.
It's the simplest (and cheapest) way to good health
Soil for Life is a Cape Town-based NGO that
teaches people how to grow their own good, safe food. For more
information about Soil for Life membership, workshops and organic
methods for growing vegetables, herbs and fruit, please phone
Pat Featherstone on
(021) 794 4982. Have a look at the website for more information:
www.soilforlife.co.za
