Grow Potatoes in Small Area – If you do not have enough space and yet wish to grow potatoes, then you have hardly any reason to worry about. There are many simple ways that can work just right for you to grow potatoes in a small area!
• Some Potato Basics
– You will need some tubers or seed potatoes if you wish to grow potatoes. These two things are grown exclusively for replantation. And they are certainly not meant for consumption.
– Regular potatoes with the sprouts too can be used for planting in case you are unable to procure the seed potatoes.
• Basic Requirement
– Decide your space or a container where you wish to grow potatoes.
– Make sure that space gets sufficient sunlight.
– If you are using a container, then you can use anything that is available right there in your home.
– The container needs to have good drainage. Create holes manually if they are not there already.
– Now, fill the container with 4-6 inches of vermicompost.
– If you are going to plant potatoes in the ground then you should dig about 15-20 inches of soil and then put the vermicompost in it.
– Keep the seed potatoes or tubers on this layer of vermicompost.
– Again, fill 4-5 inches of space with vermicompost covering the seed potatoes.
– Water it a little- we need the soil to be moist but never wet.
– You should keep adding soil to the plant at regular intervals. Just keep 1inch of the plant visible and the rest of the soil.
– This should be done until the plant reaches the height of 2 feet.
• Watering Basics
– Potato growing does not require the soil to be ‘wet’, but it always needs to be ‘moist’.
– The soil should never dry out completely. For that, you will need to keep an eye on the soil at all times.
– During summers, you may even be required to water it twice daily.
– Liquid organic fertilizers and tomato feed are good for quality as well as the quantity of the potato production.
• Potato Harvesting Basics
– Potatoes will grow edible crops much before they are ready for harvesting.
– Later, their color changes to yellow. And that’s your sign.
– You should only pick the yellow ones because the green ones are not yet ready and at that stage, they are poisonous too!
• Potato Storage
– You can consume the fresh potatoes right away!
– But, if you wish to store them, then you will need to keep them in direct sunlight for a couple of hours for them to dry out completely.
– After that, store them in a cooler/ darker place.
Other Important Facts
- The right companions for your potato production are cabbages, beans, and marigold. It should never be around tomatoes and cucumbers. Blight, a very common potato infection may cause you a huge damage by ruining the other two crops.
- Try to plant fresh tubers annually. This will avoid other infections and produce healthy potatoes for you!
