Pag* 6-Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 9, 2000
Gardeners Shouldn’t Be In The Dark About Growing Potatoes
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) Potato pro
duction has a long and rich
history in Pennsylvania, but a
vegetable expert in Penn
State’s College of Agricul
tural Sciences said you don’t
need to be a large grower to
raise super tubers.
“Many people in rural
areas grow potatoes in home
gardens, but urban and sub
urban gardeners seem to shy
away from home grown pota
toes,’’ said Bill Lamont, asso
ciate professor of vegetable
crops. “Potatoes can be
grown in a variety of sizes,
shapes and colors, and
there’s nothing better than
eating potatoes fresh from
the garden.”
Potatoes should be started
in late March or early April.
All potatoes are grown from
seed pieces, in which a seed
potato is halved or quartered
so that each section retains at
least one eye. The seed piece
should weigh at least IV2
ounces.
“You can get seed potatoes
at any garden center,”
Lamont said. “But to get
gourmet or different varie
ties, check in seed catalogs or
on the Internet.”
Before planting, ]et the
sliced sections sit five to
seven days in a warm, humid
place until the cut surface
heals over and dries. Plant
when the soil temperatures
have been at a steady 50 de
grees for at least a week.
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Lamont recommends
planting each seed piece at
least 4 inches deep and 9
inches apart, leaving about 3
feet between rows to give the
garden'er room to work.
When the plant has sprouted
to about 6 inches, cover the
plant with soil so that just the
top foliage shows.
“This is called ‘hilling’ the
potato,” Lamont said. “Cov
ering the plant with soil
allows the plant to develop
shoots that will form potatoes
in the hilled soil.”
Lamont said gardeners
should not expect uniform
growth from potatoes. “The
eyes on a potato don’t de
velop at the same time, so the
plants will emerge at differ
ent times,” he said.
Depending on the variety,
potatoes take between 90 and
120 days to reach maturity.
“You can dig potatoes at any
time, though, depending on
your taste,” Lamont said. “If
you like small potatoes, you
can dig them well before 90
days are up.”
Home gardeners should
test soil before fertilization.
Soil test kits are available for
a nominal fee at any Penn
State Cooperative Extension
county office. Lamont recom
mends using a 10-10-10 ferti
lizer if the garden has been
well fertilized. If the garden'
has not been fertilized,
Lamont recommends a 5-10-
10 fertilizer. “Don’t grow po
tatoes in the same location
PfWHOLAfC
year after year,” he said.
“A 3-year rotation should
be fine.”
Too much moisture can
limit potato growth, but
plants should be watered reg
ularly. Lamont recommends
using drip irrigation tape to
reduce moisture on leaves.
“Excess moisture can cause
late and early blight to de
velop,” he said.
Potatoes are mature when
the plant foliage has natu
rally died. Gardeners should
wait two weeks after vine die
back to harvest. “The wait
allows the skins to set and re
duces skin peeling, bruising
and rot in storage,” Lamont
said. “Dry the potatoes for 3
or 4 days in a warm shady
spot before storing. Potatoes
exposed to sun and high tem
peratures will turn green and
rot.”
Potatoes are subject to sev
eral severe diseases that re
quire either chemical
applications or other con
trols. “When using fungi
cides and pesticides, be sure
to follow all directions and
precautions on the label,”
Lamont cautioned.
• Early Blight: This foli
age disease shows brown cir
cular spots in a target
pattern. Contrary to its
name, early blight usually
occurs in mid- to late growing
season. It develops quickly in
&
warm, damp weather and
can be controlled with fungi
cides.
• Late Blight. Late blight
can occur at any time in the
growing season under favor
able conditions such as cool
nights, rainy periods, dews,
fog or humidity levels above
90 percent. The disease is
commonly passed on from
potatoes planted the previous
season. “Plant healthy seed
potatoes and destroy all pota
toes from the previous
season,” Lamont said.
Other diseases include
common scab, which often
can be controlled using certi
fied seed and watering con
sistently; and viral diseases,
which can be controlled using
Scholarship Awarded
GENEVA, N.J. Re
becca Scott, a senior at Cor
nell University from
Cornwall, N.Y., received a
$l,OOO scholarship from
Valent BioSciences Corpora
tion during the Cornell Fruit
Field Day 2000 Aug. 17.
The scholarship was
awarded in conjunction with
the New York State Horticul
tural Society.
Scott, who has worked at
the Hudson Valley Labora
tory in Highland, N.Y., hopes
to become an extension edu
cator in fruits after she grad
uates.
certified seed and by control
ling insects, which often
spread viruses.
• Colorado Potato Beetle:
These foliage feeders can be
controlled by pesticides, al
though gardeners can control
small plots by picking adults
off leaves. The beetles lay
bright orange eggs on the
underside of potato leaves,
and Lament recommends
smearing the egg masses.
“Crop rotation reduces
potato beetle populations as
well,” he said.
• Leafhoppers: Leaf
hoppers suck plant juices out
of the undersides of leaves.
Gardeners can use pesticides
recommended for this insect.
“It was the community
that surrounded me in the
fruit industry when 1 was
working at the Hudson
Valley Lab that encouraged
me to continue on,” she said.
Regina Rieckenberg, of
Valent BioSciences, and
Kevin Bowman, president of
the New York State Horticul
tural Society, presented the
check to Scott.
Candidates for 2001 can be
nominated through the NYS
Hort Society. Contact Kevin
Bowman at (315) 787-2404
for more information.