If you do cut the sprouted potatoes in pieces, give them a day or two to callus over and cure. Some old timers dip them in wood ash to help the process. This curing is important if you are going to plant in damp, cold soil to prevent rot and fungus growth.
If you are using newly dug potatoes from your own garden, you need to break their dormancy and awaken them. According to the downloadable. The ethylene gas given off will initiate sprouting. Keep in mind that the dormancy period varies from one variety of potato to another. Spread out your seed potatoes in an open top shallow box or egg carton with the seed end pointing up.
The seed end has little dimples in the tuber there the sprouts will emerge and the strongest sprouts will form. Keep them in a warm, bright spot with constant temperature like the kitchen counter for 2 to 3 weeks or until sturdy green shoots appear. If you use moderate light, and keep them at temperatures in the degree range, you can speed up the process a bit. This way, the sprouts will grow stocky, sturdy and dark green. The more light there is in the process, the shorter, greener and tougher the sprouts will be.
In large quantities, the toxin might cause nausea, stomach pain and discomfort, diarrhea, headaches, eczema, pain in the joints, and cardiac dysrhythmia. If you have to postpone planting because of weather or some other reason, move them to a cooler spot, to slow down their growth.
Dig a shallow trench and cover them with 3 inches of soil. As they grow you will be hilling more soil around the plant. I had great success growing potatoes in a laundry basket on my deck over the last several years and I will probably try that process again because it is so fun.
I also plan on growing my potatoes vertically to save space. This has been a heated debate for as long as spuds and modern grocery stores have been around. Growing potatoes from store-bought potatoes has its upsides and downsides.
The main advantage is that simply growing grocery store potatoes is a lot cheaper than buying certified seed potatoes from a local nursery. There are multiple reasons for steering clear of growing store-bought potatoes but the key takeaway is disease prevention. Potatoes, unfortunately, carry lots of bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases. Yes, the soil will need THREE whole years to recover from a potato disease and likely lots of amendments for a full recovery.
Potato blight and scab are two of the most devastating fungal diseases a potato crop might have to face. While symptoms of the two conditions might be easily spotted on a diseased potato, they are not always obvious. Plus, blight spreads through spores, which are carried by wind, water, insects, critters… you name it. So, if your garden has a blight issue, your neighbor might soon have one too.
These two potato diseases are so contagious that you should think twice even before throwing those potato peels into the compost pile. Also, since fungal infections build up in the soil over the years, it is best to not plant anything from the potato family on the infected allotment for three years. But one might argue that certified seed potatoes are crazy expensive. Plus, you might find some rare varieties at a nursery that you cannot possibly find in your local grocery store, like these quirky blue potatoes.
So, growing store-bought potatoes is an absolute no? Not quite. If you do opt for a store-bought variety to chit, at least pick an organic variety as they are less likely to be sprayed with toxic sprout-delaying agents.
Yes, many store-bought potatoes are sprayed so they can last longer on the shelves. Just imagine what an anti-sprouting agent, which works by hampering natural cell division, can do to your body in the long run. Some crops produce ethylene in storage—apples, cantaloupes, ripening tomatoes, already-sprouting potatoes all produce higher than average amounts.
Chilling, wounding and pathogen attack can all induce ethylene formation in damaged crops. Some crops, including most cut greens, are not sensitive to ethylene and can be stored in the same space as ethylene-producing crops. Other crops are very sensitive and will deteriorate in a high-ethylene environment. Potatoes will sprout, ripe fruits will go over the top, carrots lose their sweetness and become bitter.
Summary: Potatoes are more likely to sprout if they are more than 4—8 weeks after harvest; in the light; near fruits, vegetables, flowers or malfunctioning propane or natural gas heaters that produce ethylene; too warm, or warm after being cool. Potato sprouts are toxic, see my earlier article. Skip to content Harvesting potatoes. Storing newly harvested potatoes For the first two weeks after harvest, the root cellar or other storage space will need hours of ventilation every two or three days.
Potato crates in our root cellar. Pre-sprouting seed potatoes Potatoes have a dormant period of 4—8 weeks after harvest before they will sprout. Seed potato pieces after pre-sprouting for planting. Instead, they grow from small cubes of tubers cut into chunks with at least two " potato eyes" known as seed potatoes. These eyes are what sprout and form new tubers underground for digging and eating.
A potato's eyes only form and sprout under favorable growing conditions and after breaking from a dormant state. Potatoes have a rest period, or dormancy, that must be broken before they can grow eyes and be planted in the garden. Potatoes go into a dormant state after harvest to protect the plants from unfavorable weather conditions.
Tubers in a dormant state do not grow; even when placed in favorable growing conditions, potatoes will not sprout. Potatoes stored at cooler temperatures of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit remain dormant, and this is why potatoes require storage in a cool, dry area of your home. Many times, stored potatoes break dormancy when they find their space favorable for sprouting, causing the potatoes in your cupboard to sometimes grow sprouting eyes. While sprouting is desired for seed potatoes, it is undesirable for cooking potatoes.
0コメント