When are the potatoes harvested?
The potato(Solanum tuberosum) belongs to the Solanaceae family. It is cultivated for its tubers. Potatoes are eaten cooked and are used in many recipes. They are often served whole or mashed as a cooked vegetable and are also ground into potato flour, used in baking and as a thickener for sauces.
Growing potatoes in the garden
Potatoes can be planted around April but the soil temperature must be important: the plant will only grow when the soil temperature is around 8° Celsius. Wait until after the frosts to plant, although the potato can withstand frosts that are not too severe. To keep your spuds longer, do a second round of planting in June to harvest the spuds later.See the planting calendar for more details. Also beware of Colorado potato beetles, which can ravage your crops if you don't get rid of them in time!
When to harvest your potatoes?
Wait about 3 weeks after flowering to harvest. Dig up the tubers slightly to check how ripe they are. The skin of the potatoes should be thick except for early potatoes.
Carefully look at the condition of your potato tubers with a fork, taking care not to hurt them. If they are large enough, you can dig them up and let them air dry for a few days before storing them. Harvest the largest tubers and let the others continue to grow.
The potatoes you have just picked should be handled with care so as not to damage the skin, and it is essential to let them ripen long enough to have a good storage of the potatoes. If the weather is rainy at harvest time, let the potatoes dry in a dry place.
Potato storage conditions
The first step after harvesting your potatoes is to sort them to separate the ones that are best suited for storage. Here are some precautions to take after harvesting: do not leave the dug up potatoes in the sun for a long time, do not wash them before using them either as this reduces the shelf life.
You can store the potatoes in a cellar during winter. Otherwise, try to find a well-ventilated, dark and cool place to store them. Beware, some varieties keep better than others.
1 comment
Arnaud
1 year agoThanks for your advice !