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Fact 1 There are more than 100 potato varieties from white to red. It is the fourth largest food crop in the world that is cultivated in such diverse countries as China and Ireland.
Fact 2 Americans love potatoes. The average person eats 126 pounds of potatoes each year in the form of frozen, fresh, chips and dehydrated.
Fact 3 Potatoes are environmentally friendly plants. They are cheap and rather easy to grow, and don’t require massive amounts of fertilizer and chemical additives to thrive (although some growers still use them anyway). They are also super cheap and good for you, providing your eating them in fried form all the time. This makes them a perfect crop for farmers in the developing world, who can easily grow a nutritious food in adverse conditions
Fact 4 The potato is the most important non-cereal crop in the world, and fourth most important crop overall. Only corn, wheat, and rice are more important. In the US, potato products are the second most consumed food overall, trailing only dairy products.
Fact 5 The potato has being grown in space. In 1995, potato plants were taken into space with the space shuttle Columbia. This marked the first time any food was ever grown in space.
Fact 6 Early varieties of potato that mature in less than 90 days are good fits for any garden. Creamy, round ‘Irish Cobbler,’ purple-skinned ‘Caribe,’ and prolific ‘Red Norland’ fall into this group, along with ‘King Harry,’ which is resistant to Colorado potato beetles.
Fact 7 Late varieties of potato need 110 days or more of growing time, but they typically produce a heavy set of tubers that keep well in storage. ‘Butte’ is an all-purpose brown-skinned potato that performs well when grown in the Midwest; ‘Katahdin’ and ‘Kennebec’ rule in the Northeast.
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Posted in Growing potatoes.
Tagged with Growing potatoes, potato facts, potato growing facts.
By potatofacts
– February 23, 2010
The potato is a highly nutritious food. The potato is a
good source of dietary energy and some micronutrients.
Fact 1 Potatoes contain 27 mg of Vitamin C (it is 45 percent of the current daily value), which can contribute to total daily requirements. Vitamin C is water-soluble vitamin acts as an antioxidant, stabilizing or eliminating free radicals.
Fact 2 Potatoes are the most concentrated sources of potassium .They include significantly higher amount than those foods commonly associated with potassium content (for example, bananas, oranges, and mushrooms). Research suggests that diets rich in potassium and low in sodium seem to reduce the risk of hypertension and stroke.
Fact 3 Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin B6. It is water soluble vitamin that is often low in the diets of certain groups of women. Vitamin B6 also plays important roles in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. It helps the body make nonessential amino acids needed to make various body proteins.
Fact 4 One medium potato with the skin includes two grams of fiber (or eight percent of the daily value). Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate and is the part of the plant material that cannot be digested and absorbed in the bloodstream.
Dietary fiber helps to improve blood lipid levels, regulating blood glucose, and increasing satiety, which may help with weight loss.
Fact 5 In addition to vitamins and minerals, potatoes also contain an assortment of phytochemicals with antioxidant potential, most notably carotenoids and anthocyanins
Additionally potato contains Iron, Copper, Zinc and Manganese. The nutritional value of potatoes makes them ideal for weight loss and maintains optimum health.
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Posted in Cooking potatoes, Potato nutrition facts.
Tagged with antioxidant, nutritional facts on potato, potassium, potato facts, potato nutrition, potato nutritional facts, vitamin, vitamin C.
By potatofacts
– February 23, 2010
If you have no established garden plot, or if there just isn’t enough available space within your garden, you can still grow a respectable crop of spuds, and do a little recycling at the same time.
Potatoes thrive in the warm environment of a soil filled tire!
Four tires + Two pounds of seed potatoes + Good soil = 20-30 pounds of winter potatoes!
Pick a spot where you can stack your tires which is out of the way and preferably out of sight.
Loosen the surface of the soil just enough to allow for drainage, and set your largest tire in place. Fill the inside of the tire casing loosely with good topsoil, and then set 3-4 potato seeds into the soil. (Use sticks or rocks to keep the casing rings spread open.) Add enough soil to the tire “hole” to bring it to the same level as the soil inside the
tire.
When the new plants are eight inches tall, add another tire and soil to the stack, as in the first level. Repeat the process for your third, and if desired, fourth tires. As you add tires and soil to the stack, the 8″ of the plant stalk
is covered with soil.
By doing this, the existing stalk essentially reverts to a root status and the plant is forced to grow upward to once again find the sunlight which it needs. (much like if you were to try to eliminate a dandelion by covering it with a scoop of soil).
By raising the soil level this way (in 8″ increments) the plant is able to continue growing without suffocation, and at the same time you are creating a 24-30″ tap root from which many more lateral roots can develop.
Each lateral root can then produce additional potatoes (at 3-4 levels rather than the normal single layer). When you water, be sure that the soil is thoroughly moistened all the way to the base of the pile.
The tires act as an insulator and heat “sink” for your potatoes. This added warmth will cause the lateral roots (where the new potatoes form) to multiply more rapidly, thereby giving you more potatoes.
When you need fresh potatoes next fall and winter, harvest the crop from the top tire, and remove it from the pile. If you need more potatoes just take next tire.
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Posted in Growing potatoes, Growing potatoes ways, How to grow potatoes, Plant potatoes, Potato seeds.
Tagged with Agriculture, growing potato ways, growing potatoes in tires, method, Planting potatoes, POTATO, Recycling, SEED, Seed potatoes, soil.
By potatofacts
– February 22, 2010
Image by Chiot's Run via Flickr
Soil Types
Potatoes do best in fertile, well-drained soils. However, potatoes will grow in many types of soils. Soils that are poorly drained tend to produce poorly shaped potatoes and tuber rot. Potatoes can be planted earlier on lighter, better-drained soils as these soils dry out and warm up earlier. These soils will produce more uniformly shaped potatoes but have a tendency to dry out if there isn’t a lot of rain. These soils respond well to irrigation.
Soil pH
The measure of soil acidity is the pH. Soils with pH levels at 7.0 are considered “neutral.” Soil with a pH level higher than 7.0 is considered alkaline. Soil with a pH lower than 7.0 is considered acid. Maine has many acid soils.
Potatoes do well across a wide range of pH, but prefer slightly acidic soils: a soil pH of 5.3 to 6.0 is typical for potato production. If your soil is more acidic than this, mixing in wood ash will help raise the pH and make your soil more alkaline.
However, higher soil pH levels are more conducive to scab, a potato disease caused by a soil-bome pathogen. If your soil has a higher pH, choose a scab-resistant variety, such as “Russet Burbank.” Fertilizers work better at neutral (7.0) pH than a lower pH.
Lime will also raise the pH of soil. A soil test will tell you how much lime to add.
The lime needs to be mixed into the soil. This is best done in the fall, but can also be done in the spring before planting.
GROWING POTATO FACTS:
Adding lime to improve the soil and reduce acidity usually increases the size of the crop, but it also increases the incidence of scab — a condition that affects the skin of the potato but not the eating quality.
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Posted in How to grow potatoes, Soil preparation.
Tagged with Acid, Agriculture, Alkali, Fertilizer, Growing potatoes, PH, POTATO, soil, Soil pH.
By potatofacts
– February 21, 2010
If you are growing potato in area with short cool springs and hot summers then use early and midseason varieties potatoes seed.
If you are living in area with long springs and hot summers take potatoes seed of early and midseason varieties three to four weeks before your last spring frost date.
If you plant late-maturing varieties in early summer they will mature in the cooler fall.
Use potatoes seed for planting early, midseason and late varieties two to three weeks before your last spring frost date for area with cool summers.
You should use only certified disease-resistant seed potatoes.In case if you see stores interesting looking potatoes you can try to plant in on your field.
If you like taste of the potatoes than save a some tubers and use them as seed potatoes in the spring. Bbe sure that potatoes are free from diseases.
Get an earlier crop by presprouting your seed potatoes indoors. Presprouted seed pieces will mature up to a month ahead of seed pieces bearing dormant eyes.
Four or five weeks before planting, spread out your seed potatoes in a single layer in a warm, well-lit room, and wait for them to sprout from the eyes.
Potatoes are fragile so you should careful when handling them as presprouted .
Large sprouts that break off of the parent potato often will grow when planted in moist soil.
Posted in Growing potatoes.
Tagged with potatoes, SEED, TIPS.
By potatofacts
– February 20, 2010
Ring rot potato disease is inducd by the bacterium Clavibacter michiganense subsp. sepedonicus.
The bacteria which cause ring rot are persistent in storages, bags, bins, and on equipment.
The bacteria can infect seed and cause drastic losses in the field.
Severe ring rot potato disease can result in wilting of leaves and stems along with yellowing and death of leaves.
Lower leaves usually wilt first, are slightly rolled at the margins, and are paler green than healthy leaves. As wilting progresses, leaf tissues between veins become yellow. In the later stages of disease, margins of lower leaves die and become brittle and eventually entire stems yellow and die.
Symptoms and sidns of ring rot potato
The first symptom of ring rot in tubers is the appearance of a light, creamy-yellow to brown discoloration of the vascular ring at the stem end. When the freshly cut tuber is squeezed, a creamy-yellow or light brown exudates (scrud) will appear.
In more advanced stages, the entire vascular ring will rot with cavities reaching to the center of the tuber.
The outer surface of such tubers will sometimes be cracked and depressed. Secondary soft rot bacteria may invade these tubers.
The only way bacteria persist under field conditions is in plant debris and cull tubers.
Therefore, disease loss due to residual bacteria in the soil will be minimal if plant and tuber debris is destroyed during the winter or rotational period.
Certified or foundation seed has a zero tolerance for ring rot potato disease. Therefore, any significant amount of ring rot must originate from home grown seed, contaminated equipment or storage facilities, or volunteer plants in the field.
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Interesting fact on potato:
The average American eats 137.9 pounds of potatoes each year.
- 50.7 pounds of fresh – 55.3 pounds of frozen potatos. (french fries, hash browns, etc)
- 16.9 pounds of potato chips.
- 13 pounds of dehydrated potato. (mashed potato flakes, au gratin mixes, etc)
- 2 pounds of canned potato.
Related articles:
Potato Tuber Growth Abnormalities
Purple Top Wilt
Potatoes Oxygen Deficiency
Posted in Growing potatoes, Potato Diseases.
Tagged with POTATO DISEASE, RING ROT.
By potatofacts
– February 20, 2010
A usual way of potatoes growi is to dig a trench, plant the seed potatoes in the bottom and then shovel the soil back in as the potatoes plant grows, covering about a third of it.
But in fact, you can grow potatoes in little spaces using wood boxes.
There is well-known way of growing in tall box where you’re essentially building a potato growing high rise.
Building the box
For bulsing the box you need:
* six 2 by 6 inchs boards eight feet long and eight feet long;
*one 2 by 2 inches board 12 feet long;
*2 ½-inch wood screw(96 of them) (The better ones are pine, cedar or redwood, which will resist rot londer).
To build the box cut the 2 X 2 into four lengths of 33 inches. Cut the 2 X 6 boards into 12 lengths of 12 inches, and 12 lengths of 24 inches.
Per-drill the screw holes in 2-by-6 boards and attach the box bottom row on the 2-by-2s.
How to plant potatoes in box
Put over prepared soil and full with soft soil and mulch. Then plant chitting seed potatoes four inches deep in the bottom.
When the vines are about 12 inches above soil, add another board to box and fill with soil.
Be careful not to cover more then one third of the potato plant.
While the potatoes plant is growing and you can fill the new space with mulch or soil adding sides to the box.
How to harvest
If you are going to havest big crop then wait for a full harvest. But if you’re getting antsy for some garden fresh potatoes you can pop a board off the bottom of box and rob some of the new potatoes removing the bottom boards from your box and carefully reach in for the new tubers.
In fact growing potatoes in boxes is easy and fun!
Interesting Potato Facts:
1. The potato is about 80% water and 20% solids. Of the solids, 99.5% is starch.
2. An 8-ounce baked or boiled potato has only about 100 calories
RELATED ARTICLES:
How to grow potatoes in tire
Growing potatoes in containers
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Posted in Growing potatoes, Growing potatoes ways.
Tagged with boards, box, fresh potatoes, garden, Growing potatoes in box, method, new potato, place, Planting potatoes, SEED, Seed potatoes, wood box.
By potatofacts
– February 20, 2010
Potatoes are traditionally grown from seed pieces. These are not true “seed,” but pieces of a potato tuber. Do not use potatoes purchased at the grocery store for seed pieces. They are probably treated to not sprout. Buy certified seed from a reputable seed seller. Buying certified seed pieces assures varietal purity and a low level of diseases.
Dates for planting seed potatoes will vary from year to year and around the country. The soil temperature should be at least 6°C (43°F).
Potatoes are grown primarily from whole or partial seed tubers.
To reduce the potential for introducing disease into the garden always use certified seed.
Most gardeners plant whole seed, tubers that are less than two inches in diameter and planted whole. Don’t use seed smaller that one inch in diameter. If larger seed is used, cut it into smaller pieces.
Less energy will be used to heal the cut surfaces, making more energy available for growth. All cut surfaces should be smooth. Any jagged or torn surfaces will invite seed-piece rot.
Seed of potatoes can be freshly cut and planted into soil.
If the seed potatoes are cut well before planting, place them to store at 50 to 55 degrees F and over 90 percent humidity. This will help the cut surfaces to heal. The healed seed pieces can then be held at low temperatures until planting.
“Pipping” or “green sprouting” can be used to encourage early production. Here’s how to do it: Spread seed potatoes out in a single layer in an area exposed to light. This can be done on a floor indoors or out, as long as the temperature doesn’t drop below freezing. The ideal condition to green sprout potatoes is 70 degrees F with high humidity. Even a bam or garage in early spring will work well. Turn the potatoes over to encourage uniform sprouts. Green sprouting will produce short stubby (less than 1 inch) sprouts that emerge quickly and set tubers early
Planting potatoes seed
You will need 8-10 pounds of seed potatoes for every 100 feet of planted row.
Dig hole 12cm deep for each seed potato, placing the seed potato shoots uppermost and then fill in the hole.
Image via Wikipedia
Proceed onwards digging holes (30cm apart for earlies and 40cm apart for main crop) until all seed is planted at the appropriate spacing according to the type.
Generally, soil is hilled or mounded around the plants as they grow. Hills provide room for the tubers to develop, provide added soil drainage, and minimize tuber greening later in the year.
It is best to hill around the potato plants within 4 weeks of planting.
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By potatofacts
– February 19, 2010
Potatoes will grow in almost any soil but prefer a sandy loam. They do not require fertilizer nor do they need organic material in the soil. Nevertheless, potatoes have specific soil requirements and always need thorough insect and disease control.
Potatoes growing also require soils that are loose, easily tilled, well drained, and high in organic matter.
Very dry sands, shale, or heavy clay loams should not be used for getting good potato crops.
Potatoes require a porous soil to ensure an adequate oxygen supply for good tuber initiation and development. After tilling, level the surface slightly so that furrows can be made.
Waiting 7 to 10 days before planting the seed pieces is recommended to allow the cover crop to begin decomposing.
Never add lime before planting potatoes, as this can encourage scab.
Because scab disease (brown, corky tissue on the surface of tubers) may be a problem in alkaline or sweet soils, the soil pH should be kept around 5.5–6.0.
Potatoes should form part of a crop rotation plan and should not be planted in the same ground for four years.
Whet planting potatoes be sure that the soil is evenly moist and not wet or soggy, in a wet soil your seed potatoes will probably rot.
TIPS FOR GARDENERS
- Whenever possible use natural and organic fertilizers such as compost. Chemicals build up toxicity in soil, which leaches into drinking water.
- Fertilize before a rain whenever possible.
Posted in Fertilization, Plant potatoes, Soil preparation.
Tagged with best soil for growing potatoes, clay soil potato, fertilizing, soil, Soil pH, Soil potatoes, soil to grow potatoes.
By potatofacts
– February 19, 2010
February is almost always the very coldest month of the year, sometimes the ground is so frozen that no gardening is possible outside at all.
Fortunately there are some jobs to do in the greenhouse and at least the days are getting longer and spring will soon be with us.
Make sure all plans for this year’s cropping are completed and order or buy from your local garden centre your choice of vegetable seed.
Order or find a local stockist of plants of Jerusalem artichokes, horse radish, rhubarb, as well as shallot and onion bulbs for planting in early February.
Get your potato varieties in early before stocks are exhausted.
If any digging is still to be done, finish this as soon as weather conditions permit, giving a treatment of lime in the area where brassicas are to be grown. This will help to reduce the incidence of club root.
If February is reasonably mild it would even be worth trying a few sowings of carrots (the variety Amstel, for examle).
Sow thickly but in very shallow drills with a minimum amount of soil to cover.
If germination is good, severe thinning will be needed, but the extra seeds will allow for the inevitable losses.
Even varieties which are suitable for early sowing will benefit from covering the soil with a cloche a week or so before sowing. Peas in particular will respond to cloche protection and growth will be advanced quite a few weeks. ‘Feltham First’ is the variety to go for.
Like you, the slugs will be eagerly awaiting the first appearance of those early crops so do sprinkle some slug pellets around to allow these vital early plants to reach maturity.
Shallots can be planted if the weather is good. Put them in, 6in (10cm) apart and 12in (30cm) between the tows, leaving the top half protruding from the soil.
When you got potato seeds , sprout these in a light, frost-free situation.
POTATOES GROWING FACTS
Once a potatoes seed sprouts it must be kept watered. If it dries out, it dies. If seeds are lightly covered with soil, they may need to be gently sprinkled with water once or twice a day to keep them moist.
When planting in clay soil, cover seeds with vermiculite instead of clay. Clay absorbs heat and may bake the seeds and stop germination. Clay also forms a top crust, forming a barrier for the young seedlings.
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Posted in Growing organic vegetables, Growing potatoes, Growing potatoes ways, Plant potatoes.
Tagged with Carrot, February, gardening, grow, Growing organic vegetables, Growing potatoes, planting, Planting potatoes, SEED, sowing, sprout.
By potatofacts
– February 18, 2010
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