When are potatoes ready to harvest3/7/2023 Gently brush any dried soil off the tubers, but do not wash them.Check over the potatoes, removing any that are soft or shriveled.Keep them under cover or in the dark, and allow ten days or more for them to cure completely.If not, place harvested potatoes in a warm (60☏ to 65☏), well-ventilated area to allow the skin to set and any wounds to heal. Potato skins should be difficult to rub off with your thumb.If you want to grow potatoes for storage, be sure to choose a variety known for storability.Do not store the injured tubers, as they will spoil.If you do cut into potatoes as you harvest them, sort out these damaged tubers.Dig the hills using a spading fork, being careful not to pierce tubers with fork tines. Choose a dry, warm day to dig the tubers.Harvest mature tubers after the plants have dried or when tubers have reached full size.Some gardeners dig beside the plants and take a few potatoes, but leave the plants in place to produce more.New potatoes will have formed above the seed piece you planted, so dig down about a foot, and turn the whole plant upside down to pick the tubers.You can dig new potatoes about seven to eight weeks after planting.The tenderness of the skins make them a special treat. “New” potatoes are tubers dug before their skins have thickened and become tough.Disease spores in the soil can easily infect new plantings. Even if you have not noticed disease symptoms previously, it is best not to plant potatoes where other plants in the same family have grown recently.Choose a location in your garden where you have not grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, or tomatillos for the past three or four years.Verticillium wilt can cause yellowing and wilt in potatoes.Both cause leaf spots and lesions on potato tubers. Early blight and late blight are fungal diseases that can cause serious problems.Once disease spores are in the garden, it is difficult to get rid of them, so always use certified seed potatoes. Soil-borne diseases of potato, however, can cause crop failure.They may be ugly but are completely edible. ![]() Potato scab is a bacterial disease that causes dark, rough, corky spots on the skin of the potato tubers but does not rot them.Use good cultural control practices to reduce disease problems to a good level and allow for a successful harvest.Although your garden may seem disease free, re-introducing more fungi or bacteria could cause crop failure for your potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in the future.īoth grocery store potatoes and your own saved tubers have been grown as food, not with seed use in mind, which makes them less suitable as seed. They can carry disease spores from the previous year. Potatoes saved from your own garden may not be a good choice either. Diseases may also infect the potatoes, which can remain in the soil for a long time. The plants may produce fewer tubers, but the total yield from each plant will be higher.ĭo not plant potatoes purchased at the grocery store, as the store may treat them with chemicals to keep tubers dormant, in which case they will be slow to grow. Most garden centers carry seed potatoes in the spring.Ĭommercial seed tubers will grow into stronger, more vigorous, longer-lived plants. Buy disease-free seed tubers from a certified grower or seed distributor. Start potato plants from tubers or pieces of tubers, not from true seed. For a full list of varieties, see the Cornell University Disease Resistant Vegetable Varieties page.Some garden centers and big box stores include this information in their signage.Seed catalogs use codes to note which varieties of tomatoes are resistant or tolerant to different diseases.A tolerant variety will become diseased, but the spread of disease will be slower and the infection will be less serious.A resistant variety will not become diseased.If you have previously identified disease issues in the garden, choosing a resistant or tolerant variety is a good way of preventing the disease in the future.All-purpose potatoes such as ‘Yukon Gold’ usually have a balance of waxy and mealy starches. ![]() Many potato varieties fall somewhere in between truly waxy and completely mealy. When you mash waxy potatoes, they can become sticky. You can pan-fry leftover boiled potatoes without them falling apart. Potato chunks in soups, curries, frittatas, and salads are usually waxy varieties. Waxy or moist-fleshed, round potatoes hold together when cooked.
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