I have never grown potato's before, but I am going to try this year. The thing is I don't have a clue on how to do it. Could someone talk in "layman's" terms and let me know what to do?
I take it you use tires or a wooden box and fill it with dirt. You plant potato's in the dirt, but how deep? I've read about some people adding more dirt in as they grow, is that necessary? Do you keep the soil wet, damp, dry? Once you see a plant growing out, how long is it until you dig for potato's? Is it going to ruin the potato's if I dig for them too early? How many potato's do I get from one potato planted? Also should I throw the whole potato in the dirt or just the eye and sprout?
See......I have lots of questions and no experience, so I need all the advice I can get.
Potatoes really aren't hard. When I moved here two years ago, the previous owner had a bunch of potatoes in the garden. When I harvested them in the fall, I missed a row, and they stayed in the garden during freezing weather the entire winter, started sprouting, got frosted, continued to grow -- and then I realized what they were and what was going on. I had so many potatoes they were erupting from the ground -- I had to start looking for them because they'd get exposed to the sun and turn green.
For planting my potatoes this year, I just saved all the sprouted potatoes and punched holes through the manure and newspaper (I'm doing mulch gardening this year) with a bulb planter and dropped a sprouted potato in. They'd just started coming out with leaves when they got frosted, but I have faith.
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