Question: We planted potatoes for the first time this year, and they seem to have done great. The plants are very tall (almost 3 feet!). The problem is, we don't know when to harvest them. Can we dig them out when the plants start to flower, or do we have to wait until they die off? Do we just dig them up with a shovel, or is there an easier way?
Answer: New potatoes (a term used to describe immature potatoes with soft skin and a short storage capacity) can be harvested anytime after the plants come into flower. Most gardeners sneak out a few new potatoes for an early harvest and a quick dinner, while leaving the main crop intact.
To harvest new potatoes, sink a pitchfork into the soil a foot or so away from the base of the plant and gently pry up part of the plant. You can pull off a few potatoes at a time, just enough for a meal. The skins are paper thin and easily bruised, so cooking and eating them soon after harvest is a good idea.
The major potato harvest arrives after the plants turn completely brown and die — usually toward the end of summer, depending on when the tubers were planted. The plants often die back gradually, taking as long as three or four weeks after the appearance of the first yellow leaves until the entire plant dies back.
After the plants are entirely dry, allow the tubers to sit in the ground or the container for two to three more weeks. This “curing” process is necessary to harden the skins and make them better able to withstand long periods of storage.
To harvest in-ground crops, use a pitch fork to gently lift the entire plant up and out of the ground. Be sure to sink the digging fork into the soil by a minimum of 10 inches, as some of the tubers can be quite deep — especially if the soil is soft. Then dig around in the soil with your hands and gently remove the tubers.
Container-grown potatoes are even easier to harvest. Simply invert the entire pot over a wheelbarrow and gently pull out the plant. The tubers will come along for the ride. Larger containers, like plastic trash cans and beer tubs, can be hand-dug and the potatoes sifted out.
Unwashed potatoes can be stored for months in dark, cool conditions. Just brush off the excess soil and place them in a shallow bin or box. Any tubers that are cut or bruised should be eaten within a few days. If one “bad” potato is put in the same storage bin as unblemished tubers, the resulting rot can ruin the entire batch.
Horticulturist Jessica Walliser co-hosts “The Organic Gardeners” at 7 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio. Her website is www.jessicawalliser.com.
Send your gardening or landscaping questions to tribliving@tribweb.com or The Good Earth, 503 Martindale St., 3rd Floor, D.L. Clark Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
