Growing potatoes in hay

Growing potatoes in hay is one of the many methods to potatoes planting beside growing potatoes without soil that is far more easier to harvest and maintain. Another method is to grow them in pine needles.There are several advantages to growing your own potatoes, one of which is you can select varieties that you will never find in any local market. You also can use any potatoes that you have in the house that began to sprout.

When growing poatoes in hay, you can contain the potatoes in a wire mesh cage or simply start them in a pile. If you use the mesh cage, the process to make on is quite easy and the area stays neater. The cage also makes the harvest easier too.

Building the Cage for growing potatoes in hay

Use mesh chicken wire that is 60 inches long and about 4 feet high. Simply create a circle by overlapping the ends of the mesh wire and looping them together with ties. You can use metal ties or even heavy cord to do this. Find an area to set the cage on the ground.

You can purchase seed potatoes from a garden supply store or create your own from sprouted potatoes in the kitchen. If you choose the kitchen, simply use the whole potato if it is relatively small or cut the potatoes in quarters so there are at least two eyes or sprouts on each quarter.

Lay the potatoes seeds onto paper towels so they dry out for a few days. This hardens the area where you cut and protects the rest of the potato from rotting before the seed develops into a plant.

Plant the Potatoes

Put about a 2 feet of hay on the ground and put the potatoes on the hay. Cover the potatoes with another three inches of hay. If you used a cage, simply put 2 feet of hay in the cage. Space 8 of the potato seeds evenly around in the hay. Cover the potato seeds with three inches of hay.

Water the hay daily, particularly during the flowering stage. Make sure that you water them in the morning so the foliage has time to dry in the sun. This prevents fungus. Donot water after the foliage dies back for the winter.

Continue to Cover

As the potato plants grow in hay, you will need to add a few inches of hay every week. You donot want the potatoes to be exposed to light because it causes them to turn green and form toxins. If you need to, its better to add more than you think necessary. Continue in this pattern until the potato stems start to wilt and die. If you want early potatoes, dig them out when the potato plants flower. If you used the cage method, simply lift the cage.

Harvest the hay Potatoes.

Lift the cage and dig through the hay to find your potatoes. If when growing potatoes in hay ,you planted the potatoes directly on the hay then you just need to find the stems, clear away the hay around the stems and the potatoes are in the area.

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