Did you know that potatoes, those tasty tubers we all love, go through an incredible growth journey? Instead of using regular seeds, potatoes are often grown from the eyes of other potatoes called seed potatoes. These small tubers, sometimes called toddler potatoes, are super important for growing potatoes.
But what makes them so special? In this cool blog post, we’ll explore the amazing world of potato growth stages. We’ll uncover the secrets behind how they grow and learn about the five main stages: sprout development, growing leaves, making tubers, getting bigger, and becoming fully mature.
Get ready to dive into the fascinating process of growing potatoes and discover how to have a successful and plentiful harvest.
Post Contents
Basic Information About Potatoes:
The table above provides basic information about potatoes. It includes the scientific name and the family to which potatoes belong.
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Solanum tuberosum |
| Family | Solanaceae (Nightshade family) |
| Origin | South America (Andes region) |
| Shape | Variable, typically oval or round |
| Color | Skin: Brown, yellow, red, or purple |
| Flesh: White, yellow, or purple | |
| Texture | Firm and starchy |
| Taste | Mild, earthy |
| Nutritional | High in carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamin C |
| Low in fat and sodium | |
| Cooking Methods | Boiling, baking, frying, mashing, roasting |
| Popular Types | Russet, Yukon Gold, Red, Fingerling, Purple |
| Usage | Side dishes, soups, stews, snacks, salads |
| Storage | Cool, dark place; away from moisture |
| Avoid refrigeration for raw potatoes |
Potato Growth Stages:
In this article we have completely covered all the aspects of potato growth, starting from the seed potato to harvesting new potatoes. When a seed potato is planted, the potato’s tiers start to grow. Here are the five potato growth stages. Let’s cover it up!
Growth Stage 1: (Sprout Development)
The eyes of the potato broaden sprouts. The sprouts develop and emerge from the soil. Sprouts and stems upward thrust from the floor to 6 weeks after planting relying on the climate.
This is the very early stage of potato growth and small sprouts emerge from the soil, it sometimes takes more than a month to finish this stage.
Growth Stage 2: (Vegetative Growth and Photosynthesis)
Photosynthesis starts off evolving within the leaves and stems above the floor. Stolons (underground stems) broaden underground. The plant prepares to keep vitamins in tubers.
This is a crucial stage for the healthy growth of the plant, we recommend keeping good care of the plant. If possible, provide it with compost to cover up the nutrient needs.
Read More: Lemon Tree Growth Stages (Complete Life Cycle Guide)
Growth Stage 3: (Tuber Growth)
Tubers start forming at the end of stolons; the stolon hints swell and tubers start to form. Above floor, shoots broaden beforehand of flowers. Stolons commonly swell earlier than the plant flowers.
(Because the “root” of the potato plant is a stem, now no longer certainly a root, potatoes are taken into consideration tubers.) Tuber improvement starts off evolving five to six weeks after sprouts emerge from the soil.
Growth Stage 4: (Tuber Bulking)
Tubers enlarge. Sugars and starches gather withinside the newly fashioned tubers. Optimal soil moisture and temperature in addition to the provision of soil vitamins are very critical for an excellent yield.
Growth Stage 5: (Maturation and Harvest)
The tubers attain complete length. The leaves and stems above the floor start to dry out and die. Tuber skins harden. When the pinnacle of the plant dries out and dies, tubers are geared up for harvesting.
The harvest of mature tubers can start 10 to 26 or greater weeks after planting (70 to one hundred twenty days) relying on the variety. However, potato tubers may be harvested at any length they may be edible.
Challenges in Growing Potatoes:
Keeping tubers buried is important for the improvement. Sometimes new tubers can also additionally begin developing on the floor of the soil. Exposed tubers ought to be buried beforehand of harvest. Exposure to mild ends in an unwanted greening of the skins and the improvement of solanine as a safety from the sun’s rays, growers cowl floor tubers.
Solanine is an alkaloid determined in potatoes and different Solanaceae own circles of relatives flowers. If ingested, solanine can cause poisoning in human beings and animals. “Hilling up” or “earthing up”—the piling of extra soil across the base of the plant because it grows—inhibits the improvement of solanine. An opportunity to “earthing up” is the masking of flowers with straw or different mulches.
Home gardeners regularly develop potatoes from a chunk of potato with or 3 eyes, generally in a hill of mounded soil or in a develop bag or containers.
Quick Tips Regarding Growing Potatoes:
Planting:
In cold areas, plant seed potatoes in spring as quickly because the soil may be worked. For a summer time crop in which the soil temperature does not climb above 85°F (20°C), plant 2-3 weeks earlier than the final frost. For a fall crop, plant in the spring. In cold areas, plant 4 to 6 weeks earlier than the final frost.
For a summer time crop, plant in the overdue summer time season for an iciness-into-spring crop. Potatoes are tolerant of cool soil and overdue frost. Set seed potatoes 2-four” (five-10 cm) deep and 12-18” (30-forty five cm) aside in all directions. Plant in soil wealthy in compost and rotted manure.
Growing:
When flowers are 12” (30 cm) tall, draw soil up round them—known as “hilling”—so only some inches (five cm) of the plant is seen. Hilling will defend potatoes from sunburn and from turning green. Grow potatoes in complete sun. Keep the soil simply moist. Add a side-dressing of excessive phosphorus fertilizer to the soil after 1 month of increase.
Harvesting:
Potatoes planted in early spring can be geared up for harvest in 90-one hundred ten days; planted in overdue spring, 100-one hundred twenty days; planted in overdue summer time season or fall, one hundred ten-a hundred and forty days.
Dig early for “new potatoes’ ‘ while flowers start to bloom and fade; dig for mature, giant potatoes while the vines yellow and die. To harden the potato pores and skin earlier than harvest, prevent watering 2 weeks earlier than harvest; reduce away the pinnacle foliage 10 days earlier than harvest.
Carefully carry potatoes with a lawn fork, starting 8-10” (20-25 cm) farfar from the plant, then painting nearer to the vine. Brush however does now no longer wash clinging soil from tubers. Store potatoes in a dry, dark, well-ventilated location for up to six months.
You can also watch this amazing video guide on growing healthy potatoes:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
How Long Does it Take for Potatoes to Grow?
New potatoes are usually ready by the 60th day. They will be small and fragile. If you can’t wait any longer, you can get some!! Most strains have good sized tubers that can be harvested in 90 days.
What is the Life Cycle of Potatoes?
Cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) has a relatively short lifespan of 70 to 150 days from planting to maturity. Its developmental stages are often described as tuber budding, vegetative development, tuber initiation, tuber mass.
How many Potatoes should be expected from a single plant?
One plant will produce at least 3-4 pounds of potatoes, and one seed potato will produce 4-5 plants.
Conclusion:
Potatoes are a really important item in every cuisine. Being important they are also really easy to grow. You just need a parent potato or we can call it the seed potato. It is sown and it grows into multiple potatoes. This article was especially based on potatoes and their growth stages. We tried to cover all the essentials, and mentioned growth stages from seed potato to harvesting.
We hope that you found this article useful. Remember when growing potatoes, keep an eye on the growth and you’ll be harvesting perfect fruit in the end. Best of Luck with your potato growing!
Check out more plants growth guides:
Pumpkin Growth Stages Explained (From Seed to Harvest)
Carrot Growth Stages Explored: (From Seed to Harvest)