How do you know when to harvest potatoes? Many new home gardening potato farmers struggle with this question. In reality it is pretty simple to determine the right time to harvest your potatoes.
Technically, potatoes are generally ready to harvest at about 6 to 8 weeks after planting. The most distinct sign that your potatoes are ready to harvest is the blossoms of flowers.
When ready for harvest, potatoes produce white or purple looking flowers. These flowers are a sign that there are edible tubers underground. At this point the potatoes have lush green leaves, stand sturdy, firm and upright.
As mentioned earlier, blossoms indicate technically that potatoes can be harvested. However, in many cases, this is not the best time to harvest your potatoes.
Best time to harvest potatoes
In my experience and this is mostly true for most home gardeners, the best time to harvest your potatoes is after the potato plant runs its full life.
This means going past the blossom stage by at least two weeks to a month. This allows the potatoes to reach a bigger size. The potato plant literally starts to die. The leaves turn yellow and continue failing until they turn brown. This is despite any watering. For this reason, browning should not be confused with the need for more watering or anything wrong with the plant itself. All is well.
At this point the potato plant looks lousy, lays down and looks dead. What is actually happening is that all the energy that used to sustain the plant in its lush green start is transferred to the tubers underground. This is how the potatoes grow bigger than at the point when flowers appear.
It is a matter of preference. Unless you are intentionally looking for small potatoes, the best time to harvest your potatoes is when the potato plant itself looks worn out and dead. As mentioned this comes several weeks after the appearance of the flowers.
Potato variety and when to harvest potatoes
When to harvest your potatoes is also influenced by the timing of the planting of the potatoes. The timeframes mentioned earlier provide a general usable guide. However, the fine print is that when you plant them and the variety you plant also tends to inform harvest timing.
The three main classes of potatoes are first earlies, second earlies and maincrop. This is according to when you plant and harvest them.
First earlies are quickest growing and can be ready within 10 weeks from planting to harvesting. They are harvested between June and July in the UK.
Second earlies also known as new potatoes are planted in March and are harvested by July or August. As you can see, they follow very closely after the first earliest. All in all they take 13 weeks to harvest. Suitable second early varieties are Charlotte, Maris Peer and Ratte.
Maincrop potatoes take the longest time of up to 20 weeks. They are planted by late April and are only ready for harvest by August or October. Varieties that do well for maincrop include Pink Fir Apple, King Edward and Sarpo Mira.
As you can see, there are these detailed aspects that may impact when to harvest potatoes in your garden. Overall, the general guidance pertaining when to harvest your potatoes given earlier works just fine especially for home gardeners who grow for fun without any commercial objective.
How to harvest your potatoes
Now that we have a good idea of when to harvest potatoes, it may be the right time to also briefly mention how to harvest the potatoes.
When harvesting your potatoes, it is highly recommended to avoid using tools. Before I had this understanding I would just get into my garden and start digging with tools. As a result I would damage a lot of good potatoes badly affecting their aesthetics at harvest.
The right way to harvest your potatoes is by first using your hands. This of course assumes you are a home gardener managing a small garden. If you can dig into the soil with your hands you can easily retrieve the potatoes without damaging them.
In preparation for harvest time that will come later, it is important to plant your potatoes in loose soil. Not only is this best practice when planting potatoes, it will also make it a breeze to use your hands to roll the soil and expose the tubers.
Another method of planting potatoes that makes harvest super easy is to cover the potato plants in your garden with mulch instead of soil. At harvest time all you need to do is uncover the mulch and reveal the potatoes. This is the simplest way of planting potatoes which makes harvest time very friendly and something to look forward to.
How to store potatoes after harvest
We have looked at when to harvest potatoes and how to harvest the potatoes. We will now finally look at how to store the potatoes after harvest.
Store your potatoes in a cool, dry and dark place. The potatoes should be stored in a netted bag or hessian sack as one shown above. Do not expose them to light or moisture as this easily triggers rotting. It would also trigger sprouting or potato eyes.
Stored properly, potatoes can be kept in their raw state for up to two months. Although there may be a temptation to do so, storing your harvested potatoes in a fridge will cause the starch to convert into sugar giving the potatoes a sweet taste.
Conclusion
When to harvest potatoes is signaled by the flowering of the potato plant itself. Potatoes that are harvested after the potato plant dies are bigger sized. Using tools to harvest potatoes is not recommended for fear of damaging them. Potatoes planted in loose soil or covered by mulch alone without soil can be easily harvested using bare hands. Finally, properly stored potatoes after harvest can last for months. The best practice is to store them in aerated sacks in a cool, dark and dry place.
