If you’d like chemical-free potatoes, growing potatoes on your own is the best way to do so. Early varieties of potatoes like caribe and Irish cobbler mature in approximately 3 months. You can expect mid-season potato varieties (e.g., red norland and Yukon gold) to be ready in 100 days.

About three weeks prior to the last spring frost, plant the early or mid-season potato varieties. You may also do that during hot summers or in short spring climates. Late varieties may be planted in the early part of the summer. This way the potatoes are going to grow in the fall when it’s colder.

The best way for growing potatoes is by replanting. You will want to buy seed potatoes which are certified disease-free. For a row that’s 50 feet long, you’ll need to have six pounds of seed potatoes. The yield can vary between 80 and 125 pounds.

Potatoes with shoots are ideal for planting. Seed potatoes may be planted either whole or cut pieces. Every piece will need to have one eye or two. The potatoes can rot in a wet or cool soil.

You need to loosen the soil (about 10 inches deep) just before planting the potatoes. Add to the soil some rich compost, soybean meal, and alfalfa meal. Also you can try adding a natural eco-friendly fertilizer that has a high nitrogen content. The potato pieces should be planted 4 inches deep approximately a foot apart in furrows. Cover the potato pieces with soil (roughly 2 inches). As soon as the first sprouts begin to appear, fill up the furrows.

Till the soil up on the edges while the potatoes grow. This way, the growing tubers remain loose and covered up from exposure to the sun rays that could cause them to become green and toxic as well. Keep on tilling the soil until the plants grow to 4 to 6 inches. Cease tilling once the plants start to get the flowers.

Your soil might not be very rich, but that is okay; potatoes don’t need soil that’sextremely rich for them to grow. Organic matter plus a soil pH of 5.0 and 6.0 are enough for planting and growing potatoes. Like most plants, though, potatoes should be often watered, preferably at least an inch of water a week. Growing potatoes in soils that has a higher pH may cause scab, which develops rough spots on them. This can be avoided by mixing rich compost or peat moss into the soil.

Beetle larva can develop in potatoes. Wireworms can turn the foliage black and moldy. Blackened and moldy leaves must be burned. If you have to use pesticides or herbicides, choose the non-toxic organic ones.

You’ll be able to harvest your potatoes in 8 to 16 weeks depending on the local climate, soil, and seeds. The tops of the plants will die off. To harvest, you may use your hands or a shovel. Lightly brush the soil away from the tubers prior to taking them inside the house to dry. You can keep them covered with dry towels for 3 days. The best potatoes in the batch can be used as seeds for growing potatoes the following year so keep them in a cool, dry place.