The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 3 Summer 2012 | Page 22

This season’s vegetable

Potatoes
Hailing from the Andes, the humble
potato is one of the most versatile
veggies of the kitchen. There are
an incredible number of varieties
– boilers, bakers, fryers, roasters,
chippers; red, brown, black and blue
even. Unfortunately, we don’t have
such a wide selection to choose
from in Zimbabwe, but the ones we
can get, do give a great crop.

When to grow potatoes

In Zimbabwe, potatoes have a relatively long season. To get
a summer crop, plant in November and you’ll harvest before
the end of the rainy season. Plant from February to April for
an early winter yield; they will be ready before the first frosts.
Planting times are a little later in the lowveld. To get a second
winter crop, plant from late July to early August.
Blight is one of the biggest challenges – summer crops are
at greater risk while your second winter crop should be
relatively blight free. Overhead irrigation increases the chance
of blight.

Preparing the bed

Potatoes like an open but protected site. Dig the soil well;
it should be loose and any clods or stones removed. Make
sure there is no hard layer that the potatoes will struggle to
penetrate. Add a good amount of compost – potatoes like
a medium textured sandy soil with a high organic matter
content.

Planting potatoes

Although you can plant the shop-bought potatoes that have
sprouted in the back of your cupboard, resist the temptation.
It’s best to buy in some dedicated seed potatoes from a
nursery, as this will reduce the spread of disease. The nursery
should sell you the cultivars that do best at the time of year
you are buying them – but it’s worth checking that you’re
buying the right ones.
They are sold dormant and you’ll need to sprout them before
you plant out. This is known as chitting. The best way to do
this is to put them in an old egg tray and set them somewhere
light but not in direct sunlight or where rats can get them.
When the sprouts are about 2.5 cm, plant them out. If you
wait much longer, there is a danger of snapping the sprouts
off. Reject any that haven’t sprouted.
Tubers should be planted 10 to15 cm deep and 30 cm apart.
Rows should be 90 cm apart. Cover with soil and then put
on a good layer of straw or well-rotted manure – this helps
conserve soil moisture and builds fertility.

22

By Sara Davies

Potatoes benefit from at least a three-year rotation plan.
Rotating your crops ensures that you get the most from your
soil and don’t build up any diseases, which is a danger if you
plant the same thing over and over again. You need to make
sure you don’t plant any crops from the same family during
that time. Potatoes are an excellent first crop for a new veggie
garden as they help to break up the soil.

Maintenance and harvesting

Potatoes that grow close to the surface turn green and are
poisonous. To prevent this, draw the soil up around the plants
as they grow, encouraging deeper growth. When plants are
between 15 and 30 cm high, cover with soil so that only the
top leaves are exposed. This creates ridges along the lines.
Your potatoes should be ready in 90 -125 days, depending
on the time of year and variety that you have chosen. They’ll
flower and then the plants die back. Stop watering about 10
days before you want to harvest. This will allow the tubers to
firm up nicely.
New potatoes can be dug up as soon as the size of the tubers
are suitable – normally around the same time that they start
flowering, which shows that the tubers are edible.
Harvesting your potatoes is a bit like digging for treasure
– you don’t know what you are going to get. It’s immensely
satisfying. Harvest carefully so you don’t put your fork through
too many of them. You’re likely to spear one or two, but those
can just go straight into the pot.

Storing potatoes

As with your shop bought potatoes, you should always keep
them in the dark so they don’t go green. I find a brown paper
bag works really well. They won’t store for long, so it’s worth
digging them up as you need them, though be careful the
chongololos don’t get them first. And if you find you have a
surplus, invite some friends round for lunch!

Potatoes need to be chitted before
you plant them out.