If you have old potatoes from last year's harvest, don't throw them away as they could be extremely vital for your garden. A gardener has showed how old potatoes could provide a huge benefit to your glorious outdoor space.
Gardening Tip for Summer
Gardening is one of those time-consuming tasks, but it's certainly worth it. Now with summer in full swing, it's important to keep your garden in good condition so it allows your plants and seeds to flourish in the sunshine. So if you have any old potatoes from last year's harvest, listen up now.
TikTok Gardener's Technique
Over on TikTok, one keen gardener showed how to make use of the spuds to grow even more. Known as Planted in the Garden, the expert, who boasts 1.3 million followers, shared a useful technique.
In the video, the gardener takes some old sprouted potatoes and places them in a pot of soil. He then covers it with dried hay, before adding chicken wire on top to keep the squirrels out. Next he adds drip irrigation to ensure the soil is consistently watered. Finally, he moves the pot to a shaded area with the rest of his crops and begins watering it slowly.
Seconds later in the video, he shows the potatoes growing in bunches – and just like that, you have your spuds.
In his caption, he added: "No nonsense potato planting. Saved potatoes from last year's harvest. Kept them in a cool dark place all winter. By spring, they sprouted on their own."
Planting Steps
- 10 gallon container, soil 3/4 full
- One sprouted potato in the centre
- Topped off with compost
- Dried hay to hold moisture
- Chicken wire cut to fit, pegged down to keep squirrels out
- Drip irrigation for consistent watering
- Handful of compost once a month
- Harvest when the leaves turn yellow and die back
Benefits of Planting Old Potatoes
There are many benefits to planting old, sprouted and wrinkly potatoes. You simply bury the potato or cut it into pieces with the sprouts facing upward. The technique is a great way to maximise your crop.
Steps to Resprout Old Potatoes
Known as "chitting", the process requires you to plant the potatoes and keep them in a warm, dark place to break dormancy. Once the sprouts reach 1/4 inch, you can move them to a bright location.
Start by washing and prepping the potatoes. If you're using store-bought spuds, rinse them in cold water to remove any commercial growth inhibitors. It's worth noting organic potatoes are best, as conventional ones are often sprayed to prevent sprouting and may not grow.
Next, the dark phase is where you place the potatoes in a shallow dish, cardboard box or deli cup. Store them in a cool, dark and frost-free area for about two weeks to encourage the "eyes", or dormant stem buds, to emerge.
Now we're at the greening phase. Once the "eyes" become noticeable, move the potatoes into a spot with indirect light for 6-8 hours a day. This keeps the sprouts short, stout, and green rather than long and unmanageable. It's important to keep the soil somewhat moist, but not waterlogged.
As green stems begin to emerge above the dirt, continue to heap additional soil, or hay, around the plant base. Once you follow these steps, you can expect a fresh harvest of new potatoes in roughly 60 to 120 days.
