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How do I grow onions and potatoes?

Are starter potatoes necessary to grow potatoes? How about onions?

  • The guy at the nursery says you need starter potatoes but the lady who has grown them for many years says all you need are regular, store-bought potatoes that have grown 'eyes'. Of course, I realize the nursery guy might have a motive in telling me I have to buy these special potatoes but maybe there is some advantage to them? Who out there in the land of Yahoo answers knows and can help me?

  • Answer:

    You tend to get a better potato crop from starters but you will usually get a good crop from your regular potatoes as well. In either case: Make sure you cut up the potatoes the day before you want to plant them so that the cut edges dry and skin over a little bit. Also, make sure that each cut piece has at least on eye on it. Dig the holes in a straight line, about 18 inches apart, about 6 inches deep. Place the cut pieces in the hole with the eye facing up. As the plant produces new potatoes, they will tend to be too close to the surface. So as they grow, mound dirt over the potatoes so they don't get sun on them. If they get sun on them they turn green. NEVER EAT THE GREEN parts of the potatoe as it is actually a poison! (I mulch mine in with grass clippings...the clippings feed nitrogen into the soil and keep the sun from getting to the potatoes. Dig your potatoes in late summer-early fall when the vines dry up. Good-luck!

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You do need eyes or sprouts to grow potatoes. Seed potatoes indeed do give you a better chance of growing and NOT rotting. Potatoes from the store with eyes 'may' work okay,,even seed potatoes dont all grow. My grandmother for sure never grew potatoes from seed potatoes,just cut up regular spuds left over from year before,,,she had a HUGE garden and never ever owned a 'garden hose',,,now THAT is dedication. Carried alot of water for her in my younger days And she fed half the town. As for onions, you have to start with a set,,,never heard of growing from a seed but I suppose its possible, try it,it may work.

Dave M

Some of the answers are good. I would think twice about growing potatoes. I tried them one year, and the Colorado beetles got the most. I can buy 50# for $5.00. Much less that trenching, mounding, and spraying. I would but the nursery ones, if I were to do them again, which I never will do.

saaanen

When I decided to grow potatoes I did go to the feed store & purchased starter potatoes. They asked me how much? I said oh, I guess 10 lbs.(was very new at this) will do. Found out that you had to cut the starter potatoes in 1/4 peices and then plant them a good distance apart. Well 4 rows & one acre long later they were planted (was in Virginia with hard clay dirt) . well they grew and flourished . Then we had to dig them up and store them. We stored them in a large shed in shelves with layers of hay. The whole shed was filled and lasted us until the summer.So,advantage? I guess..Alot of work!!! Definitley!! Ed.S.

ED S

The advantage of seed potatoes is they are certified to be free of viruses, etc. I often plant the potatoes I have left over from last year; I don't bother to cut them up. It is usually the small ones that are left anyway. :-) Onions can be grown from seed. Some varieties will have enough time in one season to get to a decent size, others won't. The sets were sown the year before and heat-treated (have not been able to find out exactly what they mean by heat-treated) Depending on the climate and variety,you could sow onions end of the season, put them into place in November and then they will take off in the spring. They need water to get started, but dry weather to ripen and cure.

djd

To grow potatos you can buy what is called seed potatos or else you can cut the eyes out of potatos you buy and plant them and y ou will have a great crop of spuds. Not sure about onions. SORRY I DIDN'T READ YOUR REQUEST PROPERLY HOPE IT HELPS ALL THE SAME

fayestandfield

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