Potato Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Potatoes:

• Plant seed potatoes when soil reaches 45-50°F (early April).
• Plant 2-3 inches deep, 12 inches apart in rows 30-36 inches apart.
• Hill as they grow – this is the secret to abundant yields!
• Sunlight: Full sun (6-8 hours) for best production.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, loose soil with pH 5.0-6.0 (slightly acidic).
• Soil Amendment: Add compost but avoid fresh manure which causes scab

Buy certified disease-free seed potatoes – grocery store potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Cool season crop. Best growth 60-70°F. Production stops above 75°F soil.

• Planting: Soil temperature 45-50°F minimum.
• Optimal growing: Air temperature 60-70°F, soil 60-65°F.
• Tubers stop forming when soil exceeds 75°F.
• Light frost kills foliage but not tubers underground.

Michigan’s climate is ideal – our cool springs and moderate summers create perfect potato conditions!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical during tuber formation (flowering stage).
• Watering: 1-2 inches weekly – irregular watering causes hollow heart.
• Hilling: Add soil when plants are 6 inches tall, repeat 2-3 times.
• Mulch: Straw mulch conserves moisture and keeps soil cool.
• Fertilizer: Side-dress with 10-10-10 when hilling.

📏 Harvest Signs:

New potatoes when flowering. Mature when vines yellow. Storage potatoes after vine death.

• New potatoes have thin, flaky skins and incredible flavor.
• For storage potatoes, wait 2-3 weeks after vines die back.
• Skin should be firm and not rub off easily when mature.
• Morning harvest when temperatures are cool is ideal.

You can “rob” a few new potatoes by feeling in the soil without harvesting the whole plant!

🧺 Harvesting:

Use fork carefully. Harvest on dry day. Don’t wash until use.

• Always dig from the side to avoid spearing potatoes.
• Start 12-18 inches from plant center and work inward.
• Let dry on soil surface for an hour to toughen skins.
• Handle gently – bruised potatoes don’t store well.
• Sort immediately – use damaged ones first.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Colorado potato beetle (hand-pick), late blight, scab.

• Colorado potato beetles – orange larvae and striped adults devastate plants. Hand-pick daily!
• Late blight – same disease that caused Irish famine. Remove infected plants immediately.
• Scab – rough patches on skin. Maintain acidic soil and avoid fresh manure.
• Wireworms – bore holes through tubers. Rotate crops away from grass.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Good with beans, corn, cabbage family. Avoid nightshades.

• Beans fix nitrogen and deter Colorado potato beetles.
• Horseradish planted at corners may increase disease resistance.
• Marigolds help deter beetles and other pests.
• Avoid tomatoes, peppers, eggplant – they share diseases.
• Never follow potatoes with potatoes – rotate on 3-4 year cycle.

🥔 Varieties:

Early: ‘Red Norland’, ‘Yukon Gold’. Late: ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘Purple Majesty’.

• Early (70-90 days): ‘Red Norland’, ‘Yukon Gold’ – great for new potatoes.
• Mid-season (90-110 days): ‘Kennebec’, ‘Red Pontiac’ – all-purpose.
• Late (110-120 days): ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘German Butterball’ – best keepers.
• Specialty: ‘Purple Majesty’, ‘French Fingerling’ – gourmet favorites.

🫙 Preservation:

Root cellar (cure first), freeze blanched, pressure can only, dehydrate.

• Curing – essential! 50-60°F with high humidity for 10 days heals wounds.
• Root cellar – after curing, store at 38-40°F in dark with ventilation.
• Never refrigerate – cold converts starch to sugar.
• Freezing – blanch cut potatoes 3-5 minutes first.
• Pressure canning only – never water bath can.
• Dehydrate for hash browns or camping meals.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Potato salad, loaded potato soup, German-style potatoes.

• Nothing beats new potatoes boiled with butter and fresh herbs!
• Make hasselback potatoes for an impressive presentation.
• Traditional German potato salad uses vinegar, not mayo.
• Twice-baked potatoes can be frozen for quick dinners.
• Save potato water for bread baking – adds incredible flavor!

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Multiple varieties for extended harvest.
• Row covers for frost protection.
• Plant early varieties by April 15 in SE Michigan for July harvest.
• Michigan’s humidity increases disease pressure – space plants well.
• Consider growing in containers or bags for easy harvest.
• Late varieties planted in June avoid worst beetle pressure.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Native to Andes.
• Michigan ranks 8th in US production.
• First vegetable in space!
• Potatoes have more potassium than bananas.
• The Inca had over 3,000 potato varieties.
• A potato is about 80% water and 20% solids.
• French fries were introduced to America by Thomas Jefferson.
• The world’s largest potato weighed 18 pounds 4 ounces!