How to Harvest Potatoes

[@ghandimauler]

Oh, and thanks for the suggestion to use the garden fork. My grandad had one, then it was in dad's shed... and I never knew what it was for. This seems like an ideal utilization (and I guess from what you say, it has more utility than that...) so I won't get rid of it and I will use it to harvest this year. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@ChanChanDiary]

Should I wash potatoes after harvesting ? Is it good for keeping long time?

[@arthuranthony3740]

Thank you

[@sloppyjoe29]

Thank you, USUE.

[@f1redemon966]

watched this because i planted a random potato in my backyard and baby potatoes are poking up so i figured its time to harvest them

[@ghandimauler]

One thing you didn't mention and I'm curious about. I live North of America (Canada) and sometimes if we're a bit late in planting, or the fall is very wet and grey, then the potatoes are pushing into the early frosts. One source I read or watched indicated that if you got frost or the leaves turned yellow and fell off, you ought to leave them for 10 more days but not much longer and then harvest them. The source seemed to infer a benefit to leaving them the extra 10 days (not sure why at this moment). If I have a potato plant with some frost damage (some black leaves) but a bunch of the other leaves and stems are not damaged, do I have to start my harvest or is the plant likely still fine to keep trying to grow? I'm near the 90 day growth point.... most of our days now are 13C during the day and maybe as low as -1 (in some places) at night (6 or less common). Some days are still hitting 18-20 C. I think if I'm lucky, I'll get some more decent warmth. On the other hand, we've got a lot of rain and I'm not sure if there's a danger of rotting or something from very wet clay heavy soil (even after at least one pass of mediation with sand to try to break up the clay... obviously need more rounds of mixing in sand). So, what are your thoughts on frost + potato harvesting + and partially damaged greenery, but most still okay looking? I don't want to lose my crop but I do want to give it every last opportunity to complete growing. I also have rutabaga (the big tan coloured flesh versions) planted on the same schedule in the same soil, but they have less stalks/greenery, but they seem more frost resistant too... not sure if I need to harvest them on the same sort of schedule...

[@ronpatterson8751]

Sorry for my slow reply. The reason for leaving them in the ground after vine die-off is to allow the skins to toughen up. They will tolerate the rigors of harvesting better. While the plant is growing the skins will stay quite thin and you get more scrapes and bruising. A little bit of damage to the vine doesn't start the toughening up process. A partially damaged vine will still produce carbohydrates to be stored in the tuber. It's okay to let those continue to grow. As long as your soil temperatures stay above about 45 F and the potatoes are well-covered, you can leave them in the ground until the vines are totally dead. The rain can be an issue, but it's more of an issue that causes hard clods in the soil, especially with lots of clay. Potatoes can be harvested wet, you just need to let them dry before storing them. As a general rule, you would have to add a LOT of sand before you start to see any difference in a heavy soil. It's better to add composted organic matter and minimize your tillage as much as possible. Soil researchers do not recommend adding sand in an effort to change soil texture. It's not practical. Thanks for watching.

[@1ugh1]

"use CLEAN water to wash off your potatoes" : I always wonder at statements like this. It is like when they say, "only use fresh water when making this coffee, tea, recipe, etc." I have NEVER in my life had anyone to say to me, "You know, I'm about to cook ( or wash off the dirt from these potatoes, etc.). Go outside to that old, stank water in the ditch from the last rain we had and get me some of that water..."

[@ShankMugen]

Better safe than sued

[@Bexab53]

True 😂😂😂 but there are also some ridiculously dumb people

[@uicals]

The reason I say this is because there have been incidents when someone actually used irrigation ditch water to wash their produce and people ended up getting ill because of it.

[@ghandimauler]

It's not quite the same, but for instance, if I rinse fresh pasta with our tap water (which is hard), there is a flavour that hangs around. If I use distilled water, the flavour of the pasta isn't impacted as much. Not related to potatoes, but an example that it can matter at times what you use for a water source, even among various 'clean' sources.

[@1joshjosh1]

🤣🤣

[@gschady]

OMG .. this video CHANGED my life .. I laughed I cried and I died ;^( 1st comment wootwoot

[@yourlocalscribe948]

?????

[@khaleeladhoni1061]

If I imagined this

[@Kimberly-o9u9l]

Kaylee😮