Double-cropping With Potatoes
Categories:
Vegetable Growing
I am told that here two crops of potatoes can be raised by planting the
second crop in August. I have five acres which will be ready to dig in
July. Can I dig these Potatoes and use them for seed at once for another
crop, or won't they grow? I have a crop of barley, and as it is heading
out now, I want to put potatoes on the ground after I take the barley
off. I have plenty of water to irrigate.
If your p
tatoes ripen in July and you allow those which you desire for
seed to lie upon the ground and become somewhat greenish, they are
likely to sprout well for a second crop. They should not, however, be
planted immediately. Whether you get a second crop successfully or not
depends upon how early the frosts come in your district. Whether you get
potatoes after barley or not depends also upon how much moisture there
remains in the soil. By irrigating thoroughly after harvesting the grain
and then plowing deeply for potatoes, you would do vastly better than to
plant in dry ground and irrigate afterward.