New potatoes are a specialty among the potato tubers. They taste so fresh and tender, somehow different. No wonder so many people are looking forward to the first copies of the year. When is it finally time?

The first early potatoes can often be harvested from June

When are the first tubers ripe?

Everything is green and blooming in the potato patch, but how does it look in the ground? The tubers take up their growth in secret. We do not know how many there are under each plant, nor do we know what size they have already reached. The following is the interpretation of the visible signs:

  • tuber formation begins with flowering
  • in the period that follows they become larger
  • with the browning and wilting of the green they are ripe

Calculate harvest time

The harvest time of each early potato variety can be roughly calculated. You need to know which variety you have planted in the bed and how long it takes to mature.

Most early potato varieties take about 90 days for their tubers to grow large and edible. If you have already planted them at the end of March, you can harvest as early as June.

Harvest even earlier

When it comes to harvest maturity, the current weather conditions play a decisive role, because the warmer it is, the faster the potato plants grow. But while we can't control the weather, when planting early potatoes we have two factors in our control:

  • Potato cultivation in the greenhouse
  • the germination of the potato seed

Both variants enable an earlier harvest by up to three weeks.

Harvest before maturity

As soon as the potato plant blooms, tuber formation begins. No one has to wait until the foliage has wilted to put the tubers on their menu. A short time later, individual, sufficiently large specimens can be carefully dug up, while small tubers are allowed to continue growing.

New potatoes from the supermarket

If you don't have your own garden or can't wait patiently for the first edible tubers, you can stock up on them from May onwards. However, many new potato varieties offered in supermarkets have come a long way, as they usually come from warmer countries.

tips

Plastic bags do not breathe, and netting allows a lot of light to reach the bulbs, leading to the formation of toxic solanine. Better to reach for new potatoes that are packed in paper bags.

Category:

Vegetable garden