When most gardeners think about growing potatoes, they think of seed potatoes – nothing more than potatoes that you let sprout eyes and then cut up and plant. It is an efficient way to grow potatoes. It’s simple, and almost anyone can do it – even people with black thumbs.
However, you are missing out on a wide variety of potato varieties you could grow.
But let’s step back first! Potatoes came from South America, and until the Ozette variety was “discovered” growing in the wilds of Washington State (that’s a fascinating story always – the conquistadors brought it by boat and planted it on the land the Makah tribe lived on, at Neah Bay, Wa. Then, the Spaniards left the following year, and the tribe grew the potatoes for the next almost 200 years – it was similar to the tubers they grew, so it was accepted readily); the only potatoes growing in North America had gone from South America to Europe, then to North America. This is why there are so few varieties sold commercially. You might find waxy white, yellow, red, or blue in most grocery stores. Yukon Golds. And, of course, Luther Brubank’s creation: the Russet baking potato. You might see a few more types at farmer’s markets.
Yet…out there are SO many varieties waiting to be grown—1000s of types.
Yes, these are actual types of Peruvian potatoes. Note how much like tubers they appear to be. They are often very wild-looking (because they are!).
Peru is a fascinating agricultural country, with so many things North Americans (or Europeans) have never seen, much less tasted. Over the past few years, I have grown a few types of seeds from there. Because variety is why I choose to grow food, grow the weirder things.
But the type I love more than anything? It’s not one of the truly wild Peru varieties. It is:
The Clancy Potato (link goes to the company we use)
It’s an F1 hybrid, so it is a bred plant. Potatoes native to Peru/South America are often small, very thin-skinned, and have dramatic white interiors but deeply colored skins. They can also be sharply flavored. The Clancy, being a hybrid, was bred to have good taste, along with lovely colored skin and a great texture.
So, it takes all the good parts and leaves the potential negatives behind.
But best of all? Clancy is grown from actual seed, not old potatoes. By selling seeds, you also have a high chance of having healthy plants (this is why while you can grow potatoes from any potato, buying commercial seed potatoes is better as they are grown to prevent common potato diseases). Actual seed-seed bypasses that all.
And it’s fun to grow. Children really will enjoy this as a spring project.
The seeds are commonly sold in pelleted form, making them easy to pick up and plant.
I typically grow the seeds one seed per 4″ starting pot in an unheated greenhouse, using no grow lights.
You want to plan to seed 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date. So, if you live where that is April 15th, you can seed from March 1st and on. Once germinating (takes 1 to 2 weeks), keep them watered as normal and allow the plants to get going. Once you are past the last frost, I put the pots outside to do their thing in spring’s sun, and in May, I plant in large pots or in the ground (make a row with a trench and grow the plants 3 feet apart).
This very popular meme shows ways you can grow potatoes. While they are using seed potatoes in the photos, you can plant the plants instead. When I grow in towers or pots, I plant them low and then add soil over the growing season to “hill” them, encouraging more growth.
Clancy’s beautiful pink-lavender-blueish flowers are quite pretty. You may see potato berries put on after flowering is done. They look like a hot mess of a green tomato. Your best bet is to pick them off and toss them in the garbage. The seeds inside these are sterile due to being a hybrid; with non-hybrid types of Peruvian potatoes, the seeds can be collected and used. No matter what, watch that dogs and children don’t try to eat them, as it won’t taste good, nor feel good later. They are night-shade members, after all. It can be shocking at first when you see tomato berries because you don’t see them with the North American potatoes everyone else grows, typically.
The first time you grow Clancy, you might think, “I only have 9 or 10 seeds in this packet! And these potatoes are not big!” Yet, as with all potatoes, you can regrow your first ones into new plants. And that is how I often do it yearly: the first summer crop I harvest, keep the biggest to eat, then replant the smaller ones for an early fall crop. Potatoes are one of the “forever crops” that will regrow without human input (garlic is another). I often grow Clancy plants to sell and get others interested in different varieties.
The plants can grow as tall as 40″, so make sure you have room.
When to harvest? You can harvest the smallest new potatoes once the plants start to flower. If you want bigger potatoes, keep hilling them and growing them until the plants start to die back (where they collapse and turn more tawny in color). For full-size potatoes, this can take 110 days from planting your starter plants in the ground. That is nearly four months, but you’ll be eating well in August!
~Sarah