Guide to Categorizing Potato Varieties

When deciding on which potato varieties to grow there are a couple of different factors that can play into your decision. There are three different categories that are based on maturity dates -- early-maturing, mid-maturing, and late-maturing. However, like most other crops the maturity date is just a suggestion because weather conditions can play into how fast they will mature. The early maturing varieties will on average mature around 85 days. While the mid-maturing varieties will be mature around 100 days and the late-maturing potato varieties will mature around 115 days.

Early Maturity Varieties:

Red NorlandIrish CobblerVikingAdirondack BluePurple Majesty

Mid-Maturity Varieties:

Yukon GoldKennebec WhiteFrench FingerlingAustrian Crescent

Late-Maturity Varieties:

German Butterball

Potato Planting & Fertilization Schedule

When it comes to planting potatoes, every zone has a different planting time. The general rule for planting seed potatoes is to plant them two weeks before the last frost date. For us in South Georgia, zone 8b, our planting time is anywhere between late February to early March. Another factor that can affect when you plant potatoes is depending on how much rainfall you get in your garden. When it comes to fertilizing potatoes you need 5 lbs. of a balanced fertilizer (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) per 1,000 square feet. Also, 0.5 lbs of balanced fertilizer per 30' row assuming you have 3' row spacing. We recommend using 10 lbs of Complete Organic Fertilizer per 30' row and 2.5 lbs of 20-20-20 per 30' row. You should apply potato fertilizer half prior to planting and apply the other half at first hilling. We recommend hilling potatoes because it will reduce weed suppression, better root development, and overall will have better success with planting potatoes.

Last Frost Dates:

Zone 10 - no freezesZone 9 - mid to late February Zone 8 - early to mid-MarchZone 7 - mid to late MarchZone 6 - early to mid-AprilZone 5 - mid to late AprilZone 4 - early to mid-May

Show and Tell Segment

On the show and tell segment this week, Travis has some carrots that he harvested from the garden. Now it's time for Greg to taste test the different varieties to see which variety has the best flavor profile. The four different varieties that they are taste testing are Purple Haze, Bolero, Envy, and Yellowstone. Ranking them based on their flavor profiles -- Envy was 1st, 2nd was Yellowstone, Bolero was 3rd, and in 4th place was the Purple Elite. The guys also share some new varieties that have been added to the site this week. We've added four new hybrid sweet corn varieties that are all excellent for planting with our Hoss Garden Seeder. The Glacial Sweet Corn is a supersweet variety that produces bright white kernels and is considered one of the best tasting white corn varieties. The G90 Sweet Corn is a standard sugary (su) variety that is an old homestead staple to grow in the vegetable garden. While the Serendipity Sweet Corn is a triplesweet that is widely-adaptable and can grow well in many different zones. The last new sweet corn variety is Kandy Korn which is one of the first sugary-enhanced hybrids ever developed and is still known for being one of the best tasting sweet corn to date. We also have two new hybrid carrot varieties, Hercules and Olympus which are both great new varieties to try on the homestead this year.

Viewer Questions

For the Q & A segment this week, the guys answer some viewer questions such as how to fertilize carrots,