When and how to sprout potato tubers?

Consider making your own seedlings potatoes by making them germinate in order to anticipate planting and guarantee magnificent harvests.

Why sprout potatoes?

The potatoes equipped with germs reduce the cultivation time between planting and harvest, promote a better start of the plants and improve the quantities of potatoes harvested. By germinating your tubersyou will save cultivation time and harvest potatoes faster.

When to sprout potatoes?

Allow a good month between germination and planting in the vegetable garden or in containers on the balcony or terrace. Germinate potatoes between January and April. Adapt the periods accordingly. depending on the varieties early, late or conservation, then from weather of your region. Anticipate the planting of early potatoes between February and March in the regions around the Mediterranean. Consider staggering potato crops to extend harvests.

How to sprout potatoes?

Put medium-sized and healthy tubers, harvested last year or bought in a net (not covered with anti-germinative and not germinated). Preferably choose untreated organic potato varieties. Then place them in egg carton trays, shelves or a crate. In the egg box, place a tuber in each cell. In a crate, crate or shelf, place the tubers next to each other, without overlapping them. The tubers must be in good condition, without wounds, without stains, without traces of mold and without cuts. If germs are already visible, place them facing up.

Install the tray in a bright, well-ventilated room, away from gel and temperate, around 12°C. The light and temperature are the important points to prepare beautiful sprouted potatoes. A room that is too dark will cause brittle germs to elongate. If your room is cold, the potatoes will not sprout. Regularly observe the tubers and remove those that are all soft without the presence of sprouts. After four to six weeks, the sprouted potatoes are ready for planting when the sprouts are between two and three centimeters.

From germination to planting

Depending on the germination conditions, the tubers will sprout in four to six weeks. Once the soil in the vegetable garden has warmed to 12°C and the lilac will be in bloom (visual reminder to know the right period for planting tubers), you can plant the potatoes, between April and May. Take care not to break the sprouts when handling the tubers. If the cold comes, place a winter veil over the rows of freshly planted potatoes.