When to harvest potatoes

So it is indeed true what they say about potatoes: it's so easy to grow! About a month after I planted my seed potatoes, look how big they have grown! Watering the plants everyday has really paid off.

And a couple more weeks later, see how robust they have grown (see below). Some have even started to flower. I read that when the plant flowers, you can already harvest the potatoes. These are called "new potatoes", with the skin being thinner than the older potatoes. As such, new potatoes are usually cooked with the skin on, and is great for boiling and roasting.

There's Jo-Lo helping out with the watering chore courtesy of a water gun :-)

Of course, the potatoes would be a lot smaller too. In my case, I would like to have bigger potatoes so I will let these reach the mature stage. Friends have asked how one knows if the potatoes are ready for harvest: dig it up every now and then? Nope! When the plant itself starts yellowing and the plant withers is the time to harvest. Some people even recommend letting the plant completely die off. Essentially at this stage the skin has toughened up and so the potato will be less susceptible to disease. In like manner, new potatoes will have to be cooked at the earliest possible time because its skin does little protection.

My plants look very healthy, and I sure am excited to harvest the potatoes, hopefully soon!

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