I plant an average of six acres of potatoes per year.
I use a machine to cut the potatoes, but the theory is the same if you cut them by hand or machine. I have planted them right after cutting or leaving them set a couple of days. I have experienced no difference in the final result using either method.
I also use a potato planter and harvester. The planter drops the potatoes down and then creates a small hill over them. I then lay drip line down over this small hill and hill them with a one row cultivator with discs attached which creates a larger hill. I leave this attachment on and continue to hill them when cultivating them later. The disc attachment works quite well and could be fabricating quite cheaply. Attached is a picture of the one row cultivator with the discs for the hilling along with the drip line layer.
According to the information that I have been told is that you can cultivate the potatoes up until the time that they are blossoming. This is to avoid damaging the tubers in the ground. This can vary according to the weather conditions as I have had some fine potatoes with very little blossoming. The same conditions would apply for hilling as cultivating.
I do not use fertilizer on my potatoes. The experience that I have had is the amount of water that the plants receive. This is quite evident in the amounts and when the moisture has been received in the last couple of years. The first year, we had excellent growing conditions and I tossed about ten thousand pounds after planting the next spring.
The amount of seed required per acre of potatoes can range from one thousand to fifteen hundred pounds, depending upon the density and size of the seed pieces.
