Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      P P              

(Best months for growing Potato in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant seed potatoes
  • Plant tuber. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 12 - 16 inches apart
  • Harvest in 15-20 weeks. Dig carefully, avoid damaging the potatoes.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Peas, Beans, Brassicas, Sweetcorn, Broad Beans, Nasturtiums, Marigolds
  • Avoid growing close to: Cucumber, Pumpkin, Sunflowers, Tomatoes, Rosemary

Your comments and tips

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14 Apr 11, stella (Australia - temperate climate)
i had thrown few potatoes that i didnt use in a make shift compost pot..but now there has been 2 potato plants growing they are like 15cm tall..will i be able to harvest potatoes from there???
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30 Oct 11, Bruce (Australia - arid climate)
Yes
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09 Jan 11, Laura Kidd (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Hi, We have planted some potatoes and they are almost ready to harvest. I'm not really sure of the variety as my husband planted some potatoes, not from seed. It looks like there are some seed pods forming whee the flowers are. Can we use these for our next crop? If so, what do er have to do?
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08 Jan 11, dave (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
my potato vines are growing berrys that look like tiny tomatoes about the size of a marble is this normal ?
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14 Jan 11, Grace (Australia - temperate climate)
Yes this is normal. They are not edible, so pick them off to encourage the plant to dedicate it's energy into producing tubers.
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31 Dec 10, Di Dixon (Australia - temperate climate)
Can you please let me know if English New Jersey Potatoes can be grown here in Australia & if yes where can I get some from? Cheers Di
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24 Oct 11, Julia (Australia - temperate climate)
Di - did you ever grow any New Jersey potatoes? I'm in Sydney and I'd love to try and grow some. Thanks so much.
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12 Dec 10, Johnno (Australia - arid climate)
Put my spuds in truck tyres up to 3 levels now will stop at 4 high and let them grow out. Make sure you fill the tyre wells with hay or shreaded paper, the spuds will grow into the tyre wells To harvest just knock off a tyre at a time
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08 Nov 10, Jan (Australia - arid climate)
This is my second year at growing potatoes near Kalgoorlie. Although it gets hot quickly as long as you keep the water up to them they seem to thrive. All I added last year was some blood and bone and a bit of hay for mounding them up. I've got heavy red loam ground here and the first year I grew enormous potatoes but many were derformed from the rocks in the ground. This year I decided to build a raised bed and use a mix of the red loam, potting compost and hay. I didnt plant till late September because of late frosts but already plants are really high and flowering. Unfortunately I didnt keep up with mounding them up as quickly as I should have and maybe they will not produce as many spuds because of this. I have read that you have to keep mounding them so that only one inch of stem is out of the ground. If the main stem becomes too long and exposed to the sun it no longer grows side shoots and spuds - is this true?
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04 Sep 10, Mark Thornton (Australia - temperate climate)
We live on the NSW south coast. As we are new to gardening, the question is, Can we produce a year around crop of potatoes? If so, which varieties do you plant when?
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sammy when your potatoes have reached a few inches high get a garden how and pull the soil up either of the plants sides that will give the plant the soil to grow in.I would have worked horse or cow manure into the soil before planting the normal guide to plant potatoes is the first week of Aug' that will give you spuds just before Xmas and plant again 1st week of march.It's best not to plant 2 crops in the same soil

- Dallas

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