Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

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

(Best months for growing Potato in Australia - sub-tropical 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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22 Apr 13, BARRY (Australia - temperate climate)
I have just harvested potatoe crop which appear to have a disease? A dark grey core with a rusty brown surround. Appears to be the start of rot? Can you help me?
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16 Apr 13, Lyn (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi, I love your site its so informative! I'm new to vegie gardening and keen to get a potato crop going ASAP but have seen the recommended planting time for me is August. Does this apply if I'm planning on using a container? e.g. a large plastic rubbish bin. I live in a suburb of Wollongong NSW. I'm about 10 min from the coast so no frosts etc. My back yard has a concreted area that gets about 5-6hrs of sun in winter. Thank you :-)
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30 Apr 13, Sustainable Jill (Australia - temperate climate)
Potatoes prefer to grow when it's warm. Soil temperature should be at least 6°C. As you are in a pretty mild maritime climate that rarely gets that low you should be fine. See how you go! (Just remember to have some drainage in your bin or the potatoes will eventually rot!)
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02 May 13, Lyn (Australia - temperate climate)
Thank you Sustainable Jill, advice taken on board. I've recently learn't my lesson on drainage in pots. :-( I'm sure thats what caused the sudden death of a beautiful specimen of Acacia which was awaiting its garden bed. I'm sad and very annoyed at myself for not putting in better drainage holes! Now to find those elusive seed potatoes.....
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02 Apr 13, sharon (Australia - temperate climate)
I planted some potatoes 3 to 4 weeks ago. They have grown stems, leaves, flowers....which I just noticed have turned into little green fruit like baby Tomatoes. Is this normal, or can you advise what it is...what should I do please? with thanks.
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05 Apr 13, Ferran (Australia - arid climate)
that's some fast growing plants! After flowering they will die back, that is when you harvest. If the growth is out of proportion to your potatoes when you harvest then the soil had too much nitrogen promoting leaf growth and hindering the roots. my garden has some naturally growing potato left in the soil from last harvest spouted 4weeks ago and now flowering normally they would not be there but they were deeper than I was dinging at harvest. If you are practicing rotation cops do not!!!! plant corn or sun flowers after potatoes it stunts them. beans are good. potatoes should not be in the same place for seven years after seven years the chemicals that are put in the soil by potatoes as well as disease and pests should have gone from the soil.
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08 Apr 13, Sharon (Australia - temperate climate)
Thanks for that advice....But what about my question re "They have grown stems, leaves, flowers....which I just noticed have turned into little green fruit-like baby Tomatoes ON THE STEMS. Is this normal"? - Sharon, Sydney
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10 Apr 13, Alice (Australia - temperate climate)
They are the potato "fruit" (potatoes are the tuber bits under the ground). DO NOT EAT THEM!! They're highly toxic. Chop them up, wash the seeds and plant them, and you'll get more potato plants!
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25 Mar 13, al (Australia - temperate climate)
I live in Albury NSW when is the best time to plant spuds
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25 Mar 13, Steve H (Australia - temperate climate)
I'd never grow spuds in the ground. It's too hard to dig them up without damaging them. Instead why don't you try this. Grab a plastic rubbish bin and put some holes in the bottom for drainage Put 3 inches of straw in the bottom covered by a bit of mushroom compost or soil for a bed. Add your seed potatoes or eyes and cover with 3 inches of straw and 2 inches of soil. Liberally sprinkle with a good quality fetiliser. Keep this blend damp. When the potato plants show through, cover again with the same mix of straw, fertiliser and soil. Repeat until the bin is full and then allow the plants to mature as they grow out the top. When ready for harvest simply tip out your lovely clean spuds
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The handbook-which I provided the location to in my prior reply is not very beginner'ish but it is comprehensive covering issues you may never encounter- but you do need the reference material. I have a few thoughts to add. 1. Hilling up while the plant is growing-if you are covering leaves I find this fundamentally wrong. Leaves are specialized and designed to collect light, they are not roots. So I opt to plant my seed potatoes deep enough on day one- however I tend to have the luxury of very well airated, light soil. This means the seed potato has a steady air supply and can sense the heat from the sun even at deeper depths 2. Your seedpotatoes need all their potassium Immediately. Potatoes strangely take up all their potassium that they need really early. -and don't uptake more. If there is not enough potassium in the very early stages your potatoes might have hollow heart (looks like hollow rotting middles). Late application of potassium tends to be useless 3. Potatoes seem to respond really well to the addition of microryzal fungi - in my area we source that under pine trees in a forest- we just take some forest floor duff with a dust pan and add to the potatoe planting soil. To sum up - your seed Potatoes should be about the size of chicken eggs (if larger cut up ensuring an eye on each piece and allow a few days to heal/scab up before planting). You need to chit them(make them sprout-place in dark so they sprout). Plant in soil with Compost, a sorce of potassium and microryzal fungi. If for some reason you cannot source any compost/pottasium/microryzal fungi -plant anyhow potatoes are tough -there is still a good chance they will be Okay -depends on the condition of you soil. In my area I can water deeply once per week. Harvest when about half the leaves have fallen over as if to die. If you harvest sooner you may be compromising on size-because as long as those leaves can collect light they can store the energy in the tubers. Good luck - it is so much easier than it sounds- and all those diseases in the handbook are rare and if the plants are strong (well fed) they can manage just fine, potaoes are pretty tough root crop. In other words- you can grow potatoe.

- Celeste Archer

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