Your comments and tips

13 Aug 17, Gill (Australia - temperate climate)

Our potatoes have grown very tall..how do you know when to harvest them? With many tjanks Gill

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13 Aug 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

They have probably grown tall because of one or both of two things - too much nitrogen or if they had to compete for light -(tall nearby plants). I think the guide here say 12-16 weeks to harvest. The leaves will die off when it is time to harvest. My plants powered along (fed plenty of composting mulch - then they have just died - only about 12 weeks since shooting out of the ground. I pulled out one plant - a few big potatoes and a few smaller ones. Have left the others in until I need them to eat.

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12 Aug 17, Paul (Australia - temperate climate)

Would this potato planting guide apply to sweet potato's as well?

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13 Aug 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Look under sweet potato guide on the website. Potatoes you plant in a furrow and then hill up as they grow. Sweet potato you plant in a hilled up bed. Best thing is to have a try.

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06 Aug 17, William Mc Carthy (Australia - temperate climate)

Can I plant potatoes in normal potting mix. I have mixed it with perlite and Coco husk for drainage? It's in a 1.2M X 600mm veggie container.

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06 Aug 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Type in different ways to grow potatoes and read. Different ways give different results. You would have to keep the water up and probably use a lot of it.

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04 Jun 17, Carole (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I live in Brisbane and want to to grow potatoes in pots. When you say mound up do you mean to full cover the shoots each time or to just under the leaves

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05 Jun 17, Giovanni (Australia - temperate climate)

Just leave the growing tip exposed. Potatoes form off the main stem of the plant, not the roots. Mounding up provides space for the tubers to develop and reduces the chances of attack by potato moth.

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24 May 17, Phil Andrews (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi I have some small Kennebac leftover potatoes from my last years crop, they are all sprouting, however the guide says don't plant them till August, can I plant them now or is it just too early.

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27 May 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

The guide says don't plant until August. That might apply in southern parts of Aussie or cold places but if you don't have frosts you can plant now. I live where it gets down to 5-6-7 C in Winter and I just planted mine this week. If you live in a low area and might get frosts then ??? - if you live in a higher area and no frosts, go for it. As my previous post said - wait until the eyes start to shoot and then plant. A tip, dig the soil deep, put in all the compost etc - then with a rake dig some of the soil out to make a furrow. Plant the potatoes and as they grow fill the soil back in. And then hill it up also around the plant.

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