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 Australia - tropical regions)

  • P = Plant seed potatoes
  • Plant tuber. Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 30°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 30 - 40 cm 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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02 Oct 17, ANTHONY (Australia - temperate climate)
Hello i have heard that when growing potatoes , we need to trim the plant matter that grows above the ground in order to get a better yield . Is this true
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03 Oct 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Doesn't sound right to me. Potato is related to tomato - as the plant grows the potatoes develop up the stem. Best to hill the soil up as it grows but don't cover all the leaves. The leaves are the energy source to grow the potatoes.
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01 Oct 17, Denise (Australia - temperate climate)
I would like to grow potatoes from store bought sprouting potatoes in a foam tomato box Can you tell me if potting mix is ok to use alone Do i cut potatoes and which way up do I plant them Thanks
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02 Oct 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
If I understand what you mean by tomato box, you may need something deeper than this. If potatoes are large cut in half and leave in the sun for a couple of days to dry the cut section. Then plant with the flat part down. The shoots will come out the top part.
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29 Sep 17, Heather (Australia - temperate climate)
I'm growing just a few purple potatoes in a cage following the instructions above. I've never grown potatoes before at all so need some help please. When they sprouted the little plants are not what I imagined. I thought it would be a tallish, narrow shoot but it is a little clump of leaves about 10 cm round (the clump, not each leaf). Do I just bury this whole thing in the next layer of mulch etc? I can't imagine how it will grow through. Perhaps I should have watched more closely and mounded up before the leaves opened, but I didn't notice until they were like this (the leaves are almost the same colour as the compost mix). So, is it OK to bury them now, or should I have done it sooner? I only planted four bits and the first two are as described but the other two are just coming up now, so not too late for those perhaps but they are all together.
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02 Oct 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have never tried this. As the plant grows just add more mulch/soil around the plant but don't completely cover all leaves. Leave the top leaves out.
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23 Aug 17, Paul Kelly (Australia - temperate climate)
The leaves on my potatoes seem to be shriveling and dying. Leaving crisp brown holes in the leaves and dead stems. Could it be a fungal disease or insect attack. If it is fungal disease what should I treat it with. Could it be viral?
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25 Aug 17, Tim (Australia - temperate climate)
How old are your plants? The leaves and stems will die when its time to harvest.
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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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Showing 181 - 190 of 561 comments
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Technically you don't HAVE TO HILL any variety of potatoes. Here's how it works: you plant the seed potato (which is an extra small potato saved/stored from last year's harvest -- or a piece of a larger potato that you stored/saved from last year) -- the DEPTH THAT you PLANT that SEED POTATO determines your LOWEST POINT -- GENERALLY, and I do mean GENERALLY (like 95% of the potatoes) the potato plant will not create tubers LOWER than the depth you planted the seed potato at (so your seed potato is the BOTTOM of the plants tubers/potatoes). Which is why some people think the very bottom potato always rots, when in reality it is the seed potato and is expected to grow and will appear rotten. Which means if you don't hill up as your potato plant grows and you planted the seed potato shallow, there is not that much ROOM for the potato plant to put it's tubers, and larger tubers will usually "pop" out of the soil and turn green due to sun exposure. If you don't want to hill up, plant your seed potato deeper than recommended -- yes it will be fine -- the reason you plant shallow and mound up is because the potato plant will be able to get leaves into the sun sooner if it's seed potato was planted shallow, which means it will grow quicker because it is collecting light sooner -- then you mound up to offset that you planted the seed potato shallow, but you always leave lots of leaves exposed to the sun so the plant can collect sun and grow. It's a lot of extra work work to mound up soil-- and maybe speeds up the process "brings in the harvest" by 10 days or so.... My experience is planting seed potatoes a foot deep ((30cm) is fine -- yes the plant takes a little longer for it's leaves to surface -- but it's fine and you should not experience any problems - provided the soil is nice and loose. (hopefully that makes senses). I think in the future I will plant two potatoes side by side -- one deep, one using the mound method and record the progress and final outcomes... I have never done a tandem planting -- BUT I HAVE had potatoes spring up from deep down Once as I dug out one of these "self planted potatoes" I realized it was down about 30" (70cm) -- it was in a potato planting tower (old full size garbage can full of 3" holes all over) which I dumped and collect the potatoes from the year before, then just put the soil back, week by week, as I composted kitchen scraps directly into the soil... so no surprise that a potato was so deep -- it grew -- it put out potatoes and it's crop was average good... it spent a lot of energy growing up -- and perhaps I harvested too early based on the other potatoes-- but it made it and did OK, good size potatoes, good quantity. I would not recommend placing your seed potatoes that deep, but a foot (30cm) should be fine.

- Celeste Archer

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