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 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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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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I would like to endorse the comments above regarding the use of tyres to grow Potatoes or in fact use to grow any any food. The rubber compounds in both the carcase and tread contain significant numbers of nasties. Tyres are designed to perform at high speed under quite arduous conditions, absolutely not designed as end of life food growing receptacles! They contain many potential hazards/chemicals, far too many to fully list. I will list just a couple,so that fellow readers who do not have my background can appreciate better what they are dealing with. Firstly the reinforcing Carbon Blacks utilized in the rubber compounds, contain significant amounts of Organo-Nitrogen compounds, blacks of this type are banned for use with any "Potable Water" applications! the reason being these compounds are considered as being high risk carciogens. There are special Blacks made specifically for food contact applications, rubber reinforcing blacks are definitely not suitable. Processing aids, The rubber in the tyres must be made to be strong/resilient/heat resistant; specially designed chemical compounds are encorporated into the rubber compounds to achieve this. The chemical compounds used present problems in many directions, firstly they are not ( dont need to be) pure compounds they contain debris from the chemical synthesis processes used to make them; these same compounds also decompose both during Vulcanization and during the life of the tyre. The Organo-Chemical families many of these compounds belong to include compounds that are considered hazardous and not suitable for food contact. The possibility of side chemical reactions between both the impurities and the debris from the degradation, resulting in compounds that could present significant hazards is real. Are tyres dangerous? yes! when attached to cars driven by idiots and when used as receptacles to grow food; otherwise no!

- Geoff Brooks

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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