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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17 May 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
People say you can't plant this after that or plant tomatoes in the same area for a year or two. There is a cycle of how you plant different veggies after each other to best use the soil. BUT you can plant things differently if you like. I have a garden bed approx. 13 m long and it varies from 4 to 7' in depth. Now in the shorter rows I mainly plant lettuce, radish, beetroot, shallots etc and the longer rows corn, tomatoes, snow peas etc. I plant 2 crops per year (autumn and spring) and mix it up a bit - like I will follow radish with lettuce or tomatoes after snow peas. So year after year I plant like this. As long as you give the soil a top up with compost and or fertiliser then you can plant whatever you like. I don't have heaps of diseases etc. My main problems are birds eating young plants (lettuce snow peas) early in the growing season, grubs eating cabbages/broccoli after rain and beans being killed by some worm or something growing into winter. Am going to grow beans in the spring this year - see how that works.
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03 May 17, Tony Morales (Australia - temperate climate)
I read that potatoes should not be planted close to tomatoes and I was wondering why so.
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04 May 17, Jack (Australia - temperate climate)
Tomatoes and potatoes are both members of the Solanacea family. So are capsicums, egg plant, tobacco and deadly nightshade. They are both susceptible to the same diseases. It is therefore healthy to keep them separate.
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23 Apr 17, Vicky (Australia - temperate climate)
I live in Hobart, I am hoping to plant potatoes, we don't really get frosts. will they grow? do the potatoes need to sprout before planting? Thanks
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24 Apr 17, Carol (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Hi Vicky, As long as you don't get frosts you can give them a go, although I have more success with early spring plantings - I'm in Central Vic and get some pretty savage frosts at times. I've copied some of the info from this site about potatoes but added a note or two of my own... . [My note - Much cheaper to buy organic spuds from a farmer's market or the like - either way, make sure they have several 'eyes' per potato] Before planting expose seed potatoes to light to start shoots growing [my note - this is known as 'chitting']. [My note - I don't always chit my spuds but you will know by doing this which ones will actually sprout and grow] . [My note - cut them after they have chitted and let them dry for at least 3 days up to 5 if the weather is rainy/humid] Hope this is helpful and good luck! (Some of this reply removed as it is already on the Potato page of Gardenate- Ed:)
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23 Apr 17, Giovanni (Australia - temperate climate)
Potatoes should grow well in Hobart. Plant the tubers in spring when the soil has started to warm up a bit. Sprouting to get the potato started gets it off to a start. it is probably not necessary, as it wouldn't happen naturally, but does give the tuber a good start.
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14 Mar 17, Sam (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi my potatoes are growing seed pods - like little green cherry tomatoes I've heard the seeds from these grow "True Potato" plants? Is this true & do I want to try grow them..?? Thanks, Sam
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15 Mar 17, Jack (Australia - temperate climate)
The small fruit or seed potatoes contain proper seed and varieties and hybrids are grown this way. We normally use small potatoes as seed because it is more convenient and quicker. But don't hesitate to take on the challenge if you like. I don't know whether you would get potatoes of any size in a season.
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14 Mar 17, Kerrieanne (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hello and thanks in advance for your advice. I live just north of Gympie Qld and our area has just been declared in drought. I've never grown potatoes before so an a novice. I've just purchased some seed potatoes and am wanting information on how to plant them and when. I'm thinking maybe in an old iron bathtub or garbage bins. Thanks again Kerrieanne
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15 Mar 17, Jonno (Australia - temperate climate)
The containers you suggested would be ideal. If you are using a bath take the plug fitting out, to improve drainage, and put a layer of stones or crushed rock like (railway ballast) in the bottom to improve drainage. Cover this layer with old jeans, newspaper or cardboard. this will help hold water and stop sediment from blocking the drainage. Add a layer of potting mix or growing medium and then a layer of old manure or blood & bone. Cover this with more mix and thenspace your seed potatoes out. Cover them with mix and give them a water. When the shoots emerge keep adding mix. Potatoes form on the stems not the roots. As with all plants growing in containers ensure thet they are in a position where the container will not get too hot as the roots will 'cook'. Attention to water is also important, mulching will help.
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Showing 211 - 220 of 563 comments
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I heard that the potato will stop sending nutrients to the tubers if the stalks are bent. One of the most successful potato harvests I have ever seen was a large container grown project where he used several layers (think of a layer cake) of horizontal plastic fencing and t-posts at each corner to hold the horizontal fencing to keep the stalks from bending at all and support them as they grew. They were able to get an absolutely massive yield with that method although he was sick all summer and didn't care for them or water them at all. I am not sure that the container growing was as pivotal in the results as just keeping the stalks from bending over. I have container grown before and will try it again this spring as well as ground growing using his methods to keep the stalks upright. I think another often overlooked issue is either too much or too little phosphorus and potash in 10-10-10 fertilizer. I think 'balanced' fertilizers can present real problems for root crops since they don't need or want balanced inputs. You will always have too much of something and too little of the other. Also there is a time delay on phosphorus while it stays in the upper part of the soil, so you can apply phosphorus to increase tuber formation, but it takes 3 months to disperse into the soil, while nitrogen sinks like a stone through soil an becomes almost immediately bio-unavailable (or runs off into the environment via water). So if you are using 10-10-10 you are going to end up poisoning your plants in order to get one or another nutrients available in the correct quantity. Plus factor in the time delay to bioavailability. I think it is better to thoroughly prepare soil before you put your garden to bed in the winter than prepare it in the spring (actually I have revived some fruit trees that were very old and no longer producing by fall fertilizing; I got almost $700 worth of organic pears and even more than this in apples last year through fall fertilizing). I also heard (and studied it last year in my own garden) that potatoes grow between the seed potato and the surface. If you bury them deep you will increase yields as there is more space for them to grow above the seed potato. But if you plant them shallow, they have a very narrow area to make potatoes in, significantly reducing production. This means in container gardening you need to put them at the very bottom of a 1'-6" (0.45 meters) tall container to get a full yield. I tried this method last year and doubled my production. I was putting them very close to the surface before last year. Also, potatoes need cool roots and won't produce anything at all if their roots are too hot in the container during the summer. Afternoon/evening shade is a must in Southern US zones or other hot environments. Or you could insulate or shade the container.

- Christian

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