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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04 Jan 10, Leanne (Australia - temperate climate)
Very happy with my first potato harvest. The plant just sprouted from our compost when it was mulched into the garden bed. One of the potato's already has an eye growing - I am going to replant this now and hope for the best.
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03 Jan 10, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Matthew, if you're in a cool/mountain region it's probably a bit late to start potatoes now. We started ours after the frosts stopped (Melbourne cup day, around here). You're best off buying seed potato from a garden shop to avoid problems with potato virus - when they start stocking them is generally the best time to plant them for your area. Seed potato is an ordinary potato grown under controlled conditions - you let it spout and plant it, or cut it in two and let those sprout to get two plants started. Potatoes are all grown as clones by sprouting from a potato tuber. If you try seed (from the berries), you will probably end up with something inedible as they are quite variable.
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03 Jan 10, Janet (Australia - temperate climate)
Thanks Chris. It's got very hot here and all the plants have died down so I've been "bandicooting"! around and had some good feeds so far. I now trying to decide whether to dig all up and store, or leave some in the ground for a while - any thoughts? Also, if leaving in do I continue to water?
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02 Jan 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Matthew, you are best to buy 'seed potato' from a nursery or an online seed provider - that way they are certified free of disease. These are potatoes with sprouts, and they usually come with instructions.
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03 Aug 13, Baz (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi does anyone know where I can but Kestrel seed potatoes from
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02 Jan 10, courtney (Australia - temperate climate)
Matthew, you can go to a nursery and buy potatoes that are called seed potatoes but they still look like potatoes, they are just a healthier version of what you get in the super market. they will grow a plant no matter which one you use just sprout them or use ones that already sprouted in your cupboard like the instructions above suggest.
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01 Jan 10, Matthew (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I am about to start potatoes for the first time. I know this may sound stupid but do I use a patato that sprouts to plant or can I get seeds?? Just starting this vegie thing now.
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30 Dec 09, gwen kerr (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
when do you know when to harvest potatoes
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29 Dec 09, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Janet, those fruit on the potatoes are potato berries - they are poisonous and should just be left. You shouldn't need to stake the plants, but you might have fed them a bit much nitrogen if they are growing tons of leaf. You've probably got new potatoes you can harvest now if you feel around ('bandicoot') under the plants, otherwise just leave until the plants die off to harvest full-sized potatoes.
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14 Dec 09, Janet (Australia - temperate climate)
I've not had much success with potatoes in the past. My present crop seems to be OK but should I stake the plants as they are falling all over the place even though I've been adding more soil and straw. Also little bunches of green"fruit" have appeared on some plants. Anyone know what these are?
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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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