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 USA - Zone 5a 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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25 Mar 15, Kate Williams (Australia - temperate climate)
What season do you grow potatoes in SA?
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26 Apr 15, Deb (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Kate I do hope someone answers you soon as i am also in SA ..I will just try my luck by planting this week and see ho things go..i will let you know what happens....Trail and error i suppose...Deb
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19 Mar 15, Emmaculate ramphela (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
I have a pice of land where I want to plant the potatoes. So I don't know what to do as a first step to start this project.
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24 Feb 15, Garth (Australia - tropical climate)
Can these seeds be kept for any length of time, if so how?.
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09 Feb 15, Ann-Marie (Australia - temperate climate)
I have tried several times to grow store bought kestrel potatoes, and whilst I get a great looking plant. Never one potato, whilst other bought ones produce. I am in SA. Are the Kestrals treated to prevent growth and is there anywhere I can buy Kestral seed potatoes when the season starts Thank you and look for a reply Ann-Marie
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05 Feb 15, Wendy (Australia - temperate climate)
We are just harvesting our potatoes and find that several of them feel spongy but otherwise seem okay. What would cause this and are they okay to eat ?
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28 Jan 15, Diane (Australia - temperate climate)
My potato bushes are starting to turn yellow and I have noticed there are small green berry's growing where the flowers were , what are these???
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16 Mar 15, Maggie (Australia - temperate climate)
Nothing just don't worry about that's what I would say. they are like little seed pods . Cheers Maggie
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30 Jan 15, Tracey (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Diane, the small green berrys are actually seed pods, if you get these on your plants it means the potatoes are very happy where you've grown them and are in ideal conditions. If you use these seeds you can get a really good crop of genetically diverse potatoes unlike those grown from seed potatoes which will only produce clones. Cheers Tracey
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29 Jan 15, Olmec Sinclair (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Diane, Generally when plant leaves turn yellow it can be a sign of nitrogen deficiency. Perhaps you need to feed the spuds with some quick release fertiliser. It may also be that the plants are nearing maturity and dying back.... time to harvest? The green berries are perfectly normal and are the potato seeds. Kind of like a tiny tomato. If you were to plant these you would produce a new, unique variety of potato.
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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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