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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19 Oct 08, Geraldine (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Regarding building up soil around potato stalk; I have read on other sites/forums that one should start building soil up once the first tubers start forming. It makes more sense to actually build up around the stalk though; does any one else have experience to share regarding this? I do think my spud plants could do with some support about now; I'm growing in Sydney. Thank you
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17 Oct 08, David (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
For Sammy If you are in Victoria Toolangi Delights are the best for gnocchi. A dry textured potato is best and these are great, also purple congo or sapphire are great, they are dry, have purple flesh and make a great purple gnocchi. Dutch creams and Nicola are very similar, Nicola are a bit harder when cooked and Dutch Creams are a bit sweeter, to look at there is no real difference. Check out spunkyspuds.wetpaint.com
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02 Sep 10, Karen Weaver (Australia - temperate climate)
question - where can i get Purple Congo Potato seeds or seedlings in WA?
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17 Oct 08, David (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Dont use tyres to put around your potato plants as potatoes are great absorbers of cadmium which is released from the rubber. You can use a light strong wire mesh instead and achieve the same thing.
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16 Oct 08, Geoff Brooks (Australia - temperate climate)
Where can I buy "Jersey Bennes" potatoes for my vegie patch?; this is a UK gourmet variety grown in the Island of Jersey. From web searches it is grown in New Zealand but I cannot find any listed here in Oz.
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15 Oct 08, Marg (Australia - tropical climate)
What is the best to spray on potatoe fungie or blight........I beleive that it comes on the wind and hard to prevent. My pots always seem to get it to some degree......I have been spraying Copper Fungicide powder that you spray for fungies and mangoe trees.
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11 Oct 08, Marion (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I live in the Hinterland of the Gold Coast and have just harvested my first-ever potatoes! I am so excited. I have never grown veges before. I have had a bumper crop planted about two weeks before the solstice in July.
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03 Oct 08, Brook (Australia - temperate climate)
Dutch creams are great gnocchi potatoes!
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30 Sep 08, Jaci (Australia - temperate climate)
Don't know about the perfect gnocchi potato but I made some recently using Red Desirees. They were perfect. Just make sure that with the cooking time - lift gnocchi out of water after they float to surface (only 2-3 minutes) or they'll lose their soft delicate texture.
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29 Sep 08, sammy (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I am currently obsessed with potatoes and cannot believe there is a potato forum thingy! So excited. The two varieties I am most interested in are Nicola and Dutch Cream. I'd love to know when the best time to plant these in Melbourne are, and the best way to grow them organically. Also, with regards to buying them and their appearance, what is the best way to tell them apart? I think it is that Dutch creams are smaller, rounder and redder? Is that right? Finally, I'm doing a bit of a gnocchi test and trying to figure out the best ones for gnocchi - any thoughts?
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The handbook-which I provided the location to in my prior reply is not very beginner'ish but it is comprehensive covering issues you may never encounter- but you do need the reference material. I have a few thoughts to add. 1. Hilling up while the plant is growing-if you are covering leaves I find this fundamentally wrong. Leaves are specialized and designed to collect light, they are not roots. So I opt to plant my seed potatoes deep enough on day one- however I tend to have the luxury of very well airated, light soil. This means the seed potato has a steady air supply and can sense the heat from the sun even at deeper depths 2. Your seedpotatoes need all their potassium Immediately. Potatoes strangely take up all their potassium that they need really early. -and don't uptake more. If there is not enough potassium in the very early stages your potatoes might have hollow heart (looks like hollow rotting middles). Late application of potassium tends to be useless 3. Potatoes seem to respond really well to the addition of microryzal fungi - in my area we source that under pine trees in a forest- we just take some forest floor duff with a dust pan and add to the potatoe planting soil. To sum up - your seed Potatoes should be about the size of chicken eggs (if larger cut up ensuring an eye on each piece and allow a few days to heal/scab up before planting). You need to chit them(make them sprout-place in dark so they sprout). Plant in soil with Compost, a sorce of potassium and microryzal fungi. If for some reason you cannot source any compost/pottasium/microryzal fungi -plant anyhow potatoes are tough -there is still a good chance they will be Okay -depends on the condition of you soil. In my area I can water deeply once per week. Harvest when about half the leaves have fallen over as if to die. If you harvest sooner you may be compromising on size-because as long as those leaves can collect light they can store the energy in the tubers. Good luck - it is so much easier than it sounds- and all those diseases in the handbook are rare and if the plants are strong (well fed) they can manage just fine, potaoes are pretty tough root crop. In other words- you can grow potatoe.

- Celeste Archer

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