Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
P                 P P P

(Best months for growing Potato in New Zealand - cool/mountain 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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23 Jan 18, yabbay hahn , epping nsw, (Australia - temperate climate)
in my little plot, soil is clay, hard as rock,,SEP2017 turnd it over 10cm, coverd it with lawn cuttings, from old compost, waterd it daily 1 week, turned soil over again,coverd patch ,,1 inch of cuttings,, layd old potatoes on the surface, coverd them with a few inches of grass cuttings, a quick water in morning, and at sunset, just enough to wet the grass cuttings,.. each week, or when ever I mow lawn, the cuttings go on the patch, .the foliage is large, beautiful flowers, have been picking since dec,, its a personal choice, I love them just bigger than a golf ball, , wait for a hot dry day,, let them lay in sun all day, bring them in before night,
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23 Jan 18, Clark (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I have had potatoes in the garden for a few years now. They just seem to be growing wild in the garden. Actually they are running amok. I was just thinking of turning the crop over and starting again with manure and mulch. Should I actually dig all the crop up and replant in an organized fashion or is it OK to just plant and harvest and enjoy nearly all year round.
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26 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Only you can decide that. Potatoes grow then the plant dies - why don't you dig the potatoes up then - that is the normal practice..
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21 Jan 18, Lorna Findlay (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I would like to grow potatoes in bags and i dont know if its too late in Bombala nsw? Its late january
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22 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
By this website you are a little late. Give it a go and see what happens.
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11 Jan 18, Kaye (Australia - tropical climate)
We live in Townsville and are wondering if we can grow potatoes here and if so when is the best time to plant them and also are they best grown in the ground or pots??
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17 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - tropical climate)
It suggests planting April/May here. I would suggest after the chance of cyclones - heavy rain. Plant in a raised ground so that the soil drains freely. You want the soil to be wettish but not water logged. Easier to care for when in the soil. In a pot you would have to be on the ball with the watering.
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09 Jan 18, Michelle Whyte (Australia - temperate climate)
Going to plant potatoes in the pig paddock ( when the pigs have gone ) will their manure be too strong and can we put in old dried animal manure with them. We are down near the sea in the lower south east of SA. We have a red/black loam soil. When should we start planting?? Thank you
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10 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
It would depend on how freshish the manure is in the soil after you take the pig/s out. Fresh manure has nitrogen - old dried out manure has very little. Old manure is more a soil conditioner. If you had looked at the guide here for growing potatoes - temperate climate - Plant Aug to Oct. You may be able to grow a crop from April/May. Read up about growing them.
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17 Dec 17, Kym (Australia - temperate climate)
I live in a very cool part of the Barossa Valley where the growing cycle is out by 4 weeks so what would be the best time for me to grow tatties?
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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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