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(Best months for planting Potato in New Zealand - temperate regions)

• Harvest in 110-140 days
• Plant tuber.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 30-40cm

Seed potatoes

Potatoes sold in nurseries and produce stores are certified seed potatoes. Seed potatoes are small potatoes (usually fairly dried up and wrinkled) which are free of viruses and other diseases. You are more likely to get a good crop from certified seed potatoes.

Before planting expose seed potatoes to light to start shoots growing. Avoid direct sun as this can burn or par-cook the seed! Let the potatoes grow shoots up to 1cm long - this can take a few weeks. In hot or dry climates sprout seed potatoes in seed trays of dampened potting mix.

Large seed tubers can be cut into pieces - just make sure each piece has at least one 'eye' or shoot. Let the cut pieces dry for a few days before planting or else they will probably start rotting.

Growing in the ground

Prepare the soil by digging in plenty of well-rotted animal manure or compost (don't use fresh manure as it will 'burn' plants). Dig a trench for the seed potatoes about 30 - 40cm wide and 10 - 20cm deep. Add a bit more compost/manure to the bottom of the trench and cover with some soil. Put seed potatoes 20 - 30cm apart in the trench, shoot-side up. Fill in the trench to cover the potatoes.

As potato shoots start to appear, cover them up with soil from either side of the trench. 'Hill up the crop' this way a few times in the first four or five weeks of growth, which gives the potatoes an nice loose mound of soil in which to grow. Now leave the shoots to develop on to form leaves.

Keep potatoes well-watered. The soil should be damp enough to stick to your fingers.

No-dig and container growing - ideal for home gardens

If you don't have a ton of space then no-dig and container growing both work well for home garden growing. Using container growing you can produce potatoes in any handy space, even on balconies.

No-dig

Make a no-dig bed of potatoes by layering newspapers (or flattened cardboard boxes) at least six layers thick on an area to be planted. Spread your seed potatoes on top of the newspapers about 30cm apart, trying to get the shoots pointing upwards.

Cover the potatoes with layers of compost, weed-free straw, rotted animal manure, and other mulch materials, until the potatoes are covered by about 20 - 30cm. Don't flatten the cover down.

Water well. As the potatoes start to grow through, add more layers of mulch material and keep watered. After about four weeks of growing through and covering up, let the potatoes grow on without covering. As the mulch breaks down keep adding more mulch to keep the tubers covered.

Container growing

Get a container at least 40 - 50 cm deep with holes in the bottom for drainage. Shrub-sized flower pots work well. An old wheelbarrow will work if holes are drilled in the bottom. You can also make a 'container' using loose bricks or chicken wire.

Put about 10 - 20cm of mixed compost and potting mix in the bottom of the container and put your seed potatoes on top, about 30cm apart. Cover with about 10 - 20cm of compost mixed with mulch (straw, grass clippings. Water well.

As the potato shoots start to grow through, cover up with more compost and mulch mix and keep watered. Keep on covering up for about four weeks (but stop if you reach the top of the container!)

For both no-dig and container growing, keep the mulch well watered - wet enough to stick to your fingers but not sopping. If the potatoes dry out they will probably go scabby.

• The longer potatoes grow, the bigger the tubers will be.
• Don't grow potatoes in the same place as other solanum crops as they share many diseases - for example, don't grow potatoes to follow a tomato crop, or vice-versa.
• You can start harvesting a few tubers as soon as they are big enough to eat - dig around under the plants and retrieve a few, and cover up the rest to keep growing.
• Potatoes exposed to light will go green, so keep them covered up with straw and soil as they grow. Green potatoes are poisonous!
• Potatoes accumulate cadmium and other heavy metals, so avoid fertilizers which contain these elements. Similarly, avoid using tyres as containers for growing potatoes as they can leach heavy metals.

Your comments and tips

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?

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.

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.

11 Jan 10 Anne (Australia - temperate climate)

i tried to grow potatoes but very poor yield. Plants grew very tall and spindly and few small potatoes what am I lacking in my soils? I used lots of blood and bone manures, chicken and fed weekly with thrive. Should I have used more compost and trace elements?

13 Jan 10 Billy (Australia - temperate climate)

First a comment to Lisa, if the potato is green it meens it has been exposed to light. One dug up from the soils should not be green, but will turn green if left out and exposed to daylight. Jane, I planted my spuds just a couple of months ago (November) and they seem to be almost ready to be dug, the stems are starting to wilt and the flowers dropping. I think you can plant them for a few more weeks. I was amazed at how quickly they came up. Just noticed the date of your posting. Hope they have come up nicely.

01 Feb 10 Adele (Australia - temperate climate)

Is it ok to plant potatoes if they are in shade in the morning and get full afternoon sun? Adele

22 Feb 10 guy (Australia - temperate climate)

i live in central west nsw what vegies can i grow from march right through winter. any tips would be greatly appreciated.

24 Feb 10 rylie (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

what height and width is a avarage potato?

26 Feb 10 Mark (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

My potatoes looked fantastic above ground - strong lush growth from spring to mid-summer, but the harvest was disappointingly meagre. Any suggestions?

06 Mar 10 joe isaac (Australia - temperate climate)

Where can I buy seed potatoes (King William) online or fromoutlets in Melbourne? What is the best time to put them in? I have a sheltered sunny plot. Thanks for any suggestions