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 13, Gary (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Peter,,just a note from comments above, it is not advised to grow potatoes in tyres because of heavy metal leaching.
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02 Mar 13, Rachel (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi. I live in Sydney in a frost free area. Can I plant potatoes now and, if so, what would be good varieties? Thanks :-)
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04 Mar 13, Kevin (Australia - temperate climate)
Rachael , Have you checked that you can get your seed potato's ,because they are not available where I am in Qld!!
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19 Mar 13, Kevin (Australia - temperate climate)
Rachel, seed potatoes are now available from Green Harvest Maleny web site order online.
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12 Feb 13, SarahH (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Keen to buy Russett Burbank potato seeds in Canberra area or online but can't find anyone who can ship before June?! Any ideas for good online suppliers? Really need to plant asap. Any ideas greatly appreciated :)
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27 Jan 13, Kevin (Australia - temperate climate)
Keep watering them as usual as the longer they grow the more and bigger tubers. Stop watering when the leaves start to die off and go yellow,. ( If you are anywhere near us in Qld you wont be waterinh for awhile)
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21 Jan 13, (Australia - temperate climate)
growing i old tyres I have found to be excellent in small areas. Just add a tyre and soil as the shoot comes through and add soil. To dig all you do is kick the tyres over, take your harvest and save the soil and tyres for your next crop. Yummy spuds the easy way. Peter
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03 Jan 13, alan (Australia - arid climate)
do the plants need to flower to be able to crop ???? Adelaide aus
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07 Dec 12, Zoe (Australia - temperate climate)
My potato plants flowered then carried on growing, do I need to cut back watering so they die off or let them carry on growing? They were planted mid July. Cheers!
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06 Dec 12, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
thats good, dig a bit and see the size of potato might be too early still.
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Showing 381 - 390 of 563 comments
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I forgot to mention -- and kept forgetting to post this additional part. When you are "hilling up" you are actually burying LEAVES. Leaves have specialized tissue to COLLECT LIGHT -- that is to say, they are NOT ROOTS -- so to me, burying leaves is NOT CORRECT. It may help to get the potatoes producing sooner, BUT somehow to me if a potato plant made leaves it wanted to collect light -- roots are different, they are sort of thin and round/tube like and are used to transport water and nutrients -- AGAIN: leaves are leaves and roots are roots -- and when I stop and think about it burying leaves doesn't seem right... and my gut instinct is saying that it is not correct. I have also noticed that roots are thinner, and are probably easier for the plant to make/grow -- leaves look like they take a lot of work/nutrition -- so why bury something that is specialized to be above the ground???....... again, the pros may say otherwise and have lots of data and past successes to prove their view point. I have done it both ways (not sure why I did- but I did) and really have not noticed any differences in OVERALL potato production.... so why bury the leaves and make all that extra work hilling up ??? Also, potato tubers seem to like lots of air flow... so make sure the soil is light or ir your in containers ensure lots of holes near the bottom sides to create updrafts..

- Celeste Archer

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