Growing Potatoes

Read below to find information on choosing a site, preparing the soil, and potato crop rotation, and I have more pages on: potato grow bags, tubs and potato barrels
potato varieties   -   the value of certified seed potatoes
chitting potatoes, planting & earthing up   -   harvesting potatoes
no-dig raised bed potatoes   -   reclaiming your garden with potatoes
the potato plant & how it grows...
AND
You can get seed potatoes to plant and potato fertilizer on this link.

Choose a Method of Growing Potatoes to Suite
Your Needs and Garden

Click the options below that well suite your potato growing.

A substantial crop to put in store

You have a new plot to work and weeds to sort out
Garden soil to grow in - about 30 feet of row length could produce 200 good spuds.
Fertile soil and available manure - dried and bagged manure will do well.

Find more on growing potatoes in the garden.
And more on transforming a weedy site with potatoes here.

'Early' potatoes and 'New' - harvested from mid summer

You only have hard surfaces such as patios and paved yards
You want potatoes but don't have enough room in the garden

Find more on using grow tubs, potato bins & bags for your patio, paved yard or balcony.

You have a few square metres of unprepared garden or paved yard
You want to avoid the effort of earthing up and lifting potatoes
Your garden soil is too heavy, waterlogged, chalk or limey,

Find more on growing in raised beds filled with good compost / earth.

New potatoes over an extended period

and you want a range of attractive varieties for boiling, baking, mashing, roasting, chipping or frying

You love potatoes - why not combine several potato growing methods

Try your 'earlies' in potato bins, 'second earlies' in raised beds , a maincrop in the garden and raised beds or potato bins again for fresh Christmas spuds.

Prefer larger sized potatoes for baking

Rich moisture retentive soil is best and well irrigated in dry spells

Start here to prepare your garden and here for
chitting seed potatoes, planting and earthing up or hilling

Fresh potatoes for roast Christmas dinner

You can plant potatoes as late as August in the garden and raised beds; it's a good time to try them potato bins moved undercover.

Want to grow a prize winning crop of spuds for the show

Grow clean, symmetrical and unblemished organic potatoes in potato bins or raised beds more on these links.

The more you put in the more you get out.
The Mantis Tiller will prepare your soil for growing in no time.

How to Grow Potatoes at Home

This page doesn’t describe Sweet Potatoes which are far less important. This information is about ’Spuds’ - the plant is a close relative of tomato – find more on the potato plant and how it grows here.

Before reading on you may be interested to know that the Home of the Organic Gardener sends out a free newsletter with gardening offers, money-off vouchers, seasonal tips on organic gardening, and the latest gardening information. You can subscribe to it below.

I enjoy the furrow and ridge growing method best because it's good for my garden maintenance. But in fact you don't need a garden for growing potatoes - find information on potato bins and raised beds on these links.

Site and Soil for Growing Potatoes in Garden Soil

Choose a site that's open to plenty of light. Poor light will certainly reduce yields - and that also applies to growing in containers.

Potatoes grow best in a nutrient rich, moisture retentive and well-drained soil. They also prefer more acid soils with an ideal ph of 5.5. A sandy loam is supposed to be the best (but it's really just one example of what grows) and all soils can be improved.

My garden contains sandy-clay loam and potatoes grow well, but not too close to the hedge. The hedge roots dry the soil.

I'd be happy to grow my spuds in nutrient enriched organic soils, most alluvial soils, silt, or light clay loams. Gardeners should add plenty of bulk organic matter to open up clay soils.

If you have a cold wet or dry lime/chalky soil then try growing potatoes in raised beds filled with good moisture retentive compost.

In the garden make rows to run north-south to warm up on both sides and reduce intercrop shadow to a minimum.

Crop Rotation When Growing Potatoes

Crop rotation means growing a particular crop in different soil beds year on year. Therefore 4 different soil beds are needed for a 4 year rotation. Crop rotation is vital because it helps prevent the build-up of soil disease and pests such as eel worm.

Potatoes should have the longest possible rotation and every 4th year is an absolute minimum before you grow them in the same soil again. Try 8 years if you can (an annual crop would require 8 adequate size soil beds). - But if you have a small garden you may be able to use raised beds or potato bins to help you get a potato harvest in between time. Find raised bed kits here.

Preparing the Ground for Potatoes and
Applying Potato Fertilizer

PREPARING THE POTATO BED
Potato plants are heavy feeders so a good dose of well-rotted manure plus organic fertilizer is called for. Don't overdo nitrogen fertilizer as this makes lots of leaves and no potatoes.

A month to 6 weeks before planting fork about a 3-4"/10cm depth of manure into the top 6"/20cm along your intended potato rows. Also, work in a band of: organic potato fertilizer U.K. . You could also try seaweed meal ( Kelp Meal America) . I've given mine a watering of liquid seaweed before planting. Later when fresh comfrey leaves are available you can add them to provide potassium. Nutrients improve the growing potatoes from day 1 and working them in early gives the organic fertilizer time to become available to plant roots. Try this link for a range of organic fertilizers & composts available in America on this link.

And check these links for more information.

Next > About Planting Potatoes - in your garden soil.

The Garden Seat - books by the experts on growing potatoes

Would it be nice to sit down and enjoy your garden because your soil is cultivated ready for planting? The best thing for making easy work of it is the power cultivating tool on this link - then you'll have more time and more potatoes.