Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	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

05 Oct 12, mehmet kolgu (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi; Do I need to use mulch over the potatoes, at Sydney area. cheers M
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02 Oct 12, MattyJ (Australia - temperate climate): Quite a lot of people eat raw potato (me included) - and i have been advised by doctors that its quite healthy to do so
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26 Mar 13, Ido (Australia - temperate climate): Matty, It is not healthy to eat row potato, row eggplant, green tomato, green capsicum, as they all belong to the Solanum family and contain Solanum which is a poison. The heat of cooking, frying, etc. destroys part of the Solanum poison (as it destroys, also, part of the good staff in the food ) and makes the food more healthy. When the tomato and capsicum are red, they are ripe and contain less Solanum and in this stage they are more healthy to be eaten. The seeds of row capsicum, row tomato, row eggplant contain a higher concentration of Solanum and are less healthy to eat. The doctors are right when they recommend to eat row food but this advice is not applies to food items which contain some poison. Ido.
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01 Oct 12, peter dell (Australia - temperate climate): I live in Sydney in the west. Is it ok to plant potatoes now?
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02 Oct 12, tigger (Australia - temperate climate): yes
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04 Sep 12, Greg (Australia - temperate climate): How much time between planting seperate potato crops to give a constant supply over a 6 month period .
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24 Jul 12, Catherine (Australia - tropical climate): I would like to grow potatoes in Tropical North Qld. Is there any sort that will grow up here (apart from sweet potatoes etc)
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23 Jul 12, wayne (Australia - temperate climate): I wish to plant potatoes but want to spread the time that the crop will mature. Can any one suggest some varieties to use. my space for this is approx 1.5m by 10m. this is a no dig style cause im lazy :-)
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07 Jul 12, D JAMES (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I have two seperate beds with sebagos one I planted them deep and hilled lightly they now have big stems and sit high.The other bed Iplanted shallow and hilled up lots its stems are spindly and falling over but still seems healthy is there a reason as they are both getting the same sun and water.
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06 Jul 12, Martin (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): Hi Can potatoes be planted in a tunnel or does it need bees for polination?
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I would like to endorse the comments above regarding the use of tyres to grow Potatoes or in fact use to grow any any food. The rubber compounds in both the carcase and tread contain significant numbers of nasties. Tyres are designed to perform at high speed under quite arduous conditions, absolutely not designed as end of life food growing receptacles! They contain many potential hazards/chemicals, far too many to fully list. I will list just a couple,so that fellow readers who do not have my background can appreciate better what they are dealing with. Firstly the reinforcing Carbon Blacks utilized in the rubber compounds, contain significant amounts of Organo-Nitrogen compounds, blacks of this type are banned for use with any "Potable Water" applications! the reason being these compounds are considered as being high risk carciogens. There are special Blacks made specifically for food contact applications, rubber reinforcing blacks are definitely not suitable. Processing aids, The rubber in the tyres must be made to be strong/resilient/heat resistant; specially designed chemical compounds are encorporated into the rubber compounds to achieve this. The chemical compounds used present problems in many directions, firstly they are not ( dont need to be) pure compounds they contain debris from the chemical synthesis processes used to make them; these same compounds also decompose both during Vulcanization and during the life of the tyre. The Organo-Chemical families many of these compounds belong to include compounds that are considered hazardous and not suitable for food contact. The possibility of side chemical reactions between both the impurities and the debris from the degradation, resulting in compounds that could present significant hazards is real. Are tyres dangerous? yes! when attached to cars driven by idiots and when used as receptacles to grow food; otherwise no!

- Geoff Brooks

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Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

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Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

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