Growing new potatoes »This is how you ensure a rich harvest

Optimal soil

New potatoes produce a good harvest if the bed is made up as follows:

• sandy loam soil
• rich in humus

Heavy and wet soils have to be filled with compost and, if necessary, can be improved with sand. There is one for potatoes Crop rotation of three years.

Nutrient supply

The potato bed can be filled with one as early as autumn Slow release fertilizer how Horse manure are supplied. In private gardens, however, compost is usually fertilized shortly before planting. This one-time supply of nutrients is completely sufficient, there is no longer any need to re-fertilize.

Seed potatoes

Just in time for the planting time, all garden centers, hardware stores and even large supermarkets offer some of the seedlings New potato varieties at. Less common varieties can also be obtained from the boarding school.

Planting time

New potatoes are planted at the end of March or April, depending on the weather. The weather should be frost-free and the soil temperature should ideally be between 8 and 10 degrees. Also one

planting in May is possible, but a lot of valuable time is wasted.

Pre-germinate

In a bright and warm place, the seed tubers can be ready 4 to 6 weeks before the planting date pre-germinate. This will make the Harvest time reached earlier and got a bigger harvest.

Plant spacing and depth

New potatoes are planted at a distance of 50 x 15 cm or 40 x 20 cm. The tubers are placed in planting holes about 6-10 cm deep.

care

After the planted tubers have sprouted about 15 to 20 cm, they are piled up. Weeds can be removed on this occasion. Watering is seldom necessary, then there is usually enough precipitation during the growing season.

harvest

About 70 to 90 days after the sowing the first tubers can be harvested. This is usually the case in June. The potatoes have a thin skin, which is why they cannot be stored well. So that the tubers are not damaged, they should be treated with a Digging fork be taken from the earth.