There is a large selection of potato varieties. Regardless of this, you can harvest ten to fifteen times as much tubers from a planted potato, provided you observe a few basic things when planting.
Create optimal planting conditions
Potatoes, also known as potatoes, require humus rich, well drained, light to medium-heavy soil. They do not tolerate waterlogging, such as occurs in heavy clay soils, unless they are treated with sand and compost. Sandy soils are particularly suitable.
- Preculture with deep-rooted vegetables can be useful
- Potatoes have high nutritional requirements and are a heavy eater
- ideally work compost into the soil in early spring
- or spread manure on the field in the autumn of the previous year
- Thoroughly loosen the soil before planting
- to a depth of approx. 30 cm
- Remove root remains, weeds and stones
- Pay attention to crop rotation when planting potatoes
- Tubers should be the first crop on the area
Potatoes are the ideal vegetable when it comes to cultivating the soil. However, they are incompatible with themselves and should therefore be grown again at the same location after four years at the earliest. Planting in the immediate vicinity of tomatoes is also unfavorable, as this could promote the transmission of the dreaded late blight and brown rot.
Tip: Compost shouldn't be immediately before
the planting can be incorporated into the soil. Otherwise, over-fertilization could result, which in turn affects the taste and shelf life of the tubers.Planting time
The right time for planting depends on the region or region. depending on the prevailing climatic conditions and the respective variety. Depending on whether the potatoes are early, mid-early or late varieties. In principle, they should not be planted too early because the tubers are sensitive to frost. The floor should have warmed up to about ten degrees. When temperatures no longer drop below ten degrees during the day, around March or April, early varieties can be planted. Middle early and late follow from mid-April to mid-May.
Let the potatoes germinate
If you want to harvest the delicious tubers early, you have the option of pre-germinating them from the end of February / beginning of March, about six weeks before sticking. This means that harvesting can take place around three weeks earlier. Pre-germination is suitable for both early potatoes and mid-early and late varieties.
- You fill a box with commercially available potting soil
- then place medium-sized tubers of the respective variety on the ground
- Cover halfway with soil
- Place the box in a bright, 15 degree warm place
- for example in the winter garden or a greenhouse
- Tubers now need a lot of light
- within a few weeks, formation of short, strong shoots
- Plant out in the bed after about six weeks
Distance and depth
It is best to stretch a guide cord so that the rows of plants are as straight as possible. Along the cord you then draw furrows in the ground with the handle of a hoe or similar device. They should have a depth of 10-20 cm. The distance between the rows should be at least 50 cm, better 70-80 cm. If the soil has not yet been fertilized, you can put some horn meal or horn shavings in the furrows.
Then you press the tubers lightly into the earth in such a way that the existing germ points upwards. But be careful, the germs break off very easily. New potatoes are placed at a distance of 30 cm, mid-early and late potatoes up to 60 cm apart. Then you close the furrows with a rake so that the tubers are completely covered with soil. Watering is not necessary when planting potatoes. Covering new potatoes with garden fleece can make sense, depending on the weather.
Tip: Particularly large tubers can also be divided and each section planted. But then each of these sections should have at least one eye. This is also useful if you only have a few tubers available.
After planting
As soon as the first green shoots stick their heads out of the ground and are about 20 cm high, pile them up. This step is intended on the one hand to increase the yield and on the other hand to prevent the daughter tubers from growing out of the soil and thus being exposed to light. This would lead to them turning green and inedible, because the green parts contain the poison solanine.
When piling up, the earth is pulled up to the potato plants with a field hoe or rake, so that they are about half covered with earth. Under the embankment, new roots with additional tubers form. This process must be repeated every two to three weeks. It is on it
being careful not to hurt the herb.Planting in the bucket
Potatoes can also be grown on the balcony in a very space-saving way, for example in special potato pots. Of course, they can also be cultivated in conventional large pots, in so-called plant sacks or plant towers. Plant towers offer particularly good yields. Above all, the respective bucket should be tall, dark-walled and made of plastic. Dark-walled because the soil in the pot warms up better when exposed to sunlight. Sufficient drainage holes in the bottom of the pot are essential.
- Put a ten centimeter thick drainage on the bottom of the pot
- for example from gravel or expanded clay
- on it an approx. 15 cm thick layer of loose compost soil
- mix with sand if necessary
- Place the sprouted tubers on the ground at an appropriate distance
- about three to four, depending on the size of the bucket
- then a layer of soil on the tubers
- when the green shoots are about 15 cm long, pile them up
Tip: It is best to pile up specimens in the pot in the evening. Then the leaves are usually directed upwards so that they cannot be damaged so easily.
Seed potatoes or table potatoes?
Both special seed potatoes and normal table potatoes are ideal for growing potatoes. Potatoes designated as seed potatoes have the advantage that they are always single-origin. So the variety that you bought also grows. They are usually available in all varieties.
Conventional table potatoes are usually not that productive. If you use them for pinning again in the next year, the plants usually grow weaker and are much more susceptible to diseases. In addition, table potatoes are often treated with sprout inhibitors, which not only prevents germination, but also greatly impairs their shelf life.
Treated potatoes must be labeled accordingly. You are on the safe side if you pay attention to untreated tubers when buying. They are usually not treated with germicides or chemical pesticides. The tubers to be planted should be large and have multiple eyes. Then you can achieve good results.
