Potato Grow Guide
Growing potatoes at home is a popular and rewarding activity for many New Zealanders and there are varieties to suit all preferences. Potatoes are an important staple food and are a great source in vitamins B & C, minerals and fibre and are low in calories.
Potatoes can be grown in all parts of New Zealand and due to our climate are available most of the year. Buy certified Tui Seed Potatoes as these have been independently inspected and certified to ensure that they are true to type and will grow a healthy crop. Certification means the product meets strict conditions and disease tolerance standards.
Seed potato preparation
Purchase Tui Seed Potatoes at least 1 month prior to planting to enable them to sprout. Remove from their packaging and place in trays (egg cartons are ideal) in a dry, well-lit and airy situation until sprouts are approximately 20-40mm long.
Soil and area preparation
Potatoes are best grown in the garden but they also do well in containers, large plastic bags, buckets or tyres. Choose a sheltered area like alongside fences or hedges providing the plants have access to sun and rain.
Avoid planting potatoes in the same place each year or where tomatoes have been planted the previous season.
Enriching your soil will boost the flavour of potatoes, add organic matter like Tui Organic Compost. Tui Vegetable Mix is an ideal planting medium for containers or to dig into soil. Another way to enrich the soil is to plant a green manure crop of Lupin or Mustard Seed prior to planting. Avoid using lime as this encourages scab. Well prepared soil aids tuber formation.
Fertiliser
Potatoes are gross feeders and need a specialty fertiliser to perform at their best. Tui Potato Food is a specialised potato fertiliser containing specific proportions of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash to boost growth in tubers after planting and assists in correcting soil consistency.
Prior to planting apply 300g (approx 1 cup) per square metre. Fertiliser should always be mixed with the soil and watered in well.
Planting
Place seed potatoes in a furrow 250-350mm apart (plant main crop varieties at least 300mm apart). Face the sprouts upward and carefully cover with soil (to a maximum of 50mm). Continue mounding up the soil as the shoots grow to give protection against wind and frost and to encourage tuber development rather than leaf growth. In frost prone areas, a concave top on the mound will ensure that available moisture reaches the plants.
Cultivation
Hoe regularly around the sprouts to keep the crop weed free but be careful not to damage delicate shoots.
When watering, water the soil only, keeping the foliage dry as this will discourage blight. Watering is very important at flowering time.
Pests and disease
Slugs and snails can affect seed potatoes in the home garden. Apply a pelletised bait such as Tui Quash. It kills slugs and snails but won’t harm earthworms and beneficial insects in the garden.
Aphids, potato tuber moth and wire worm are other insects that may affect the yield of your crops. Mounding prevents the potato tuber moth reaching the potatoes and laying its eggs.
Blight is a common disease, spray foliage regularly with fungicide. If infected with blight, burn or throw away plants to prevent infection of future crops.
Harvesting
Harvest early varieties approximately three months after planting or when flowers are fully opened. Main and late cropping varieties are ready when the foliage dies off. To harvest, move the soil away and then use a garden fork and lift the tubers carefully from under the plant. Take care not to damage tubers, as once damaged, they will not keep for long.
Some varieties like Rocket do not flower so monitor progress by length of time instead.
Dug up plants can be chopped up and buried in the soil as compost providing they were not infected with late blight.
Storage
Check for storability, if you can rub the skin off easily with your thumb, they will not store. Early varieties have skins that make them unsuitable for storing so eat these first and allow the rest to mature further.
Once dug, dry thoroughly and store tubers in a sack, paper bag or shallow boxes in a cook, dark, well ventilated position. Do not leave potatoes exposed to light after they have been dug. Check stored potatoes regularly and remove rotting potatoes. Carefully stored potatoes should last up to six months.
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