A comprehensive guide to planting, growing, caring for and harvesting potatoes.
— Written in collaboration with NZBulbs
(Above: Red potatoes and white potatoes are easy to grow in your home garden, for a bountiful harvest of pounds of potatoes.)
How to grow potatoes in your home garden — Tips for planting, growing and harvesting your own potatoes
Potatoes — the versatile and beloved root vegetables that make everything from golden French fries to fresh potato salads and creamy mashed potatoes.
Potatoes have a rich history that spans continents. While they may be a staple in our supermarkets now, did you know that potatoes originated in the Andes of South America? Like so many of our most-eaten vegetables today, potatoes came to New Zealand from Britain and by 1880 they were a staple part of the early settlers’ diet. These humble swollen underground stems, known as tubers, have come a long way from their ancient roots, making their way into our home gardens and onto our dinner plates in a multitude of ways.
Together with NZBulbs, we’ve put together this guide with essential steps and know-how to successfully plant, grow and harvest your very own potatoes in your home garden. Let’s dig in!
Where to Start —
WHAT ARE SEED POTATOES?
To grow your own potato plant, you need to start with seed potatoes.
Potato seeds are known as ‘seed potatoes’. Unlike regular seeds, seed potatoes look just like regular potatoes – just usually smaller. When growing potatoes, it’s important to plant quality seed potatoes – they should be certified disease-free seed potatoes. This way, you know you’re getting the best start for the best results.
Seed potatoes usually come in packs of 5, 10 or 20. This will help you choose the best quantity for your household, depending on whether you want to try growing more than one variety or not.
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Next, dig a v-shaped trench about 15cm deep in your garden bed and place the seed potatoes in the bottom of it – approximately 40cm apart.
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Don’t fill the trench back up at this stage, just cover the planted potatoes with at least 5cm of soil. New potatoes hate frost, so keep an eye on them and as the shoots start to push through.
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Cover them a little more each week until you have turned your trench into a mound of 15-20cm in height after 6-8 weeks. The more growing stem beneath the soil, the more opportunity for the plant to produce potatoes and the bigger your crop.
ROW COVERS —
Cover your potato crop with some insect-proof netting to keep out the potato-tomato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) – a small insect that can cause a lot of damage to tomato and potato crops. The netting is a perfect non-spray method to ensure your potatoes stay healthy and yield a great crop.
Because the plants can be attacked by the psyllid at any growth stage, put the netting on the potatoes when you plant them and keep it on until you harvest. Put it on loosely at the start or loosen it as they get bigger. Make sure the plants aren’t pushing hard against it and that it is tucked into the dirt securely on all edges.
( Note: You can purchase this netting from NZ Bulbs. This type of mesh is strong and UV resistant, so it will last for many seasons.
Caring for Potato Plants During the Growing Season —
Potato care during the growing season:
Watering:
To keep diseases away, don’t overhead water your potatoes with much water (not excessively). Once planted, they should require little water – the rain should be enough to keep them going until they’re ready for harvesting.
Harvesting: How to Harvest Potatoes
With some varieties, the potato leaves die back above ground and many gardeners use this as a sign it’s time to harvest. However, not all varieties do this.
The best way to tell if your potatoes are ready is to ‘tickle’ a few up to check. Get out your trowel and loosen the garden soil around the base of the plant, put your hand in the loose soil and gently pull out a spud or two to check progress. If your potatoes are small, cover them up again with dirt and leave them to grow.
Once you’ve harvested your potatoes, it’s a good idea to dig the whole plant back in to the ground. The tops of the plants have plenty of good nutrients in them – working them into the soil helps to improve the soil structure in the same way that adding compost does. You’ll end up with beautiful, rich soil as a result.
Make your own crispy, golden French fries with homegrown potatoes.
