Potatoes like very acidic soil: a pH lower than 5.5 is optimal. Turn the ryegrass underneath at the time of frost – this is a “green manure” that is perfect for preparing your planting bed. Dig straight, shallow gullies, 2 to 3 feet apart, into prepared soil.
Proper watering and crop rotation are critical to growing healthy potatoes and protecting your plants from disease. Colorado beetles are the most common pest that affects potato plants; they consume the leaves quickly and can strip a plant in a few days. Keep an eye on these striped beetles and pick them up by hand from the plant and crush them, or drop them in a cup of soapy water, if you find them. After placing the potatoes, cover them with a few inches of potting soil. Don’t get too excited here, because you don’t want to plant them too deep. The colder the weather, the less soil you have to put on it.
Low-quality soil can severely limit the yield of your potato crop. Soil that is highly compacted or low in organic matter is not ideal for growing potatoes, or any type of vegetable garden. If you do not have healthy soil, it is better to plant in containers or in a raised garden bed. Use your hands to push away the mountainous soil around the base of the plants and carefully pick the new small, round, smooth tubers.
Learning how to grow potatoes in a bag offers a space-saving solution, and it’s a fun family project. One pound of seed potatoes produces about 8 to 10 pieces of seed before planting. That is enough for a 10 meter long row if the pieces are 12 centimeters apart. When I first figured out how to plant seed potatoes, I noticed that distance works a little more too. I placed my seed potato pieces about 10 centimeters apart when planting. With a clean knife, cut the potatoes into pieces for two to three days before you plan to plant them.
To plant in cages or containers or cribs, replant in the same way and cover the plants with 4 centimeters of soil. After the plant has emerged, continue Kartoffeln im Topf anbauen to add well-aged compost, mulch or soil. Since the cage is above ground, potatoes dry quickly, so this method requires more frequent watering.