If you want to plant potatoes yourself, you only have to pay attention to a few points. Because the plants, as heavy feeders, require larger amounts of nutrients, but only little care. Above all, the choice of location, substrate and the time of planting are decisive for success. The possible yield also depends on when the potatoes are pre-germinated and planted.
To germinate or not?
Pre-sprouting the potatoes makes them more resistant to late blight, makes them grow better and faster. In addition, it requires little effort.
For pre-germination, the seed potatoes are simply placed in a well-ventilated box and placed in the light. Ideally, the room temperature should correspond to the outside temperature at the time of planting out, i.e. at least 7 °C to 10 °C.
It is also important when the pre-germination begins. The seed potatoes should be pre-germinated four weeks before planting. If they germinate much longer, the tubers can "exhaust" and then grow less well. Because with a pre-germination time of several months, too much energy is often released light seeds stuck, while little or no roots form. With an early variety that can be planted in the bed in March or April, germination can begin between February and March.
For later varieties, which can be planted in late April to early June, preparatory germination should be started between March and May.
temperature
If you are looking for the right time to plant the seed potatoes, you probably expect a date or at least a month. However, planting out should depend on the soil temperature and the expected ground frost.
The substrate should have a temperature of 7 °C to 10 °C and ground frost should no longer be expected. If frost could still occur, the plants should be well mounded and covered to protect them. In warm regions, this can already be the case at the beginning of March. In other areas, however, planting should only take place at the end of April or in May.
potato varieties
Early Varieties
If you want an early harvest, you should of course plant the right varieties. Among other things, the following are suitable:
- acapella
- assets
- Annabelle
- Arosa
- Bella prima
- Christa
- finca
- Gala
- Marabel
- Osira
- Rosara
The early potatoes can March to April to be planted. Depending on the variety and the weather, the harvest is possible as early as 60 to 70 days later - so it can possibly take place as early as May or June.
Mid-late to late varieties
- Ac Vigor
- bounty
- Aeggeblome
- Albata
- allure
- altus
- Cascade
- vitolette
- bison
- Wotan
Depending on the weather, they are planted in the bed from the end of April, but no later than the beginning of June, and are then ready to harvest between August and September at the earliest.
Whether it is an early harvest or a late variety - in any case, the following steps should be observed:
1. Dig carefully
As soon as the green shoots turn yellow and wilt, you can carefully (by hand) dig up a potato. Is the size right? Then the following tests should be performed.
2. The cup test
Can the peel of the potato be rubbed off with light finger pressure? Then the tubers should stay longer in the ground. On the other hand, if the skin is tight when raw, that is a good indication of maturity.
3. Boil test
Take a potato out of the ground and boil it - if it tastes good, the other tubers can also be harvested. If it doesn't taste good, the other potatoes should be given more time. Because the taste also develops with maturity.
Extra tip: When choosing a variety, you should also pay attention to the ripening time, which is between 60 and 160 days. Due to these significant differences in maturation, it should be planned in advance when which variety will go into the soil. It is also possible to calculate backwards from the desired harvest time.