Content
- When is the right time to plant potatoes in the garden?
- Plant new potatoes
- Mid-morning and late varieties
- Germinate potatoes
- Prepare the bed
- Tips & Tricks
When is the right time to plant potatoes in the garden?
In general, potatoes are introduced into the soil in spring. The exact time depends on the selected variety. Who wants to harvest early, begins with the sowing of new potatoes. They can be planted from mid-March.
Mid-early and late potatoes follow from mid-April to mid-May. So you harvest over a long period of fresh potatoes from your own garden.
Plant new potatoes
Although the first potatoes can be sown as early as March, you must wait until frost-free weather has occurred. The temperatures should be at least 8 degrees Celsius. Then your bed in a sunny position by the sun rays is already preheated.
To protect against late frosts you cover the potatoes with garden fleece or straw. Already in June you can see if the first potatoes are ripe. The early potatoes include u.a. the varieties "Christa" and "Leila".
Mid-morning and late varieties
The sowing of early varieties such as "Agria" and "Cilena" and later varieties such as "Linda" takes place from mid-April to mid-May. You can confidently wait for the ice saints. With the harvest of medium-early varieties you start in August. This is followed by the late varieties until October.
Germinate potatoes
In order for the potatoes to grow faster and more profitably after sowing, they are pre-germinated. This succeeds in a fruit crate, which is placed in a bright and about 10 - 15 degrees warm place and takes about two to four weeks.
Prepare the bed
The future potato bed will be digged deep in the autumn. The clods then remain untouched throughout the winter. In the spring you grind the plaice with a cultivator, rake the bed smoothly and draw the lines for the potato sowing.
Tips & Tricks
For those who garden according to the lunar calendar, as the moon wanes, the forces pull back under the earth and promote subterranean growth. The first quarter of the waning moon is therefore the best time to plant potatoes. This is not scientifically confirmed, but always worth a try.