- Optimal soil
- nutrient supply
- seed potatoes
- planting time
- pregermination
- Plant spacing and depth
- maintenance
- harvest
Those who start gardening early in the new year will be richly rewarded. For example with new potatoes. After sowing in early spring, the tubers grow up easily, only the nutrient supply should be secured. The watering, on the other hand, is usually done by the rain.
New potatoes have a very short ripening period
Optimal soil
New potatoes give a good harvest if the bed is as follows:
- sandy loam soil
- rich in humus
Heavy and wet soils must be improved with compost and, if necessary, with sand. Crop rotation for potatoes is three years.
nutrient supply
The potato bed can be supplied with a long-term fertilizer such as horse manure as early as autumn. In private gardens, however, compost is usually fertilized shortly before planting. This one-time nutrient supply is completely sufficient, it no longer needs to be fertilized.
seed potatoes
Just in time for planting, all garden centres, DIY stores and even large supermarkets offer seedlings from a few early potato varieties. Rarer varieties can also be obtained from the boarding school.
planting time
New potatoes are planted at the end of March or April, depending on the weather. The weather should be frost-free and the soil temperature should ideally be between 8 and 10 degrees. Planting in May is also possible, but a lot of valuable time is wasted.
pregermination
In a light and warm place, the seed bulbs can already germinate 4 to 6 weeks before planting. As a result, the harvest time is reached earlier and a larger harvest is achieved.
Plant spacing and depth
New potatoes are planted at a distance of 50x15 cm or 40x20 cm. The tubers are planted in about 6-10 cm deep planting holes.
maintenance
After the planted tubers have sprout about 15 to 20 cm, they are piled up. On this occasion, weeds can be removed. Rarely does it need to be watered, then during the growing season there is usually enough precipitation.
harvest
The first tubers can be harvested around 70 to 90 days after sowing. This is usually the case in June. The potatoes have a thin skin, which is why they do not store well. So that the tubers are not damaged, they should be taken out of the ground with a digging fork.