How to Grow Potatoes in WA

Name: Baileys Fertilisers
Address: Perth, Western Australia
Telephone: (08) 9439 1688

Author

Baileys Fertiliser

Published

9 July 2019

Vegetable & Herbs

How to Grow Potatoes in WA

The humble spud - one of the easiest crops to grow, a verified kitchen legend and something kids love harvesting - discovering those soon to be potato gems, hidden in the soil. Potatoes are a member of the Solanaceae family, and as such are related to tomatoes, capsicum and eggplants. They're hungry beasts, which like organic-rich soil - but don't let space limitations stop you, spuds can successfully be cultivated in straw bales, wire cages, large pots or grow bags. Potatoes can be grown for most of the year in WA, except in areas prone to frost. For best results, the soil should be between about 10 - 30C so autumn is a fantastic time to plant.

Preparing Soils

Potatoes like fertile, friable, moist, slightly acidic soil (pH of approx. 6). They don't grow well in clay, so if you live in an area with heavy soils grow in one of the straw or towering methods mentioned.

If you've grown potatoes in beds before, rotate your crop in your veggie garden each year to help prevent soil diseases.

Choose a spot in full sun
Prepare the ground by digging in compost and manure three weeks before planting. Use Baileys Soil Improver Plus, it contains mature compost and aged chicken manure.
Work the soil thoroughly, remove any sticks or rocks which may cause distortions in tubers and create furrows that are 20cm deep and 40cm apart.
Apply a handful of Baileys Soil Matters Garden or Blood & Bone per metre to keep them well fed. Work in lightly.

Planting

Although store-bought potatoes will grow, you should purchase certified disease-free seed potatoes from your local nursery. They tend to be smaller and are specifically selected to be healthy stock.

If planting in wet ground, it's a good idea to allow tubers to shoot (called chitting) by leaving in a bright area for a few days. This means they're in active growth so less likely to rot in the ground. If more than one shoot is growing, keep the strongest (longest) and knock off the other shoots, so the tuber can focus its attention there.

Some people make their seed potatoes go further by cutting tubers, allowing a bit of the tuber for each of the shoots. Be aware this creates a wound with greater risk of rotting, particularly in humid or damp conditions and it's a good idea to seal that wound with a bit of sulphur or allow to dry out for a day before planting.

Plant your seed potatoes with the eye facing up about 20cm apart and cover with 10cm of soil backfill.
Keep soil from drying out by lightly watering daily, but don't overwater.
Shoots will appear after a couple of weeks. Once the plants are around 15cm tall, mound up soil around the stem of the plant and cover with a straw type mulch.
Don't fully bury as this may inhibit growth. As leaves emerge from the mound of straw keep piling it up with more straw.
After every third straw layer spread a few handfuls of Baileys Soil Improver Plus or compost. The larger the mound, the more potatoes you will get.
After several months they should be 30cm high. Tubers we harvest generally grow above the tubers we plant, so the deeper the layers, the more spuds you get.
Always make sure your potatoes are fully covered, not exposed to sunlight which will make them green and toxic.

Harvest

After anywhere from 14 - 20 weeks they will be ready for harvest. Dig carefully for small 'new' potatoes or wait until the green growth withers for a full crop.

Each seed potato should yield 10 potatoes. Use a garden fork insert it into the mound and lift it upwards bringing the potatoes to the surface, along with the plant.

After they are dug, dry as quickly as possible and store immediately in a cool, dark, dry place, avoiding exposure to light.

Hint : Potatoes keep better if you don't wash the dirt off straight away.

Varieties

With so many varieties to choose from, why not try a few and see which you like best for chips, mashing, baking and boiling.

Kipfler - Medium to large sized oval potato. Flesh is firm, waxy and yellow-cream in colour. Excellent potato with a distinctive flavour. Perfect for salads and roasting.
Dutch Cream - A great all-rounder. Large oval potato with waxy, yellow flesh, thin skin and a buttery taste. Excellent mashed, baked, roasted, or boiled.
Royal Blue - Long, oval shaped potato that is slightly flattened. Purple skin and yellow flesh. Excellent all purpose potato.
Prince of Orange - Smooth, red skin and dark yellow flesh with a long oval shape. Prince of Orange have a creamy, buttery taste and are a versatile variety, suitable for boiling, steaming, roasting and frying.
Mozart - Red smooth skin with yellow flesh. Lovely mashed, roasted or as chips. Good resistance to slugs.
Pink Fir Apple - A fingerling potato, Pink Fir Apple are long, knobbly potatoes with pink skin and a cream, waxy flesh. They have a distinctive nutty flavour and are perfect for boiling, roasting, chips, and as a salad potato.
Delaware - Medium to large sized oval potato. Cream skin and white flesh. Ideal for boiling and roasting.
Kestral - Long oval shaped potato with distinctive purple/blue eyes. White skin and cream flesh. Ideal for boiling, roasting, mashing or frying.
King Edward - A very old variety with pale skin and creamy white flesh. It's floury texture is perfectly suited to mashing and roasting.
Ranger Russet - Slightly flattened, elongated tubers with russet skin and white flesh. Low moisture and high starch content make this potato ideal for frying. Makes excellent chips.
White Star - West Australian bred variety. Cream Skin and flesh. Good all rounder, fantastic for chips.