Generally, potatoes are planted in the ground in spring. The best time to plant potatoes depends on the variety you choose. If you want to harvest early, start by sowing early potatoes. They can be planted from mid-March.
When is the right time to plant potatoes?
The ideal time to plant potatoes depends on the variety: early potatoes can be planted from mid-March, medium-early and late varieties follow from mid-April to mid-May. Make sure the weather is frost-free and the ground temperature is at least 8 degrees Celsius.
Mid-early and late potatoes follow from mid-April to mid-May. This way you can harvest fresh potatoes from your own garden over a long period of time.
Planting early potatoes
Although the first potatoes can be sown from March, you have to wait until the weather is frost-free. Temperatures should be at least 8 degrees Celsius. Then your bed in a sunny location will already be warmed up by the sun's rays.
To protect against late frosts, cover the potatoes with garden fleece (€34.00 on Amazon) or straw. You can check as early as June to see whether the first potatoes are ripe. The early potatoes include the “Christa” and “Leila” varieties.
Medium early and late varieties
The sowing of medium early varieties such as “Agria” and “Cilena” and later varieties such as “Linda” takes place from mid-April to mid-May. You can safely wait for the Ice Saints. You start harvesting medium early varieties in August. This is followed by the late varieties until October.
Pre-germinate potatoes
So that the potatoes grow faster and more productively after sowing, they are pre-germinated. This can be done in a fruit box that is placed in a bright place that is around 10 - 15 degrees warm and takes about two - four weeks.
Prepare the bed
The future potato bed is dug up deeply in the fall. The clods of earth then remain untouched throughout the winter. In the spring you chop up the clods with a cultivator, rake the bed smooth and draw the rows for sowing potatoes.
Tips & Tricks
For everyone who gardens according to the lunar calendar: When the moon wanes, the forces retreat underground and promote underground growth. The first quarter of the waning moon is therefore the best time to plant potatoes. This isn't scientifically confirmed, but it's definitely worth a try.
