Project Name: Late Potatoes – 2026 Season (Spring), Raised Outdoor Beds
Project Objectives: Grow enough potatoes to store for most of the winter for the whole family.
Business Case & Project Scope:
I have been growing potatoes for my family for many years. It wasn't always successful. Over the years, I found out that growing in soil is not always ideal. People who don't have big fields know what I am talking about. Also, growing in compost or grass has its own rules – with the wrong method, you can burn yourself and the potatoes too! :D That is why I decided to share my gathered experience with you this season.
In the past, I tried growing not only yellow potatoes, but also red ones. And never again with the red ones! They tasted delicious, but mostly the Colorado potato beetles loved them! :D I also grew potatoes in soil and in compost. Since I tried compost and grass, I will always grow them only this way. At first, I grew them on the ground, but the grass around swallowed them. Then I grew them on black garden foil, but the neighbor's cats used them as a toilet for a change! :D But you can win over everything! And you can read about that in this article :)
Resources & Target Deliverables:
- Late yellow potatoes
Critical Infrastructure & Hacks:
- Black garden foil
- Potato boxes (raised beds)
- Enough high-quality compost
- Netting against the neighbor’s cats :D
- Garden hose for watering
EXECUTION PHASE:
Phase 1 (Mid-March – Early April): Remove old sprouts and put potatoes in the light
About 4–6 weeks before planting, I remove all sprouts from the seed potatoes. Especially the long and thin ones. If the potato has a short (up to 5-10 mm) and strong sprout, I leave it. I put the potatoes on trays so they don't lie on each other and place them in the light (ideally on a windowsill). Thanks to this, they will have perfectly strong sprouts before planting.
Phase 2 (May 3rd, 2026): Planting potatoes into the compost (the ideal time is from Mid-April to Late May)
When I was setting up the potato field from raised beds, first I laid black garden foil on the ground over the whole area. This is so that grass or weeds do not grow through anywhere. Only then did I place the raised beds in the area.
I have 6 raised beds for potatoes (size of one is about 400x50 cm, height is 23 cm). And in autumn, I put aside 200 potatoes for planting (potato size of about 3-4x5 cm is enough). That is 33 pieces per bed. There will be 17 potatoes in one row and 16 potatoes in the second row (so I plant them zig-zag in the bed). First, I place them on the bed to see the correct layout. Only then do I use my hand to make a hole all the way to the bottom (depth about 10–15 cm), put the potato there with the sprout facing up, and then carefully cover it. Very carefully, so the sprout does not break! ;)
Then I stretch netting over the beds. The compost is beautifully warm in the sun, and the neighbor's cats used them as a toilet. Plus, they were digging up my planted potatoes. But the netting deters them beautifully :) Victory! :D In the beginning, it is necessary to water the potatoes more (careful, the compost must be moist, but not like a swamp). If the potatoes are dry at the start of growth, they will get scabs (dry scabs/spots on the potato skin). It will not change the taste of the potatoes, but it does not look nice.
Phase 3 (second half of May): The first potatoes are coming out and potato beetles already noticed them
You can already see the first little leaves in the potato beds. I am happy. I even observe rose chafers (shiny green beetles) here, which lay eggs near the potatoes. Larvae will grow from them and they feed on rotting plants. And because I grow potatoes in dry grass, they will have plenty of food here. And I will have plenty of their poop, which is great nutrition for growing potatoes.
But! The warmth and the smell of potatoes already attracted potato beetles. Oh no. I definitely didn't want to see them here. And I can start picking them - every day. And this will be until the end of August (maybe longer). Well, I am thrilled :D
Phase 4 (end of May): The potatoes are already tall, it is necessary to fertilize them
Because the potatoes are starting to be taller than the bed, it is necessary to fertilize them. In the past, I experimented with many fertilizers, but in the end, the fertilizer made exactly for potatoes proved to be the best. I removed the wire net and calculated the amount per m2 for all 6 beds (the dosage is written on the packaging). I divided the fertilizer into 6 little piles. I poured a little bit to each plant, until 1 whole cup was used in 1 bed. Then I added dry grass to the potatoes. And again I covered the potatoes with the wire net against the cats. Then I watered them honestly 2-3 times a week for 14 days.
Phase 5 (middle of June): Potatoes grew lightning fast and the fight with potato beetles
After fertilizing and regular watering, the success arrived. The potatoes grew lightning fast in 2 weeks :) Unfortunately, the potato beetles multiplied lightning fast too :D Even though I was picking them every day. Fortunately – I am still managing to pick them. But I am afraid that soon it will be necessary to use some chemicals against the potato beetles.
As soon as the potatoes started growing a lot through the wire net against cats, I removed it. At this point, the cats will not use the beds as a toilet anymore :D
CURRENT STATUS:
We are waiting to see what strategy the potato beetles will choose :D
