Planting guide

When to plant potato

Plant a seed potato, hill it up, and dig your own spuds a few months later. In Melbourne it goes in Jul–Nov.

Start as: Tuber
Ready in: 11–17 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 12 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means potato can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Townsville	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Paris	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant potato

Buy certified seed potatoes and let them sprout in light for 2 weeks.
Plant 10 to 15 cm deep, sprouts up.
Mound soil or mulch over the shoots as they grow.
Dig when the tops yellow and die back; cure a few days.

Potato varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Sebago Classicstorage · heavy-cropper · 13–17 wksWhite all-rounder; boil, bake or mash
Desiree Classicstorage · colourful · 13–16 wksRed-skinned, yellow-fleshed all-purpose potato
Dutch Cream Classicstorage · mild · 13–16 wksCreamy, waxy-tasting all-rounder for roasting and mash
Pontiac Classicstorage · 13–16 wksRed-skinned versatile boiler and baker
Kipfler Adventurousheirloom · mild · 13–17 wksFinger-shaped waxy salad potato with nutty flavour
Pink Eye Adventurousheirloom · 14–19 wksKnobbly late waxy potato, excellent salad flavour
Purple Congo Adventurouscolourful · heirloom · 13–17 wksDeep purple flesh; keeps colour when cooked
Nicola Classicstorage · 13–16 wksWaxy salad type that holds shape in cooking
King Edward Classicstorage · 14–18 wksFamous British floury potato for roasting

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Cabbage, Marigold

Potato by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Carrot · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Parsnip · Swede

Not sure potato is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now