Planting potatoes made easy

Some potatoes can be pre-sprouted from March onwards. To do this, simply place the tubers in an open tray and put it in a dark place. The sprouting time drops as the temperature increases. 10 to 15 °C is ideal. Then the potato plants can be put in a loose and weed-free soil in April after three to six weeks' sprouting time when the weather is mild and dry.

A groove can be made with a planting string, in which a potato is planted every 30 cm. The plants have enough space to spread out if the rows are spaced about 70 cm apart. It also better to dry off the plants in wet conditions to prevent diseases.

The crop plants should not freeze once they have sprouted from the soil. Once they reach a growth height of about 15 cm, the plant rows should be ridged up using the earth in the spaces between the rows. Prevent light from reaching the tubers so that green patches with a high solanine content don't develop on the potatoes. This also ensures a rich harvest.

Garden centres now sell special two-layer plant pots that you can use to grow potatoes on your balcony. One pot has recesses that make it easy to remove the ripe tubers. This pot is placed in a normal plant pot. When planting in tubs, you just need to make sure that there is no waterlogging. To do this, place clay fragments or gravel in the pot and then pour in growing soil. It is also useful to ridge the soil later on.