No matter whether they are early or late potatoes, floury or waxy - all types of potatoes need to be fertilized from time to time. We'll tell you how to do it right here.
With potatoes from the supermarket, you never really know exactly how they were grown and whether any pesticides were used. On the other hand, you are always on the safe side if you grow potatoes yourself. But to really get the most out of the tuber, you should also give it the right nutrition, in the form of fertilizer.
In itself, fertilizing all potato varieties is not that difficult, but only if you do some preparatory work and fertilize the soil in the previous year. The following explains exactly how to fertilize potatoes or the soil before cultivation in order to achieve a really good harvest.
Fertilize the soil before planting potatoes
» Apply horse manure:
You lay the foundation for growing the potatoes the year before. Potatoes need a lot of nutrients and therefore you should prepare the soil optimally in the previous year. The best way to do this is to work in mature compost or animal manure. It is best to cover the beds with horse manure over the winter. The following spring, simply rake off the layer with the horse manure and work the rest into the soil.
» Apply green manure:
It is also an advantage if you apply green manure before planting the potatoes, as this ensures that there is sufficient nitrogen in the soil afterwards. In addition, the subsoil is loosened and nutrients are transported upwards from deeper layers. Beans, peas, clover, vetches and lupins are well suited for green manure. Of course, the plants don't survive the winter, but you can simply work them into the soil in spring. So you have created the perfect substrate for growing potatoes.
Fertilize potatoes during the growth phase
» use organic/synthetic fertilizer:
After planting the potatoes, it's about the right fertilization during the growth phase. Even if the tubers are heavy feeders and contain a lot of nutrientsneed, you should not overdo it with fertilizing. If you have prepared the soil properly for cultivation, then you won't have to do as much later.
» use organic fertilizer:
We generally recommend using an organic product for fertilization. Horn shavings or dung, for example, are ideal for this. Yields won't be as great as if you were to use a synthetic fertilizer, but the potatoes will taste much better.
But: unfortunately, organic fertilizer is not immediately available to the vegetables. Microorganisms only gradually break this down. However, you should always prefer organic fertilizers to artificial fertilizers.
» use synthetic fertilizer:
Of course you can also use a synthetic fertilizer. However, when using an artificial fertilizer, you can quickly over-fertilize the soil. This not only means that the potatoes can be stored for less time, the aroma can also suffer and illnesses have an easier time of it.
You must therefore make sure that all nutrients (nitrogen, sulphur, magnesium, potassium, phosphate) are present in ideal quantities. And that, in turn, is not that easy to do. You have to carry out a soil analysis beforehand in order to find out the optimal mixing ratio of the nutrients. However, this should be done by a specialist, because only they can then put together the perfect fertilizer from the nutrients mentioned above.
» rotate crops every 3 to 4 years:
Since the potatoes really leach out the soil, you should definitely move the bed to a different spot in the garden every three to four years. This is also part of the fertilization. It also makes sense if you establish these beds in the meantime and sow clover, vetches or lupins, for example.