Potato companion plants are a diverse crop family thought to have positive agronomic effects on your carbohydrate-dense root crop. These plants’ subtle superiority can be witnessed from the soil improvement to the observable difference aboveground – pest protection and insect diversification. If you’re thrilled to know these advantages, we won’t leave you hanging with a lengthy preamble – stay on this page to get to know more about companions for potatoes!
Can You Plant Different Varieties of Potatoes Together?
Growing potatoes is a fun and rewarding gardening activity. With so many tempting varieties to choose from – russets, reds, purples, yellows – it’s understandable to want to plant several different types together in the same garden bed. But will this lead to success or failure for your crop? Let’s dig into the details on interplanting spuds.
Potatoes 101
First a quick Potato Growing 101 refresher. Potatoes are tubers that grow underground from the roots of potato plants. The plants emerge above ground and produce flowers that then form tiny green balls which are berry-like fruits containing true potato seeds. However potatoes are typically propagated vegetatively by planting chunks of tubers which grow into plants genetically identical to the “mother” plant.
Why Interplant Varieties?
There are several potential benefits to planting different potato varieties together:
- Grow more types in limited space
- Compare growth habits
- Stagger harvest times
- Hedge bets against disease/pests
- Add visual interest
On the flip side, there are also some risks involved with interplanting that must be addressed.
Factors to Consider
Several key factors determine if different potato varieties will thrive when planted together or if you’ll end up with a stunted, mixed-up mess of spuds:
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Maturation Rate – Early, midseason and late varieties should not be interplanted as their growth cycles won’t align.
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Yield – High yield and low yield varieties can be paired but may require tailored care.
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Height – Taller and shorter plants combined can lead to shading issues negatively impacting tubers.
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Spacing – With adequate spacing between plants, competition for water, nutrients and light is reduced.
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Purpose – Potatoes grown for different uses like salads, baking or storage have varied soil nutrition needs.
Best Practices for Interplanting Potatoes
Follow these tips to get a bountiful harvest when growing multiple types together:
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Choose 2-3 varieties with similar maturity rates and growth habits.
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Use alternating rows rather than random mixing which makes crop-specific care difficult.
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Space plants 12-18 inches apart and rows 2-3 feet apart to minimize competition.
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Fertilize the soil preplant focusing on balanced nutrition for all varieties.
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Hill all plants at the same time regardless of variety to prevent excessive shade.
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Monitor for pests and disease and treat promptly to avoid spread between varieties.
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Water thoroughly for even moisture and dig tubers of early varieties promptly to avoid disturbing later ones.
Compatible Potato Variety Combinations
Certain potato pairings or trios work especially well when interplanted. Some great examples include:
Early Season Varieties
- Norland (red)
- Superior (white)
- Yukon Gold (yellow)
These all mature within 60-70 days and produce similar size plants around 12-18 inches tall.
Midseason Varieties
- Kennebec (white)
- Red Pontiac (red)
- Viking (purple)
Maturing in 80-90 days, these make ideal companions with comparable habits.
Late Season Varieties
- Russet Burbank (russet)
- Purple Viking (purple)
- Rose Finn Apple (yellow)
Taking 100 or more days to mature, these late crop potatoes will reach harvest together.
When Interplanting Works Best
While interplanting spud varieties with similar traits often succeeds, some garden situations are better suited to single variety plantings:
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In cooler climates with a short growing season, a single early variety ensures uniform ripening.
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For novice gardeners, one variety avoids accidentally damaging developing tubers of other types.
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Container grown potatoes should be one variety adapted to pots for consistent water and nutrition needs.
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To easily save potato tubers for next year’s planting, avoid cross-pollination between blossoms.
The Verdict on Interplanting Spuds
With smart planning guided by understanding potato growth habits and selective pairing of varieties, interplanting different types of potatoes together can work beautifully. Pay close attention to plant performance and fine-tune variety combinations each season. Your patience will be rewarded with a vibrant, thriving potato patch and bountiful harvest!
Best Companion Plants for Potatoes
If you were to ask what to plant next to potatoes, you have a staggering assortment to choose from! Vegetables, flowers, herbs – you name it, and you got it. Perhaps the only limit here is your gardening goals and objectives!
What not to plant next to potatoes? Vegetables are absolutely exempted from the list for their edge over other groups of plants. Know why with the following!
Legumes like peas are one of the most studied model organisms to answer the question of what grows well with potatoes. In a study carried out by the University of Nairobi in Kenya, peas planted along with potato plots aid in better nutrient absorption, reducing the fertilizer application and the possible leaching that can contaminate groundwater.
Benefits: Improves soil nitrogen and phosphorus absorption
How to plant: Plant peas along the rows of potatoes with a 3 ft (90 cm) distance and with an inter-seed distance of 1 ft (30 cm).
Whether it is a pole or a bush bean, like most pulse crops or legumes, beans also have an acclaimed reputation in nutrient absorption – they help their neighbor utilize more nitrogen and phosphorus, which is a pricey resource in agriculture, encouraging sustainable use of land resources in your garden!
Benefits: Better utilization of soil resources, reduces the need for fertilizer application
How to plant: Sow two seeds per hill (planting spot) spaced approximately 25 cm along potato rows (with 3 ft / 90 cm interspace).
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The list of what not to plant next to potatoes absolutely excludes spinach, for it can pair up nicely with your root crop! The leaves are non-spreading, short and won’t affect the growth of your potatoes.
Benefits: Short growing cycle, can be picked sequentially
How to plant: Simply plant germinated seedlings along the potato rows, or you can insert plantlets next to your potatoes with a pretty exposed part.
Like spinach, lettuce is another salad green that has a mutual relationship with potatoes. With its relatively short cultivation cycle and tucked leaf arrangement, you won’t have to deal with competition and maintenance issues, as long as the soil has lots of compost or other organic matter.
Benefits: Fast-growing, can be harvested successively
How to plant: Sow lettuce seeds or pre-germinated seedlings in 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) spaces along the potato beds.
Cabbage, including its sisters, cauliflower, broccoli, and mustard, make an excellent addition to your potato patch. They also have a medium-sized girth that would not invade the main crop’s territory. Also, its putrid smell, which contains glucosinolates, sends potato insects packing.
Benefits: Better land use, pest protection
How to plant: Ensure that you incorporate as much organic matter as possible, like compost or supplementary nitrogen fertilizers, during the soil preparation; leave a 1-2 ft (30-50 cm) distance between hills alongside raised potato mounds.
Herbs innately have a pest-deterring smell, which makes them one of the favorite plant groups to be inserted in between rows of potatoes. If you consider herbs as an addition to your garden crops, feel free to choose the following:
Can you plant onion next to potatoes, you ask? The answer is a big yes! Onions are famed for their volatile organic compounds that discourage pests from staying next to your potatoes. If that does not sound enticing enough, it conditions the soil, which favors beneficial microbes to thrive, ensuring free root defense against soil-borne pathogens.
Benefits: Natural insect repellent, non-competitive, increased microbial diversity
How to plant: Plant 3 onion bulbs in between the 12 inches (30 cm) spaced hills of potato in its row or 12-15 inches (30-40 cm) apart from potato planting beds.
Gatecrashing into the horticultural gathering is the herb from Southern Europe – thyme. Aside from enhancing the flavor and aroma of your favorite roast dish, this bushy herb helps guard your potato garden from bugs like Colorado beetles. Indeed, it truly deserves an invasion of your vegetable yard!
Benefits: Reduces pest incidence, low-maintenance
How to plant: Because thymes are perennials, they are best planted along the borders of your potato garden, where they can spend their lifetime permanently.
A member of the carrot family, coriander or celery is a classic plant to slip into the beds to become potato companion. Its minty and spicy smell drives creepy critters away from your cultivated land. Also, it is a relatively easy plant to grow; reap your harvest continuously by only cutting a few leaves for plate garnishing.
Benefits: Flavor enhancement, soil flocculent, pest protection
How to plant: Sow 2-inch-spaced (5 cm) seeds alongside the potato beds if you are growing it for leaves. Increase it to about 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) for coriander seed harvesting.
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Garlic deserves a self-invitation into your backyard’s vegetable assemblage. Why? Simply because it requires only an inch of the entire plot to grow, enough to maximize space. And, of course, there is no reason to decline its free pest-dissuading capabilities, protecting your entire potato garden from biological nuances.
Benefits: Soil microbe diversification, late blight disease resistance
How to plant: In a row of potatoes, plant as much as 2 hills of garlic spaced equidistantly. At the same time, they may also be planted in line by the potato rows for a more organized planting.
Ohhh, basils! You don’t want to forget these garden basics. Almost all crops go feral just to be with its fragrant, non-pest-friendly aroma, keeping your garden safeguarded from voracious pests like aphids, mealybugs, and Colorado potato beetle.
Benefits: Natural pesticide, attracts beneficial insects
How to plant: Plant basils spaced 3 to 4 inches (8-10 cm) at the same time as potatoes for maximum benefits.
Cultivating flowers in your yard’s border is crossing two hurdles with a single leap – they beautify space and attract friendly insects that can help pin down the bad ones. To name a few, you can find a handful below:
Potatoes’ companion plants include the garden jewel – marigold. Its spectacular amber flowers beckon unresisting bees, wasps, and butterflies to take a sip of its sweet nectar. As a benefit, your potato garden is defended 24/7 by this army of beneficial insects against the bad ones. Underground, it secretes chemicals that prevent soil-dwelling pathogens from reaching the tubers.
Benefits: Magnets beneficial insects, serves as a trap crop
How to plant: Plant along the rows of potatoes for maximum benefits. If overgrown, trim the branches, including the spent flowers.
Nasturtium is a flowering, creeping vine that acts as a sacrificial lamb to prevent the pests from feasting on your potatoes. At the same time, its attractive flowers are the pollinator’s favorite, boosting insect diversity and pest resilience.
Benefits: Attracts beneficial insects, reduces soil erosion
How to plant: Sow nasturtium seeds in spring. Since the vines can run over potato vegetation, trim or divert the vines to other directions to avoid sunlight competition.
Belonging to the family of chrysanthemums and sunflowers, from the aerial parts down to the roots, tansies have all you need to be a good companion plant for potatoes! Its flowers are a safe haven for insects, while the roots exude natural biofumigant compounds that antagonize root pathogens.
Benefits: Attracts natural predators, adaptive to poor soils
How to plant: They are best started as seed indoors in cool regions before planting outdoors. Because they regrow year by year, plant it in the borders where they can permanently stay.
Another golden flower diva ballrooming harmoniously with potatoes is safflower. They border your garden from evading pests such as aphids and beetles. According to studies, a two-fold harvest can be enjoyed with safflower intercropping.
Benefits: Enhances biodiversity of predatory bugs, reduces Colorado potato beetle infestations
How to plant: Plant safflower in strips, that is, approximately 4-8 lines (8-12 inches or 20-30 cm between hills) sandwiched by two potato rows.
New to companion planting? Ready to grow smarter?
Discover the easiest way to pair plants, boost yields, prevent pests & save space in your garden!
Dotted with enchanting white flowers, alyssum is a relative of cabbage with insect-luring abilities – but the good ones! With its creeping and humble stans, it keeps the soil protected from water and wind erosion, providing an excellent haven for your potato’s root development.
Benefits: Reduce soil degradation, attract hoverflies that pin down aphids
How to plant: As alyssum are ground-huggers, let them creep along the potato rows. They can be sown directly in mild climates or pre-germinated in colder ones during spring.
Companion planting potatoes also include lesser-known plants that come with the same agronomic advantage. To get to know a few of them, keep scrolling below:
Flax is a flowering species mainly cultivated for the oil and fiber industry. In home-scale agriculture, it is primarily used in many gardens, especially with potatoes, to keep bugs at a distance. Simultaneously, it attracts small predatory creatures like lacewings that munch on aphids.
Benefits: Suppresses weed and disease incidence, better nutrient absorption
How to plant: Flax seeds are directly sown into the ground in spring, spreading evenly between rows of your potatoes.
This wasabi-like root crop not only spices up your dishes but also aids in a productive and healthy agroecosystem. It can break up the soil with its durable piercing taproot, ensuring that the main crop gets proper aeration and nutrients. Aboveground, insect predators and pollinators are enthralled with its scent, which can shoo away bad ones.
Benefits: Natural pest repellent, excellent soil conditioner.
How to plant: Grow horseradish in a spot with partial shade using its long, thick roots. They can spread uncontrollably, so its best to put ground barriers like steel edging.
Potatoes will go nuts with peanuts for the multitude of benefits they can offer! Belonging to the Fabaceae family, these underground pod-producing crops are known to contribute nutrients to their companion. They are also not finicky plants to grow after sowing, requiring lesser tending.
Benefits: Improves soil nitrogen content, reduces global warming potential, increases the yield
How to plant: In a single line between potato rows, bury a few seeds on each hill within 18 inches (45 cm) distance.
New to companion planting? Ready to grow smarter?
Discover the easiest way to pair plants, boost yields, prevent pests & save space in your garden!
Hailing from the Mediterranean basin and parts of Asia, lovage is a plant belonging to the Apiaceae or carrot family. It is prized for its economic importance in medicine and gastronomy. When grown with potatoes, its deep taproot can aerate the soil, while its flowers can attract hoverflies that parasitize most garden pests.
Benefits: Pest repellent, nutrient accumulator
How to plant: Leave a gap of at least 2 ft (60 cm) between rows of potatoes and each hill in the line. Its best to sow seeds in spring to harvest in early to late fall.
If you ask what can you plant with potatoes, corn can be the definitive answer. Due to its importance in the agricultural industry, it is a widely studied organism, especially in terms of the benefits of companion plants – and that includes potatoes!
Benefits: Promotes high potato yield, better soil nutrient utilization
How to plant: Plant double rows of maize 30 in × 10 in (75 cm × 25 cm) in between potato beds (spaced at 15 inches or 38 cm from the corn rows).
Where to start potatoes – indoors or outdoors?
Practiced conventionally, cultivating potatoes usually starts indoors in the process called chitting. Seed potatoes, or small tubers with lots of “eyes” or nodes, are simply exposed to a relatively cold room with access to light, like windows, for instance.
Watch This BEFORE You Plant Potatoes
FAQ
Can you grow different varieties of potatoes together?
If you ask, can you plant different varieties of potatoes together, the answer is definitely a yes! When an assortment of varieties are planted, plant genetic diversity is increased. This makes it hard for the pests or fungus to jump from plant to plant.
Can you mix different types of potatoes?
Sure, you can. They will get along fine. The differences are just like human races. Each will have its own roots and tubers. Space them by 4-5 inches.
What not to plant around potatoes?
Also, while the above list make potatoes happy, make sure to avoid planting potatoes near: tomatoes, cucumbers, turnips, pumpkins, squash, sunflowers, rutabagas, and raspberries. They can slow potato growth and/or make potatoes more susceptible to blight.
How many years does the same field get used for growing potatoes?
To help minimize their loss to diseases, farmers usually grow potatoes in each field once in every four years. The three seasons between potato crops allow time for potato-infecting diseases to die out in that field.