The potato is undoubtedly one of the most popular vegetables in Poland. It was not introduced to Europe until the 16th century, but very quickly became one of the most commonly grown edible plants, constituting one of the basic sources of food for the population. Growing potatoes is relatively simple, but it is worth putting in the effort, as any negligence can have serious consequences during harvest. How to prepare the soil for growing potatoes? How and when to fertilize? What machines to use? We invite you to read our article!
Preparing the soil for planting potatoes
Potatoes are not particularly demanding when it comes to soil type, but they are much more demanding when it comes to soil cultivation. Potatoes yield best in sandy loam soils rich in humus. The field where potatoes are to be grown should be well sunlit, warm, and aerated. The soil should be loose to provide the potatoes with adequate oxygen. Potatoes are relatively undemanding when it comes to previous crops. Good previous crops for potatoes are cereals (especially if a catch crop is sown after harvesting), perennial legumes, and root crops. Preparing the soil for planting potatoes begins immediately after the previous crop has been harvested. It is definitely worth carrying out deep tillage at this point, combined with sowing a catch crop (we particularly recommend a catch crop using legumes, such as narrow-leaved lupin, which will additionally enrich the soil with nitrogen). This treatment aerates and loosens the soil, creating very good conditions for the growth of the catch crop, but also allows for the accumulation of significant amounts of water, which potatoes particularly need.
The planting date is very important for this plant. Potatoes are very sensitive to frost (there have been cases where frosts in May or June have destroyed entire potato plantations). When planting potatoes, the soil should be well warmed up. Suitable temperature conditions even out emergence and facilitate the subsequent development of potato tubers. Early potatoes should be planted at the turn of March and April, while the optimal time for most varieties is the second half of April.
Fertilizing potatoes
When growing potatoes, one of the most important factors is undoubtedly the acidity level. Potatoes are sensitive to overly acidic pH levels. The appropriate range is a slightly acidic pH of 5.5-6.5. When adjusting the soil pH, it is important to remember not to lime directly or shortly before planting, as this can result in “common scab,” which significantly reduces the quality of the tubers and can cause problems during storage. An important factor in potato cultivation is the humus content of the soil; the more humus, the better. In addition, potatoes have high nutritional requirements. To produce 1 ton of tubers with the appropriate amount of green mass, a potato consumes on average about 4 kg of nitrogen, 1.5 kg of phosphorus, 6 kg of potassium, 2 kg of calcium, 1 kg of magnesium, and 1.5 kg of sulfur. In the case of micronutrients, this will be: 2.5 g of boron, 2 g of copper, 7 g of manganese, 0.1 g of molybdenum, and 6.5 g of zinc. Fertilization with micronutrients is best done foliar at the time when the potato needs it most, i.e., during the period when the plants close in the rows. Potatoes respond very well to soil fertilization with natural fertilizers such as manure, slurry, or digestate. Natural fertilizers should be applied early enough (preferably in the fall) because the nutrients contained in natural fertilizers need time to be absorbed by the potatoes.
Machines for potato cultivation
The right amount of agrotechnical treatments and the selection of machines are crucial in potato cultivation. After harvesting the previous crop, the field where the potatoes are to be grown should be deep plowed with a TYTAN PLOW subsoiler to aerate the soil and shallowly cultivated with a TITANUM STANDARD or TITANUM HEAVY disc harrow. Shallow cultivation is best done twice. The first time immediately after harvesting to stimulate self-seeding, and the second time about two weeks after sowing the stubble intercrop. As mentioned earlier, one of the best plants is narrow-leaved lupine, preferably in a mixture with peas, spring vetch, or phacelia (the more plants in the intercrop, the better). The field cultivated in this way should be left until late autumn.
In autumn, when the stubble catch crop has built up a sufficient amount of green mass, it should be removed and mixed shallowly with the soil. How to remove catch crops? Please refer to our previous article entitled “Removing catch crops”.
When removing the cover crop, it is a good idea to use natural fertilizer, i.e., manure or slurry. Slurry is best applied using a TSG applicator. This allows us to apply fertilizer and remove the cover crop in one pass. The removed catch crops should be mixed with the soil at a depth so that they can decompose well and release nutrients. 
In this case, a good replacement for a standard plow is the MAHIT chisel plow, which can also be used as a subsoiler. This machine thoroughly mixes the shredded plant parts with the soil at a greater depth.
In spring, we should avoid deep cultivation due to excessive water loss in the soil, and instead focus on preparing the soil for forming ridges with potatoes. The soil for potatoes should be free of clods, aerated, and leveled. For this purpose, we recommend using the COBALT cultivator equipped with 4 rows of spring tines, which can work up to 20 cm deep into the soil. The double flat bar roller used in it will beautifully break up clods and lumps formed after winter, preparing the field for forming ridges with potatoes.
