Planting Potatoes

scotexpat

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I have a Newish Vegetable Garden,planted for the 1st time last Year. A large area was used for planting Potatoes.My question is, do I have to rotate my Vegetables this Year? My Potatoes were fabulous last Year and I don't want to take any chances if I should be planting them in a different location this Year.
 

The Mama Chicken

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Yes, you should always rotate your crops. It keeps pests and diseases from building up in the soil around their preferred food source. Think of it this way: a bug that only eats one family of plants (potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers in this case) lays it's eggs in the soil where your potatoes were last year, if the same plants are there when they hatch this year they will have a ready supply of food and thrive. If you have cabbages (or corn, or pumpkins, etc..) planted there, they won't have food and will most likely die.
 

digitS'

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Also, here's another way to think about potatoes, especially:

They are plant parts. The seed companies can go quite a ways in sanitizing seeds. They are just little "bits" of things anyway. Those potato tubers are living parts of plants. If you are using your own to replant, you are really taking some risks. Either way, diseases and pests that were in the previous years' plants can immediately move into the tubers, once they are back in the ground.

We only discover some potato diseases after harvest. So, you can spend the entire season caring for the plants only to have something show up in storage, next fall.

Steve
 

scotexpat

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Thanks for the confirmation.My Veggie Patch is not very big and I was hoping I could get another crop from the same location,but your explanations as to why not makes a lot of sense.
 

catjac1975

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scotexpat said:
Thanks for the confirmation.My Veggie Patch is not very big and I was hoping I could get another crop from the same location,but your explanations as to why not makes a lot of sense.
The potato is not a bad looking crop. Perhaps you can put a few in with your flower garden. This would be really good with sweet potatoes as they are a beautiful plant. Decorative sweet potatoes are planted all the time-why not edible?
 

scotexpat

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catjac1975 said:
scotexpat said:
Thanks for the confirmation.My Veggie Patch is not very big and I was hoping I could get another crop from the same location,but your explanations as to why not makes a lot of sense.
The potato is not a bad looking crop. Perhaps you can put a few in with your flower garden. This would be really good with sweet potatoes as they are a beautiful plant. Decorative sweet potatoes are planted all the time-why not edible?
I worked very hard Today and extended and widened my Veggie Patch,so it looks as though I might manage to rotate after all,if I have enough energy that is.
We had 20% Temps Today,most unusual for Ontario at this time of Year. Thanks for the suggestions though.
 
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