GROWING ORGANIC POTATOES
Potatoes do well when planted with beans, corn,
cabbage, horseradish, marigold and eggplant.
Potatoes do not do well
near pumpkin, tomato, raspberry, squash and cucumber and sunflower. The presence of these plants apparently lowers the
potatoes' resistance to blight.
Beans with potatoes
protect against Colorado potato beetles and the potatoes protect the
bens against Mexican bean beetle.
Horseradish or flax in
rows between potatoes protects against the potato bug and the blister
beetle, Flax improves both growth and flavour.
Nightshade weed attracts potato bugs, which eat the weed and die. Nightshade is a
member of the potato family. It has poisonous leaves, white
flowers and black berries.
Hemp (Cannabis) grown in
the neighborhood of potatoes helps protect against phytophthora
infestans, the cause of late blight. Dead nettle, nasturtium and
esparsette growing near are thought to be of benefit.
Potatoes do well when
they follow a rye crop. Cabbages do well planted between potatoes after
the first hilling. The presence of lamb's quarters in the potato patch
is an indication that the crop should be moved to a new location.
Colorado potato beetles
are attracted to eggplant, preferring it to the potatoes. A border grown
around the potatoes patch will serve as a trap crop to catch and destroy
the beetles.
Potatoes should not be
grown near orach, tomatoes or apples. Apple trees cause
potatoes to be more susceptible to phytophthora blight.
Under light, potatoes
develop a green color and an poisonous alkaloidal glucoside know as solanine. These potatoes should not be used for food unless
all green is carefully removed.
Ripening apples should NOT be stored in
the same cellar as potatoes since they give off small amounts of
ethylene gas which can give the potatoes an off flavor and affect
shelf life. The apples, too, lose flavor in the presence of
potatoes.