COMPANION PLANTS FOR POTATOES

GROW BETTER POTATOES and improve flavour plants ~

Horseradish increases disease resistancy, repels Potato Beetle and improves potato flavour.
Peas have shown to reduce the density of Colorado and Potato Beetle.
Garlic has shown to be more effective than fungicides on potato blight.
Dead Nettle can enhance growth, improve flavour and keep villainous insects away.
Green Beans enrich soil with nitrogen, enhancing potato growth and keeping them strong.
Herbs in general attract beneficial insects that feed on the harmful ones. They can also improve flavour.
Sage controls flea beetles
Parsley
Thyme
Basil
Yarrow
Corn
Cabbage
Scallions
Lettuce
Spinach
Amaranth ~ Investigation Required for this apparent SuperFood. To Be Continu

BENFICIAL FLOWERS

Marigolds produce natural pesticides that protect potatoes from viral and bacterial infections.

Planted in close proximity or dug-in to the soil, marigolds can kill nematodes on contact.

YiPPeee.

Petunias help protect potatoes from leaf hoppers.
Alyssum attracts beneficial, predatory wasps that eat insect pests and can be used as a living mulch.

REPEL COLORADO & POTATO BEETLE plants ~

Peas

Nasturtium
Corriander
Tansy
CatNip is loved by cats. They kill vermin. Unfortunately they stinky~poop in the beds

so no CatNip for me.

AVOID PLANTING WITH THESE plants that increase blight susceptibility ~

Tomatoes
Aubergines, or Eggplant
Sunflowers
Raspberries
Pumpkins
Squash
Cucumbers

AVOID THESE TOO ~

Carrots
Asparagus
Fennel
Atriplex
Turnip
Onions

Ensuring a crop rotation period over three years in areas that have been planted with other Solanaceous or Nightshade crops including Potatoes, Tomatoes, Aubergines or Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Chilli Peppers etcetera, to help avoid any risks of failure from diseases or pests inherent in the reaped soil.

COMPANION PLANTING In A NutShell

If you are just beginning, rooted in or not at all interested in the concept of companion planting it probably will, on reflection, make sense. Ma Nature provides ALL that is required for an Organic, self managed, sustainable, un~polluting Eco~system in the form of insects, birds and animals, seed, soil, sunshine, rain and nutrition to regenerate with a miraculous ability to protect and heal itself and each other without guns or corporate pharmaceuticals.

In the main all by its' lonesome.

We can, however, lend Ma a hand, especially if we aim to increase a crop yield or help to protect it without those pesky pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical weed killers, chemical fertilisers, carcinogens or toxins by combining plants that either attract pollinating and pest eating insects and wildlife, repel those pesky terrorists, offer shade or support or improve the flavour of our edibles.

It must be added that the main 'Companion' in managed horticulture is 'The Gardener', so if the onus is on a healthy, organic, toxin free, corporate~free, know~what~your~eating harvest 'The Greased Elbow' 'The Tweezer~Grip Fingers' 'The Investment Of Time' and 'The Keen Eye' will assist in endeavours pertaining to organic pest~o~cide.

The information below is a compilation of knowledge gleaned from sites and forums dotted around the internet and also read from those thick paper things. It is intended to be an interactive, concise, personal record for referencing and storing information deemed too heavy for one forgetful mind and too encyclopedic to write out, store on reems and reams of paper and finally have to remember which pile it was put in when needed.

Welcome to Potatoing With MisterByMiles.

This is record of information and experiences in a quest to become a self-sufficient potato grower able to generate the full annual requirement of potatoes to sustain one person, that'll be me, in a limited growing area and on a limited budget. Hopefully, with considered planning, an excess can be grown which will require a need for either careful storing, preserving, bartering or sharing.

As potatoes cannot comfortably or safely be eaten raw by humans there will also be a need for cooking guidelines. "Simple" you may think out loud. Beyond boiling, chipping, mashing, roasting, fluffing, crushing or jacketing in an open fire, to make the humble tuber more interesting and possibly more nutritional and beneficial to health, I shall be investigating the various herbs and spices claimed to harbour super properties.

There are a small number of main aims, one being the self-sustainability effort as mentioned. Of equal importance is growing organic and in line with the principles of permaculture.

As a small, inquisitive boy in an average-aged mans' body, finding out how 'things' work and experimenting is a natural urge rarely ignored.

to be continued...

That's it.

stay tuned.

Byron Miles