What to plant after potatoes are out

What plants do well being planted where potatoes have been? Any that don't do so well? What about plants that scare away potato pests that might be in the ground?

Right now, I figure I'll plant whatever needs planting that's not a nightshade after I harvest potatoes here in another 4-6 weeks (I think.) However, if there are planting choices at that time, I'd love to plant whatever is most beneficial for my garden!

In 4-6 weeks (August 1st), how many days will be left before your estimated frost date?
I'd plant vetch or garlic in the fall in my climate (estimated frost date here is October 12). This overlaps with the planting-to-harvest-cycle for potatoes so I will rotate the potatoes to a different bed.

Maybe beans?  Fast growing, nitrogen fixers, and might be able to harvest some before the first frost. If not, let them rot over  the Fall/Winter as green manure.

I second the beans.  I would think about bush beans as they produce a crop faster than pole beans.  And if you don’t get any actual beans, at least you get that cover crop!

Eric

Here are a couple of threads that might offer some suggestions:

(Hint: these are about fall planting though I feel several of the suggestion can be planted when the potatoes are out)

https://permies.com/t/89509/Fall-Garden-Planning

https://permies.com/t/142450/Planning-Fall-Garden

My hope is that you or others might enjoy these suggestions.

In one of my 3' wide by 16' long rows (oriented North/South) out in the garden this year I planted 1/2 of the bed with red Nordland potatoes (short season) and the other 1/2 with onion sets I had started in January.

Down the middle of the row is a about 62" worth of trellis that runs the whole distance. This trellis lives there year-round and is not just for growing vertically on. It is also used for keeping plants from one side of the trellis from shading out plants on the other side... or plants in the middle in this case. As the potatoes were going gang-busters... I would simply pull their foliage back through the trellis to their side. Which kept the future trellised plants in the sun and thriving.

Down the entire middle of the 16' row... I planted a few types of Yellow Bell Peppers in this case. Now that the potatoes and onions are done... the Bell Peppers are probably 3' tall and starting to produce. They are being grown Espalier up the trellis and being weaved as they grow. They just got hit with a large bump of organic fertilizer along the entire area the potatoes and onions were growing AND deep mulched with wood chips. Just in time for the heat to start arriving.

This year I will be planting the onions in the Fall actually!!! The onions grown from seed will grow all Winter and then get MASSIVE in the Spring allegedly. Right now all my onions are about the size of large ones from the store.

I did this same thing for nearly every row in my garden.

In the other rows I did things like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and lettuce out on the outside of the beds (Usually on the East side of the beds) and then a few rows of onions on the West sides of the beds. In the middle I had things like Emperor runner beans, cucumbers, watermelons (icebox types that can be hammocked vertically), cantaloups, and more just getting started. Onions on the West side allowed for good sunlight during the warmest part of the day in Springtime.

As the old plants got pulled... I simply dug a shallow trench in their spot and added fertilizer again for the plants in the middle.

You should see my insane garden this year!!! It is AWESOME!!!

Also, for your situation, if your grow season is long enough still... you should still have time left enough for sweet corn. In my area here in Chesapeake, VA our season is long enough to plant two crops of corn in the same spot. Just have to do it with early maturing varieties.

Marty Mitchell wrote:
Also, for your situation, if your grow season is long enough still... you should still have time left enough for sweet corn. In my area here in Chesapeake, VA our season is long enough to plant two crops of corn in the same spot. Just have to do it with early maturing varieties.

First frost here is usually around November 1 so I definitely have time to grow something if we've got enough moisture in the ground for anything to grow. My potato patch is far from the spigot and I'm not planning to lug very many buckets of water! I may ask my husband to use the tractor to move the nice dirt to a spot where the hoses will reach.

Does anyone know what nutrients potatoes take from the soil? I'd love to plant a fall crop that restores what potatoes take, if possible!

Katie Nicholson wrote:

First frost here is usually around November 1 so I definitely have time to grow something if we've got enough moisture in the ground for anything to grow. My potato patch is far from the spigot and I'm not planning to lug very many buckets of water! I may ask my husband to use the tractor to move the nice dirt to a spot where the hoses will reach.

Does anyone know what nutrients potatoes take from the soil? I'd love to plant a fall crop that restores what potatoes take, if possible!

In the case of needing Both something that does not take watering And replaces nutrients… that is gonna be hard to answer for most.

Sounds like you have now entered cover crop territory and left the realm of veggies. Unless some sort of field peas sound good to you. I hear red ripper cow peas taste yummy. However, they will need at least some water via rain.

https://www.rareseeds.com/red-ripper-cowpea

What is your climate rain wise?

What is your soil type?  

Is it sunny there or always cloudy?

What are the temps normally like there during the upcoming summer days?

Marty Mitchell wrote:
What is your climate rain wise?

What is your soil type?  

Is it sunny there or always cloudy?

What are the temps normally like there during the upcoming summer days?

Rain stopped and heat set in unusually early this year for us in Southern Missouri. We're looking at occasional showers from now through September, but will need to water the garden pretty deeply pretty much daily. I'm already watering and have had some plant losses in my main garden already due to not watering regularly enough. It is nearly always sunny here. Heat is usually in the mid 90s in July and August is upper 90s.

I'll look into the field peas. Are they more tolerant of tough growing conditions than snap peas?

Katie Nicholson wrote:Are they more tolerant of tough growing conditions than snap peas?

Follow the link I put in that prior post. The red ripper variant originated from Africa and supposed to be able to be used as a cover crop… or food plot for wildlife it is so tough.

I have some in a bag in the fridge. I have not planted them yet. They are at the ready if one of the other crops fails prematurely. lol

They do say the red rippers will do better with irrigation but that it is not required.

Be sure to especially pay attention to the independent reviews in that link. It has sold me on them... to where I am just going to plant some along my beds now. Pretty blue flowers that pollinators love, great tasting, still performs even in dry conditions when most others won't, and more.

Where are you located? I'm in south central VA and have never been successful with onions.

This thread brings to mind a question about potato culture. I've only grown potatoes in northern Minnesota. They go in the ground at the end of may and the plants senesce in late September or early October when the second frost hits. And then I dig them and the season is over. The idea of planting something after potatoes are out is a little weird because I can count on snow covering the ground in the next zero to three weeks and staying until the end of April at least. So, I gather from the discussion that in places with a longer season, something causes you to harvest earlier than when snow falls. What is that? Do the plants senesce after so many days naturally? Do you harvest before the plants die back? And if the latter, what tells you when to do that?

And for extra credit, if you gather potato berries for TPS-keeping, how does that interact with your season? Berries are never ripe here when snow comes, so I bring them inside to ripen on the counter like a green tomato.

Christopher Weeks wrote: So, I gather from the discussion that in places with a longer season, something causes you to harvest earlier than when snow falls. What is that? Do the plants senesce after so many days naturally? Do you harvest before the plants die back? And if the latter, what tells you when to do that?

Although we have a longer frost free season, the middle part of it is too hot and dry for potato tuber hooking and bulking. Plant will be inefficient in photosynthesis and respiration rate is high, ending up with little gain in carbohydrates that can go into the tubers. It's easier to move towards the beginning of the season, aligning peak growth with peak soil microbe activity that makes nutrient available. I plant in late March and harvest new potatoes in Memorial weekend. Main crop will be ready in late June to early July for the early to mid maturity varieties. I tried keeping some going longer with fertilization but there was no tuber forming in summer time despite the green foliage. Sometimes I pulled the green plants in early June to make space for sorghum or squashes. Some of these early tubers are stored in the fridge for replanting in August for Thanksgiving harvest and next year's seeds.

I was going to plant out my tray grown leeks after I dug up my new potatoes in June (early Charlotte variety) but my first test dig yielded hardly any tubers this week.  Supposed to wait until the flowers die back but it's been unusually hot and dry here, so I think that has affected tuber size.

Instead my leeks are going in after my spring cauliflowers and broad/fava beans (both just finished).  I'll sow seed for either beets or turnips after the potatoes finally come up, depending on how late it gets--beets for July, turnips for August.  I can't believe how hot and dry it's been, the one year I finally decide to grow some potatoes!

Here is my time line for yukon gold. I mixed some half finished compost in ground and buried 10 store bought spuds turned green. Emergence took forever as we were in drought throughout March. Once the ground was over 50 F and it rained regularly, they grew at lightening speed. Plants reached full size and bloomed in mid May. I dug one plant up in mid June and got near 4 lbs. I will let the rest die back and sow legume/radish/oat cover crop. The soil will be quite depleted after potato so I don't plan on getting any more out for the rest of the year.