By Ricky
antrim,
United Kingdom 
hi all can i grow potatoes in the same ground next year people tell me that you have to leave it for a year i know a few guys that have been growing potatoes in the same plot for years if i put down loads of cow manure and let it over winter will it not regenerate the soil enough to grow potatoes in any help please
29 Sep, 2011
It is poor practice to grow any vegetable crops in the same ground next year, Ricky. All crops are subject to their own diseases, traces of which could be left in the soil for next year. Potatoes are particularly vulnerable to blight fungus and spores of this can fall into the soil for next years crop. The infection may be so slight that you did not notice it this year but if you replant with potatoes it would be worse next year.
This is why gardeners practice crop rotation where the site is split into separate plots and the different types of vegetables moved round each year. A three year cycle is the minimum advised with a four year being more usual and a five year cycle even better.
29 Sep, 2011