Planting, Growing, Harvesting, and Storing Potato Plants
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Planting
You’ll need a location with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight and fertile, loose, well-draining soil; hard or compacted soil leads to misshapen tubers. Ideally, the soil is slightly acidic (pH 5.8 to 6.5), and the soil temperature is at least 45º to 55ºF (7° to 13°C). In the fall, mix compost or organic matter into the soil. Learn more about compost, soil amendments, and preparing the soil for planting.)
When to Plant Potatoes
Garden potatoes can be planted 2 to 4 weeks before the average last frost date. The soil temperature should be at least 55°F during the day and 45°F at night. However, pay more attention to the soil than the calendar to determine planting time. The soil should not be so wet that it sticks together and is hard to work. Let it dry out a bit first. If you have a late and wet spring, you can plant later—through April (depending on location) or even June, especially in containers.
In cooler regions, the early-maturing potatoes are usually planted early to mid-April. In warmer regions, planting times range from September to February; in central Florida, gardeners plant potatoes in January; in Georgia, they plant in February.
See our Planting Guide for the best dates to plant by zip code or postal code.
How to Plant Potatoes
Potatoes for planting are called seed potatoes and are usually sold in bags or netting. Use certified (disease-resistant) seed potatoes from which eyes (buds) protrude. Do not confuse seed potatoes with potato seeds or grocery produce.
When you get them, break them free, lay them out in a tray (such as an old egg carton), and pop them somewhere bright and frost-free to sprout—such as an indoor windowsill. This is a process called chitting. It’s not essential, but chitting helps speed things along so that by the time the potatoes are planted, they’ll be primed and itching to send out roots.
As the video below shows, after a month of chitting, the potatoes produced stout, stocky, green sprouts, which is exactly what we’re after; we don’t want the long, pale sprouts you get when potatoes are left in the dark. But if you haven’t had a chance to chit your potatoes and it’s already time to plant, don’t worry—get them in the ground.
A great way to get more seed potatoes for free is to cut them in half. But only do this if they’ve got plenty of eyes, which appear as small dimples and are where the sprouts emerge from. For this reason, you want to place the end with the most eyes facing upwards.
At least 2 days before planting, use a clean, sharp paring knife to cut large potatoes into golf ball-size pieces, with one to two eyes each. This time allows the pieces to heal or form a protective layer over the cut surface, improving both moisture retention and rot resistance. Do not cut up seed potatoes that are smaller than a hen’s egg; plant them whole.
Photo by tanyss/Getty Images.
- Outside, prepare the planting area by simply spreading compost across the surface to a depth of around an inch or 3 cm. Potatoes are fairly hungry plants, so this extra nourishment will help to support good soil fertility and a strong harvest.
4 Methods of Planting Potatoes
There are different approaches to planting potatoes. (See a demonstration in the above video, if needed.)
- Dig Holes: For each seed potato, dig a hole about 6 inches deep (or 16 cm). Add in a little slow-release organic fertilizer (e.g., chicken manure pellets) and then pop in the potato with sprouts pointing up and cover with soil. Space potatoes about 16 inches (or 40 cm) apart in both directions for early types. Main crop potatoes need a bit more space to stretch their legs, so space them at 18 inches (or 45 cm) apart.
- Dig V-Shaped Trenches: Dig 2- to 2.5-foot-deep (or 15- to 190-cm) trenches. Lay a nourishing cushion of garden compost along the bottom and a few of those chicken manure pellets, then set your tubers into position about 1 foot (or 30 cm) apart. Then, just fill back in. I don’t think it makes a huge difference which way you plant, so do whatever’s easiest in the space you have.
- Plant in Straw: Nestle seed potatoes down into the soil surface, then cover them with straw. See our article on planting potatoes in straw.
- Plant Potatoes in Pots: If you don’t have the garden space, plant in large containers, old compost sacks, or purpose-sold potato sacks. Fill the bottom of your pot or sack with about 4 inches (10 cm) of potting mix, then lay one or two potatoes on top and cover. Once the foliage is growing, add in more potting mix, a bit at a time, to hill or earth them up until the soil level reaches the top, at which point the foliage almost seems to explode in size. See our article about container gardening with potatoes.
Growing
- Watering Potatoes: Firstly, water! This is really important because potatoes are lush and leafy plants, and those tubers take a lot of effort to swell. So if it’s dry, water thoroughly. Maintain even moisture, especially from the time after the flowers bloom. Potatoes need 1 to 2 inches of water a week. Too much water right after planting and not enough as the potatoes begin to form can cause them to become misshapen. Stop watering when the foliage begins to turn yellow and die off.
If you’re growing in containers, take extra care to keep your plants really well watered, especially in warmer weather, as this really will make all the difference in achieving a good crop.
- Hilling Potatoes: The potato flavor is improved by depth and darkness. As the potato plants grow above the soil surface, you’ll need to periodically “hill up” or mound up soil and compost around the plant so that only the top leaves stick out of the ground. It’s vital not to allow potato spuds to be exposed to sunlight, as this also causes them to turn green and produce solanine, a chemical that gives off a bitter taste and is toxic. Do the hilling in the morning, when plants are at their tallest. (During the heat of the day, plants start drooping.) Just draw up the soil with a hoe every time the stems get to around 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) tall so that just the very tops are left poking out. Continue doing this in stages until you can no longer draw up any more soil, or the foliage closes over in between the rows.
If you’re growing your potatoes in a smaller raised bed, it may be easier to simply top up with organic matter around the whole area.
Credit: Avalon Studio/Getty.
- Protect From Frost: Late frosts can damage the young foliage—something to watch out for with early starts. Frost-bitten plants usually have enough energy to shake off any damage, but it can set plants back nonetheless. So if a frost is forecast and potatoes stand to get clobbered, do whatever you can to protect them. Cover the area in a few layers of warming fleece or row cover fabric, cover clusters of shoots with pots, or draw up the soil to bury the young shoots.
Note: In cool growing seasons, potato vines may sport berries. The berries are the fruit. Cut one open and see how it resembles its cousin, the tomato. Potato berries are poisonous and inedible. Plus, their seeds will not produce potato plants that resemble the parent. Discard them.
Practice yearly crop rotation with potatoes in order to avoid pests and diseases.
There are three classifications for potatoes based on when you harvest (vs. when you plant). If you harvest for storage, be sure to choose the right type:
- Early-season potatoes: first to be planted in early spring. Grow quickly (60 to 80 days), ready to harvest by early summer, tender flesh, thinner skin, store up to a few weeks.
- Mid-season potatoes (aka second early potatoes or “earlies”): mature in 80 to 100 days, typically lifted up from second half of summer, store up to a month.
- Late crops: mature in 100 to 130 days, best for storing, lasting 2 to 3 months in the right conditions; planted in August and harvested in fall.
Also, decide on the texture and flavor of your potatoes, and how you’d like to eat them:
- Dry-fleshed, mealy potatoes like russets and long white potatoes are used for baking, frying, and mashing. As mashed potatoes, they will not be gluey, and they will absorb gravy, butter or sour cream.
- Moist, waxy, round potatoes are great in soups, curries, frittatas, and salads because they don’t fall apart when cooked. You can pan-fry leftover boiled potatoes. When you mash waxy potatoes, they can become sticky.
- Red-skinned potatoes are often used for boiling or for potato salads.
Some popular potato varieties, such as ‘Yukon Gold’, fall somewhere in between truly waxy and mealy.
There are over 100 potato plant varieties! Go beyond the Idaho potato to explore more exotic and delicious options. See our article on choosing the best potato varieties!
Early Varieties:
- ‘Irish Cobbler’: tan skin, irregular shape (great heirloom potato for delicious mashed potatoes!)
- ‘Red Norland’: deep red skin, sweet, delicate flavor, great in potato salads or boiled
- ‘Mountain Rose’: red skin and pink flesh, resistant to some viruses
Mid-Season Varieties
- ‘Yukon Gold’: popular, tan skin and buttery-yellow flesh, mid to large size
- ‘Red Pontiac’: red skin, deep eyes (easiest and most adaptable red potato there is to grow)
- ‘Viking’: red skin, very productive
- ‘Chieftan’: red skin, resistant to potato scab, stores well
Late Varieties
- ‘Katahdin’: tan skin, resistant to some viruses
- ‘Kennebec’: tan skin, resistant to some viruses and late blight
- ‘Elba’: tan skin, large round tubers, resistant to blight and potato scab
- All Blue Potatoes
- ‘Fingerling Salad’ potatoes
Harvesting
Harvesting potatoes is fun! It’s like unearthing nature’s treasures. Harvest potatoes on dry days. Dig up gently, being careful not to puncture the tubers. Avoid cutting or bruising potato skin. The soil should not be compacted, so digging should be easy. Potatoes can tolerate light frost, but when the first hard frost is expected, it’s time to get out the shovels and start digging potatoes.
Harvesting at the right stage keeps tubers from sitting too long—upping the chances of a slug or disease attack, particularly for main crop spuds.
Earlies are the first to be lifted, usually while the plants are still in flower. Your tubers should be about the size of a hen’s egg or a touch bigger, but it’s up to you how big you want them. Use a fork and work your way in from the edge of the plant, taking care to avoid stabbing into the potatoes themselves. Once you’ve loosened the plants, you can lift them to expose most of the spuds, but be sure to dig around in the soil for any you’ve missed!
Dig up main crop spuds once the foliage is dying back towards the end of the growing season. I find it easier to cut back the foliage before digging up the potatoes on a dry day. Leave the potatoes on the soil surface for a few hours so the skin can dry off a bit. Don’t leave them there any longer, or they may start to turn green.
Extra tips for knowing when and how to dig up potatoes:
- Toughen up potatoes for storage before harvest by not watering them much after mid-August.
- Dig up a test hill to see how mature the potatoes are. The skins of mature potatoes are thick and firmly attached to the flesh. If the skins are thin and rub off easily, your potatoes are still too new and should be left in the ground for a few more days.
- If the soil is very wet, let the potatoes air-dry as much as possible before putting them in bags or baskets.
- Small green spots can be trimmed off, but throw the potato out if there is significant greening.
- Only store potatoes that are free of bruises, disease, or damage, as you don’t want problems in storage, and check on stored potatoes every few weeks and remove any that are starting to spoil.
How to Cure Potatoes
- Once they’ve dried off, pack them up into breathable sacks or just sturdy cardboard boxes to store somewhere dark, cool but frost-free (45° to 60°F / 7° to 15°C) for up to 2 weeks. This allows the potato skin to cure and thus keep longer.
- Brush off any clinging soil; do not wash the potatoes until ready to eat; washing will shorten their life.
How to Store Potatoes
If you are harvesting potatoes to eat within a few days, storage is not an issue. You can store anywhere.
To store potatoes for keeping, however, you need a dark, cool (38° to 40°F) place; if it’s too warm, potatoes will sprout and be susceptible to disease. Also, it needs to be somewhat humid; potatoes are 80% water, so if it’s too dry, potatoes wither and dry out.
If you happen to have a damp cellar, you’re all set! Otherwise, consider an extra refrigerator set a few degrees higher than normal with tubers in dark-colored plastic bags that are perforated (with many holes cut in the side) for air movement. Avoid all light to prevent greening. Or, consider an unheated entrance, spare room, closet, attic, cabinet, or insulated garage. To elevate humidity, you could place large pans of water in front of the air source.
Even after harvest, potatoes still use oxygen and give off carbon dioxide, so they must have fresh air and ventilation. Never put potatoes in airtight containers. Use perforated bags, as mentioned above. Do not store potatoes with apples; the fruit’s ethylene gas causes spoilage.
Find more tips on getting potatoes ready for the root cellar.
Cooking Notes
Potatoes can be prepared in many ways: boiled, mashed, cut into pieces and roasted, french-fried, scalloped, made into dumplings or pancakes, grated into hash browns, and even brewed as alcoholic beverages.
Most potato dishes are served hot, but some are first cooked, then served cold, notably potato salad and potato chips.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Thank you for your thorough explanation of the potato growing process. I had some small red potatoes from the store that had started to sprout. I found conflicting information & decided to try different ways of handling the potato for planting. From one small potato, I took broke 2 growths off & rooted them in water. Others were cut in two & rooted in water (4 plants). And a couple were just planted whole. They were planted in a no dig plot of good 2 yr old mulch about 5 inches deep in mid-May. After they grew some, I added more mulch. They all grew, though the ones without a potato were smaller plants. I kept them watered (hot summer). After about a month & a half, they were lush green plants. They didn't flower. Then the leaves started turning yellow & dying, but new leave grew from the stems. They all grew again, but one of the potato-less plants died after growing new leaves. I dug around around & found 1 potato. That was about 3 wks ago. Now I've found a couple new potato plants popping up between the existing ones. Would potatoes that grew from these plants sprout & grow a plant this year? Should I did them up or wait for the plants to die again? (Still no flowers.) Sorry for the long prose & thank you for any advice you can give.
Interesting experiment, Ellee! Congratulations! We can not say for certain whether your plants would grow (again). The most significant question we would have is, was the “mother” potato organic? You did not indicate. Grocery store potatoes are often treated and so are not suitable to grow as plants. That said, many will sprout eyes and may even take root. We would advise that you start again with “seed” potatoes (they cost only pennies—ok, maybe dimes) or some potatoes that you can confirm are untreated (organic) such as you might buy at a farmer’s market (be sure to ask, of course). That way, you can be assured that the plants and spuds can continue to be planted year after year.
can I use oak leaves as a mulch?
Yes, oak leaves can be used as a natural mulch. They contain a lot of tannins, which isn’t a bad thing, but it does mean that they will take a long time to break down. We would suggest shredding the leaves before you use them as mulch. Otherwise, they may stick together too much when they get wet, making it hard for water to get through to the soil.
How about sugar maple leaves?
Hello. Thanks for your informative potato video. Well done!
What software are you using to create your garden plan? I'd like to give it a try.
Regards,
Joe D
We use the Almanac Garden Planner! Try it here: Garden Planner
I grow organic potatoes. I don't always use the small ones. They start producing eyes and growing stems. Are these the same as seed potatoes? I've looked everywhere and can't find info on what makes a potato a seed potato. Would appreciate your input.
Hi, Debbie, There is no such thing as a potato seed; the phrase “seed potato” is used on tubers that are used to start plants that are/will be genetically identical to the parent, or source plant. Your organic “seed potatoes” should be fine for growing plants this season.
Yes, there ARE "potato seeds." True potato seeds (TPS) are kind of difficult to find and are challenging-but rewarding- to grow.
Potatoes bloom, and if the conditions are JUST right (and you're very lucky) the bloom will become a berry with tiny seeds inside.
If they don't make seeds, you can still grow new plants by planting the resulting tubers from your TPS plant. Each plant grown from TPS is a unique, new cultivar!
Don't be surprised if the tubers from your TPS plant stay pretty small. Plants from seed potatoes tend to be larger.
I buy my TPS from a (US domestic) Ebay shop. They're sweet folks. The seeds are a bit pricey- about $7 per pack - but I think they're worth it.
