Learn how to grow potatoes in this step by step guide that will teach you everything you need to know about planting potatoes for a successful harvest.
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How to Grow Potatoes
As long as you have loose and healthy soil that is loaded with nutrients, potatoes can be one of the easiest things to grow.
- You can divide the potatoes into smaller pieces, as long as they are not too soft, with each piece having 1 to 3 eyes or sprouts. Allow the divided potatoes to cure, or develop a skin, for at least 2 days before planting them into the ground. Smaller potatoes can be planted directly into the ground without having to divide them.
- If youโre soil is too hard, or clay like, add organic compost, and give the soil a good tilling to loosen it up and get it ready to receive some potatoes.
- Amend the soil with an organic slow release fertilizer at the time of planting.
- Space the potatoes 12 inches apart in rows 12 to 18 inches apart, insuring that the eyes or sprouts on the potatoes are facing up.
- Dig a hole 6 to 8 inches deep and place the potato in it with the eyes, or sprouts facing up.
- Cover the potatoes with soil, and water moderately, simply to keep the soil moist. Overwatering can cause the potatoes to rot.
- Once the potatoes sprout, you can continue to cover them with layers of straw to prevent any potatoes that grow on the surface of the soil from turning green. Green potatoes can be toxic because they contain a compound known as solanine that when consumed can cause upset stomach and even paralyses if consumed in large quantities. You can learn more about the greening of potatoes and its effects on humans on healthline.com
- Water sprouted potatoes to keep the soil moist.
- You can amend the soil with an organic fertilizer mid season, or once the potatoes begin to produce flowers. The flowers are an indication that the potato plants are beginning to produce tubers.
When to Harvest Potatoes and How to Store Them.
- Once the potato plants begin to yellow and die back, allow them to fully die back for 1 week, and then you are ready to harvest.
- Dig up root potatoes using a garden fork, gently brush off excess dirt, and lay the potatoes on some cardboard or a wooden board in a cool dry place. Cover them with some burlap or a breathable dark cloth to prevent light from hitting them, and allow them to dry and develop their skin for about 1 to 2 weeks. This process is known as curing. During this process also, the potatoes work on developing their sugars.
- Store potatoes in a cool, humid place with plenty of air flow, at temperatures between 35 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit . The ideal temperatures to storing potatoes long term are between 35 and 40 F.
Can You Grow Potatoes From a Store Bought Potato
Potatoes can be grown from store bought potatoes or seed potatoes. Seed potatoes are basically potatoes that have been grown specifically to be sold as potatoes for planting. Seed potatoes are not treated with any growth inhibitors.
Most store bought potatoes, when stored in a humid and somewhat warm environment will begin to sprout. These sprouted potatoes can be placed in the ground and will give you potato plants and tubers.
However, some store bought potatoes may be treated with a growth inhibitor to prevent the potatoes from maturing too quickly. This may prevent the potatoes from sprouting, or from giving you a good crop of potatoes.
Over the past several years, all my potatoes have been planted from store bought potatoes, and I have had many successful years. This is the first year that I purchased certified seed potatoes.
To ensure that you are going to get a good harvest, you can always buy organic store bought potatoes as they are less likely to be sprayed with growth inhibitors.
What Month Do You Plant Potatoes
The month is not necessarily what you should go by for planting your potatoes, but rather your last frost date.
Make a quick web-search by typing your zip code and last frost date into the web, and you will quickly find out what is your last frost date.
You can plant your potatoes 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date, or as soon as the temperature of the soil is at 45 degrees F or above.
If your potatoes sprout, and you are expecting frost, cover them with a frost protecting cover to prevent them from dying back.
How Long Does It Take to Grow a Potato From a Potato
Potatoes can take between 60 to 120 days, depending on the variety. You can begin harvesting and using potatoes as soon as they develop their tubers. New potatoes can take between 60 to 90 days, while mature potatoes can take between 80 to 120 days.
How Do I Sprout Potato Seeds
Whether you are sprouting store bought potatoes, or potatoes that you have grown, sprouting them is super simple.
Simply place the potatoes in a somewhat humid and warm environment at temperatures above 60 degrees. Potatoes sprout best at 70 degree F. Forget about them, and come back a few weeks later to check on them, you will see that your potatoes have developed sprouts.
Can You Plant a Whole Potato
Cutting and curing the potatoes before planting is not necessary unless the potatoes are large and have many eyes.
Cutting the potatoes will give you more potato plants and more potatoes as long as each cut has at least one eye.
How Do I Know When My Potatoes Are Ready to Harvest
You can tell when the potatoes are ready to harvest when the plants begin to yellow, and fully die back.
once the plant dies back, you can harvest and cure the potatoes in a cool, dark and dry place.
Do not leave the potatoes in the ground longer than a week after the plant has fully died back. If you do, you will risk the possibility of the tubers rotting, and animals eating them.
You can harvest potatoes before they fully die back, but they will not be at their mature size yet, and the flavor will be slightly different.
Do Potatoes Need Full Sun
Potatoes prefer full sun in order to develop large tubers. They prefer at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight. Some afternoon shade is ok, but expect slightly smaller tubers.
How Do You Harvest Potatoes
To harvest potatoes, dig up the tubers using a garden fork or a shovel while also being careful to not poke or slice the tubers. If your soil s super soft, you can try digging up the tubers by hand. However, I can imagine this would get tiering and tedious very quickly.
How To Store Potatoes
Potatoes do best stored in a cool and moist location at temperatures between 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. However, most of us do not have a root cellar. So if you have a basement that stays at or below 60 F during the winter, this would be a great place to store your potatoes.
The ideal moisture levels to store potatoes at are 95% which is a very high humidity level if you are storing them in your basement.
They will do fine in less humid environments. If you are planning to store them at 95% humidity, place a couple oscillating fans in the room to circulate the air and prevent the tubers from molding and rotting.
You can get a thermometer that can also measure the humidity levels to help keep your potatoes fresh longer.
You can store potatoes either in burlap bags, or in cardboard boxes. Make sure no light hits them to prevent them from turning green and developing the solanine compound. Solanine is toxic to humans.
Do not store your potatoes in an airtight or non breathable storage container. Potatoes need air flow to prevent them from getting moldy. An air tight container can harbor moisture which would then lead to mold and disease development in the tubers.
Donโt forget to leave a comment if you have any questions, or if you just want to share your potato growing experience with us!
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