How to Grow Potatoes

Select seed potatoes based on their growth cycle. Potatoes are classified by their growing season, a characteristic that can be influenced by weather.

• Early potatoes will reach full growth in about 60-110 days. If planted in late March, they will be ready to harvest by late June or early July. Varieties like Pentland Javelin, Arran Pilot, and Dunluce are examples.
• Main crop potatoes take about 125-140 days to mature. If planted in late April, they can be harvested by mid-August and may continue to be harvested until October. These types often produce larger potatoes, ideal for immediate use or storage for winter. Varieties such as King Edward, Kerrs Pink, and Harmony belong to this group.

Purchase the selected seed potatoes. You can order seed potatoes online, buy them at garden stores, or even use leftover potatoes from the supermarket. However, these potatoes are not certified disease-free, so they may pose a risk if you plan to grow potatoes in the same location year after year, as diseases can spread in the soil.

• It is advisable to buy certified seed potatoes to help manage and reduce the risk of diseases affecting your crops. Certified quality seed potatoes can be found at garden centers or online for an affordable price. There are various potato varieties suitable for planting at different times of the year.

Prepare the potatoes for planting. Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to cut the potatoes into pieces, ensuring each piece has no more than three "eyes," which are indentations on the potato's surface. Let them sit in the sunlight for one or two days, or until the eyes begin to sprout.

• Do not soak the potatoes as some suggest. Potatoes don't require soaking since they don't have a hard shell like other seeds that need softening. They already contain enough moisture within to sprout. Soaking potatoes can increase the risk of rotting rather than help them sprout! Let the cut surfaces "heal" and form a dry "skin" to protect against rot.

Consider using potato fruit to harvest seeds. Some potato varieties produce small green, toxic fruits on the ground, each containing up to 300 "true" potato seeds. Crush the potato fruit and place it in a dish of water; after about a day, the potato seeds will separate and sink to the bottom of the dish.

Plant the potato pieces in a greenhouse or on a windowsill. You can use an empty egg carton or a seed tray to place the potato pieces, ensuring the sprouts face upwards. Once the sprouts grow to about cm in height, they are ready to be planted outside.

• Leave about 2-3 sprouts per potato piece and remove any excess sprouts.

Prepare the soil. You can grow potatoes in a raised bed or large containers in your backyard. Large plant pots, old tires, and even old chimney covers are all suitable options. The most important factor is ensuring the soil is free of weeds. You may also need to add compost or manure to enrich the soil with nutrients.

• Prepare the soil with well-rotted compost and apply a high-potassium fertilizer.
• Ensure thorough tilling of the soil. Potatoes will not thrive in hard or compacted soil.

Choose the right planting time based on your climate. Plant potatoes a week or two before the last frost of the year. You can find this information here. Cold nights will eliminate any potential pests, and potatoes need more sunlight as the days grow longer. For example, in coastal Virginia, potatoes are typically planted on St. Patrick's Day in March and harvested in July.

Select the best location in your garden. Choose a sunny, well-draining spot since potatoes require warmth and sunlight to grow healthy. Avoid planting potatoes in shaded areas of the garden.

• Ensure you rotate your potato crops each year to different spots in the garden to allow the soil to "rest" and replenish its nitrogen content. Alternatively, you can supplement the soil with a fertilizer solution (05-10-10) throughout the growing season and after harvesting the potatoes.
• Potatoes can also be planted in potato bags or large containers. Carefully plant a sprouted potato in the compost, with the sprouts facing up, about 12 cm deep in the soil. Gently cover the potato with compost. The essential factors for the plant after that are water, sunlight, and protection from frost.

Plant the seed potatoes about 10 cm deep. It is recommended to plant potatoes in rows, spaced about 30 cm apart, and 10 cm deep. Form a ridge along the row to create a mound of soil. Ensure enough space between the potatoes so they don’t touch each other as they grow.

• Another method is to cut the seed potato into pieces, ensuring each piece has at least 1 or, preferably, 2 sprouting eyes. Dip the pieces in agricultural sulfur powder carefully to avoid breaking the sprouts, as this can slow their growth. Place the pieces in the soil with the cut side down, ensuring the sprouts or "eyes" are facing up, about 8-10 cm deep in the ridges.
• As the leaves break through the soil, continue mounding the soil around the plant to prevent the potatoes from rising above the surface. If exposed, these potatoes will turn green and become inedible due to toxicity.
• Once the plants are strong and start flowering, you can begin feeding the plants with a nutrient solution. When the potato plant begins to wither, it’s time to start digging and harvesting.

Watering potatoes in moderation. Potatoes thrive in soil that is not only loose but also drains well. Therefore, you should water them only when the soil starts to dry out, and avoid keeping the soil moist once the tubers have formed. Ensure you plant potatoes on a mound or raised beds so that water can easily drain off. If you plant them on flat ground, they won’t grow well.

• Watering once a week throughout the summer is ideal, as long as you do it carefully and not too often. If the leaves begin to wilt, it’s a sign that the plant needs water. However, be cautious not to overwater; otherwise, the potatoes may rot and turn black.

Harvesting potatoes. Harvest your potatoes just before the first frost. You can harvest potatoes in stages – early or ‘new’ potatoes can be collected around 8 weeks after planting (when the first flowers appear). You can pull up a few potatoes without disturbing the plant, leaving others to grow larger. The right time to harvest is when the leaves turn yellow and start to wither.

• If you plan to grow potato seeds from a seed company or garden center, make sure they are disease-free varieties.
• If you leave some potatoes in the soil, they will sprout the following year. While this might seem like an easy option, planting potatoes in the same spot year after year is not recommended, as it can increase the risk of disease due to depleted soil nutrients. A good garden should rotate different vegetables, including potatoes.
• You can harvest two crops a year; one in summer if you plant in spring, and another at the beginning of winter if you plant in fall.

• Avoid consuming potatoes that are green or any green parts of the potato – they can cause poisoning in large quantities.
• Soil that contains stones or gravel can result in oddly shaped potatoes, so be sure to remove any rocks from the soil to achieve uniform produce.