How to Grow Potatoes | Everything You Need to Know

Almost all gardeners love potatoes because of their taste, whether you savor them as creamy mashed potatoes, crispy fries, roasted delights, or in a variety of mouthwatering gourmet creations. What if you could produce your own potatoes in your own backyard or garden, guaranteeing their quality and freshness?
This article will guide you through each detailed step required to grow potatoes properly. It contains all the information on how to grow potatoes, from selecting the best potato type to preparing the soil, planting, and eventually caring for your potato plants.

General Advice

How to Grow Potatoes Step By Step

Step 1: Decide on your seed potatoes

Seed potatoes are not the same as the ones you buy at the grocery store. They are certified disease-free and have not been treated with sprout inhibitors. You can buy seed potatoes from nurseries, garden centers, or online catalogs. It is necessary to look for varieties that suit your climate, soil, and cooking preferences.

Another way you can apply is to pre-sprout them by simply laying them out on your kitchen counter. Pre-sprouted potatoes can be harvested a few weeks earlier than their non-sprouted kin.

Step 2: Detached the Eyes

To have bumper harvest, it is essential to plant only small, golf ball-sized potatoes whole.

Each seed potato has several buds or eyes that can grow into new plants. Divided into smaller pieces, each segment has two or three eye. 

The reason for cutting potatoes is that having too many eyes on a single large potato will result in a crowded, multi-semmed plant, with each stem competing for nutrients and moisture, ultimately yielding only small potatoes.

Step 3: Make the Cut Pieces Cure

After cutting the seed potatoes, you need to let them heal or cure for a few days. You also place them under the sunlight or put them on a table or counter in a warm room (about 70°F), with moderate light for three to five days. 

This step makes the cut marks become calloused. Potatoes with calloused skin will help prevent rot.

Step 4: Choose A Sunny Place To Plant

Sunlight is essential for potatoes because it provides the energy they need to perform photosynthesis, the process by which they convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars and starches. These carbohydrates are stored in the tubers. They are the edible part of the potato plant. The more sunlight the potato plants receive, the more starch they can produce and the larger and heavier their tubers will be.

Warnings: Avoid planting potatoes in shady areas, such as under trees, near buildings, or along fences. Also, avoid planting potatoes in low-lying areas prone to moisture or frost, as this can damage the tubers or cause them to rot.

Step 5: Planting Potatoes

Digging a trench that is 6 inches deep is the first step. Place the seed pieces about 12 inches apart in the trench, with the eyes facing up.

To promote healthy growth, gently sprinkle 2 tablespoons of a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer between each segment. Then, cover both the potatoes and the fertilizer with 2 inches of soil and thoroughly water the soil.

Step 6: Hill Surrounding the Stems

New potatoes form stems on the sides, also known as ‘stolons’ on the top of the seed potato, so they need to be hilled. When the green shoots reach a height of 8 inches, bury all except the top 4 inches with soil, chopped straw, or shredded leaves. 

Hill the plants again when the potato plants grow another 8 inches. The more you hill, the better your harvest potential. Stop hilling when the vines start to flower.

Potato tubers, like vampires, must remain in darkness. They turn green if exposed to light, potentially causing illness. Hence, it is crucial to ensure these tubers are consistently shielded from light with a protective layer of soil or mulch.

Step 7: Fertilizing

The timing, rate, and method of fertilizer application depend on various factors, climate, variety, soil type, and cropping system. Generally, potatoes benefit from nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers, with the first application at planting and the second one at tuber initiation. Micronutrients can be used as foliar sprays or through irrigation systems. 

Warnings: Fertilizer recommendations should be based on soil tests and crop needs.

Step 8: Potato Harvesting Techniques

When the plants begin to blossom and wither, potatoes are ready to be harvested. You may examine the size of the tubers by digging up a few plants. You can harvest them all if they are big enough to suit your needs. You can pick the potatoes sooner if you prefer smaller ones.

Lift the plants out of the ground using a fork or a spade, being careful not to damage the tubers. After shaking off any extra soil, give them some time to dry.

Wondering about How long potatoes take to grow? Small new potatoes can be ready as early as 10 weeks. However, larger potatoes take about 80-100 days to reach maturity.

Step 9: Store Your Potatoes

If you store potatoes in a cold, dark, and dry environment, potatoes can be kept for several months. Avoid washing them until you are ready to use them, as moisture can cause rotting. 

You can also cure your potatoes for a week or two in a well-ventilated place with a temperature of about 50°F and high humidity. This will help heal any wounds and thicken the skin. Store your potatoes in a bin, box, or basket with some air circulation.

Step 10: Saving Seed Stock

Gardeners can save seeds for generations. Save the best potatoes for planting. You may notice a decrease in size after a few years;this is typical. Potatoes are very susceptible to viral infection. If you’re looking for maximum yield, it’s best to start each year with USDA-certified fresh seed.

Note: SSE, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is working to eliminate viruses in conventional potatoes to safely preserve potato genetic diversity and provide high-quality seed potatoes.

How to Water Potatoes

Keep potato vines well-watered throughout the summer, especially during and after the plant’s flowering period. During this flowering period, the plant forms tubers, and a consistent water supply is the key to good crop outcome. Potatoes grow well with 1 to 2 inches of water or rain per week. If the leaves turn yellow and begin to die back, it is necessary to stop watering. This will help the potatoes mature during harvest time.

When to grow potatoes

The suitable time for planting potatoes varies based on your location. Gardeners in warm climate regions often grow them on Valentine’s Day, while those in cooler areas may plant them around Easter or the beginning of spring. A general rule is to aim for 3-4 weeks before your last frost date.

Tips for growing potatoes 

Here are some tips for growing potatoes successfully:

• Soil: Potatoes need well-drained, loose, and fertile soil with a pH of 5.0 to 6.0. Avoid heavy clay or sandy soils that can affect water retention and tuber development. To enhance the soil’s structure and nutrient content, add organic matter, such as manure or compost, before planting.
• Variety: Potatoes come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors, and they also have different maturity times. Early varieties mature in 70 to 90 days, while late varieties take 120 to 140 days. Choose a variety that suits your climate, taste, and intended use. 

For example, if you want to harvest new potatoes in summer, plant an early variety in spring. If you want to store potatoes for winter, plant a late variety in late summer.

• Watering: Potatoes need regular watering, especially during the critical period of tuber formation, which is about two weeks after flowering. Keep the soil moist but not soggy, and avoid overwatering or underwatering, which can cause cracking, rotting, or scabbing of the tubers.
• Harvesting: Potatoes can be harvested at any stage of growth, depending on your preference. For new potatoes, dig up a few plants when the flowers start to fade and enjoy the small, tender tubers. For mature potatoes, wait until the foliage dies back and the skins harden, which is usually in late summer or fall. 

Common Pests and Diseases and Solutions

Pests Which Affect Potatoes

• Cutworms: Cutworms: These cutworms feed on young plants’ stems and roots. To prevent cutworm damage, you can place cardboard collars around the base of the plants or apply insecticides to the soil before planting.
• Potato beetles: These beetles are yellow and black-striped beetles chew on the foliage, reducing the plant’s vigor and yield. To control potato beetles, you can hand-pick them off the plants and drop them in soapy water or spray them with neem oil or other organic pesticides.
• Aphids: These are small, soft-bodied insects that suck the sap from the leaves and stems, causing them to curl and distort. To get rid of aphids, you can spray them with a strong jet of water or use insecticidal soap or neem oil.
• Leafhoppers: These are tiny, wedge-shaped insects that pierce the leaves and sucking the sap. Leafhoppers cause leaf yellowing and curling. To prevent leafhopper infestation, you can cover the plants with row covers or use insecticides such as pyrethrin or spinosad.

Diseases Which Affect Potatoes

• Blight: This is a fungal disease that causes brown spots on the leaves and stems, which eventually turn black and rot. To prevent blight, you can plant resistant varieties, avoid overhead watering, remove infected plants, and apply fungicides such as copper or chlorothalonil.
• Powdery mildew: This disease causes white, powdery patches on the leaves and stems. Powdery mildew reduces photosynthesis and weakens the plant. It can be controlled by improving air circulation, pruning excess foliage, and applying fungicides such as sulfur or bicarbonate.
• Scab: This is a bacterial disease that causes rough, corky lesions on the tubers. Scab can be prevented by maintaining a neutral soil pH, applying organic matter, rotating crops, and avoiding excess nitrogen fertilization.

Final Thoughts

As a result, knowing how to grow potatoes at home is a rewarding experience that gets you closer to the natural source of your food and enables you to enjoy the flavor of just-produced potatoes. 

Through this article, you now have a thorough grasp of how to produce potatoes, but keep in mind that success frequently requires persistence and experience. Every season offers fresh chances to hone your abilities and adjust to the particular requirements of your garden or growing area.