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Potatoes

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Botanical name: Solanum tuberosum

Plant type: Vegetable

USDA Hardiness Zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Sun exposure: Full Sun

Soil type: Sandy

Soil pH: Acidic


This half hardy vegetable is a culinary staple, and yet is overlooked by many backyard gardeners. The taste and texture of home-grown potatoes are far superior to store bought, especially the early varieties. They need a cool climate, and also need to be watched to prevent sunburn. Potatoes can be grown as a winter crop in warmer climate zones.

Planting

  • Plant seed potatoes (pieces of whole potato or a small whole potato, with at least 2 eyes per piece) 0-2 weeks after last spring frost.
  • If you are cutting up potato pieces for planting, do so a 1-2 days ahead of time. This will give them the chance to form a protective layer, both for moisture retention and rot resistance.
  • You may start planting earlier, as soon as soil can be worked, but be aware that some crops will be ruined by a frost.
  • Spread and mix in rotted manure or organic compost in the bottom of the trench before planting.
  • Plant seed potatoes one foot apart in a 4-inch deep trench, eye side up.
  • Practice yearly crop rotation.
  • See our video on how to grow potatoes in a trash can, the easiest ever container garden!
  • Before planning your garden, take a look at our plant companions chart to see which veggies are compatible.

Care

  • Potatoes thrive in well-drained, loose soil.
  • Potatoes need consistent moisture, so water regularly when tubers start to form.
  • Hilling should be done before the potato plants bloom, when the plant is about 6 inches tall. Hoe the dirt up around the base of the plant in order to cover the root as well as to support the plant. Bury them in loose soil. The idea is to keep the potato from getting sunburned, in which case they turn green and will taste bitter.
  • You will need to hill potatoes every couple of weeks to protect your crop.

Pests

  • Aphids
  • Flea Beetles
  • Leaf Hoppers
  • Early/Late Blight
  • Potato Scab: Most likely cause by soil with high pH. Remember: Potatoes like acidic soil (do not plant in soil with a pH higher than 5.2). Dust seed potatoes with sulfur before planting.

Harvest/Storage

  • Dig potatoes on a dry day. Dig up gently, being careful not to puncture the tubers. The soil should not be compact, so digging should be easy.
  • New potatoes will be ready for harvest after 10 weeks, usually in early July.
  • You should harvest all of your potatoes once the vines die (usually by late August), or the potatoes may rot.
  • Make sure you brush off any soil clinging to the potatoes, then store them in a cool, dry, dark place. The ideal temperature for storage is 35 to 40°F.
  • Do not store potatoes with apples; their ethylene gas will cause potatoes to spoil.
  • Whether you dig your own potatoes or buy them at a store, don’t wash them until right before you use them. Washing potatoes shortens their storage life.

 

Recommended Varieties

  • ‘Irish Cobbler’ is an early variety.
  • ‘Viking’ is a red skinned potato, regular season variety.
  • ‘Chieftan’ is resistant to potato scab.
  • ‘Elba’, ‘Rosa’ and ‘Sebago’ are all somewhat resistant to blight.

Recipes

Wit & Wisdom

Potato promoter Antoine Parmentier convinced Marie Antoinette to wear potato blossoms in her hair.

What I say is that if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.
—A. A. Milne, English writer (1882–1956)
 

Comments

Hello- I live in SC & never

By scvirginia on May 23

Hello-

I live in SC & never intended to plant potatoes this year. I found some good-looking plants in our compost bin, though, & transferred them to the flower garden before I even knew what the plants were. This was late March- presumably the plants got started in the bin earlier in March. All plants are doing well now- it is late May. One plant in particular really flourished & now has a couple of seed pods after flowering. Another smaller plant has just begun to flower. We've had an unusually cool spring, but summer is heating up. I have no idea what variety of potatoes these are, but I'm guessing there are a few varieties of fingerling potatoes based on what I can remember going into the compost bin. At least one plant has red potatoes. What are your thoughts about when I should harvest?

The traditional time to

By Almanac Staff on May 24

The traditional time to harvest potatoes is when the foliage has wilted or dried. Poke around for one spud and see if it looks edible. If you like it, pick em!

enedina bernal

By Anonymous on May 20

my brother wants to know when it is right to pull/dig the potatos out. he had planted them like 3 weeks ago....

It's still too early.

By mr g on May 24

It's still too early. Typically, you want to wait til the plant dies back. Then dig 'em up and let them set out a couple hours for the skins to harden before storing them in a cool, dark place.

frost

By Anonymous on May 14

I have potato plants that were doing very well in the garden. Until they got frost burnt! Now the leaves are brown dry. Should I pull up & start again or will they snap out & still produce potatoes?

No, leave them in the ground.

By MN on May 20

No, leave them in the ground. Mine came back after the leaves were all burned by frost. They look great now.

Ditto. We had two different

By LynnZ on May 25

Ditto. We had two different frosts this spring. Each time the plants withered and dried up, but then new growth came up and they are all alive and well.

Once the frost has got them

By Anonymous on May 16

Once the frost has got them they've had it I'm afraid, re seed within the next two weeks and fertiliser will be necessary as the first crop would have taken alot from the ground to grow that far.

Darn!! Thank you!

By Anonymous on May 16

Darn!! Thank you!

Can I move potato plants once they begin to grow

By Anonymous on May 9

I didn't dig up my potatos last year bc I thought they had all died do to the tomotoes (didn't know I should not put tomatoes and potatoes together) anyway, when I was turning the soil for the garden this year, I had a zillion tomaotes that are now growing, can I move the plants around to spread them out now that they are growing or what should I do?

Sure! Grab those tomato

By Almanac Staff on May 24

Sure! Grab those tomato seedlings and give them a good home—in your garden or those of your neighbors! They are sprouting from seeds of fruit left in the soil last year. Congratulations!

raised bed and spuds

By Anonymous on May 3

We live in Minnesota, 20 miles by bird from Canada. I'm planning to construct raised beds in order to raise potatoes, carrots, perhaps onions. How should I space the potatoes? And should I rotate them from bed to bed each year? The last couple of years, we've raised Yukon Golds and Norlin Reds, both of which have done very well.

Crop rotation is a much more

By Almanac Staff on May 24

Crop rotation is a much more complicated matter than can be addressed here but it will be covered at length in the 2014 edition of this Almanac! Here is an excerpt of that article that might help you:
A 4-year rotation could be four plots, rows, or pie shapes in a circle, with a different plant family in each one. For example, in plot or row one, the mustard family; in the next plot or row, the nightshade (POTATO) or gourd family; in the third, the carrot or onion family; and in the fourth, the pea family. Every year, the plant families would move to the next plot, always in that order.
Members of the onion family do not need to be rotated, but always give them rich, composted soil and check the pH.
As per the directions above, plant seed potatoes one foot apart in a 4-inch deep trench, eye side up.

potato plants

By Anonymous

i live in phx., az. the plants r growing tall and some have gone into bloom. my question is;can i cut back the stems w/o stopping the producing of the tubers?

Do not cut the stems off of

By Almanac Staff on May 24

Do not cut the stems off of the potato plants. (What's not to like?) Harvest the potatoes when the vines, or stems, wilt and die.

potato plant pruning

By Almanac Staff on May 17

It's best not to prune the potato plant in this case, because it needs its leaves to make food for the growing tubers. If some of the plant's leaves are pruned off, then the quality/size of the potatoes may suffer.

potatoes in HI

By Anonymous

I live in Hawaii and planted some potatoes in my garden, they now have blossomed. so my question is when should I harvest them?

Once the stalks have died

By Anonymous on May 11

Once the stalks have died off.

Covering up the vine

By Anonymous

When your potatoes for start growing and you start pulling dirt on them should you keep covering up the entire vine

Once your plants are 6 to 8

By Almanac Staff

Once your plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, hoe extra soil loosely around the base of the plant -- to within about 1 inch of the lower leaves from both sides of the row. Repeat in about 2 to 3 weeks. You "hill" the soil so that water doesn’t puddle around the seed. As the vines grow, mound up soil, covering the vine with just the tip remaining above the top of the mound. Do this until the mound is about 12 inches tall. Potato tubers develop above the planted seed piece, not below it. This is why tubers need to be covered with soil at all times.

potatoes in phoenix

By Anonymous

I planted yukon gold potatoes March 5th been covering with a commercial compost/mulch June can hit 115 easy,sun about 5 hours a day but can really heat up ground, mound is about 3' high are they going to cook before mature?

Sad to say, maybe. Potatoes

By Almanac Staff

Sad to say, maybe. Potatoes are defined as a cool-season vegetable. Your area gets so hot, it might be wise in future to avoid the peak heat with a variety that better suited to the climate; there are early, mid- and late-season varieties by planting in late summer or fall. Consult your local extension org or local nursery for specific advice. In the meantime, you could maybe try to keep them cool... If the mound is 3 feet high, it's also possible that you will get even a small harvest by/before June. We hope this helps.

Potato eyes have grown long—is it too late to plant?

By Anonymous

I left some yukon potatoes way too long in cool storage. The eyes had grown about 8 inches before I discovered them. Can I cut these up and plant them? Does the growth from the eyes give them a head start? If so, should I make sure that the growth is above ground? Or should I just compost them and start over?

Just go ahead and cut them up

By Anonymous

Just go ahead and cut them up for planting. leave a couple of inches of the sprout sticking out of the soil. They will do fine. Protect them from frost with an old sheet if it gets cold.

is it ok to plant potato when

By Anonymous

is it ok to plant potato when it has been raining?

How much rain? Potatoes like

By Almanac Staff

How much rain? Potatoes like well-drained soil, ideally sandy. As long as it's not heavy and wet, you are fine. Excessive rain leads to tuber rot. Sandy soil dries out and warms up early in the spring, so that you can plant earlier.

How long does it take for

By Anonymous

How long does it take for potatoes to mature from planting to harvasr?

Maturity time depends on the

By Almanac Staff

Maturity time depends on the potato variety. Potato cultivars are grouped by maturity. Early maturing potatoes: 70-85 days after emergence. Medium maturing: 85-100 days after emergence. Late maturing: Over 100 days.

HOW WILL COLD SNAP AFFECT MY POTATO CUTTING?

By Anonymous

Help! I planted my potato cutting roots downward facing in a basket in my small open courtyard and since then I have had light snow and severely cold weather but the basket it is in is surrounded by 3 walls of the house so no frost ever forms out there. How likely am I to see a plant form? Trudi Rosie

likely harvest?

By Almanac Staff

It's difficult for us to know if you will get potatoes, what with the conditions you describe (and don't include). It sounds like you have a microclimate environment—and that can be a good thing.
Just about any plant has a minimum soil temp tolerance. For potatoes, that's 40°F. A consistent 40°F. (Was that the soil temp when you planted??)
If additional cold conditions are expected, esp at night, you could cover the bucket. Use whatever is handy; the idea is to retain the heat that--presumably--the pot gathers in the course of the day.
Depending on how long/severe the cold is you might—emphasize might—be able to unearth the cuttings, bring them into the house in a portion of warm dirt and then replant later when temps are suitable.
Or you might have to start again. It's early in season; don't let that possibility deter you.
Good luck!

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