Our Potato Growing Guide covers planting, growing, and harvesting one of our favorite vegetables! Also, see tips on how to store potatoes to keep them fresh—and some homemade potato recipes.
Potatoes can be planted very early in the gardening season—as you soon as the frost is out of the soil and you are able to work the soil!
Folklore offers many “best days” for planting potatoes:
- Old-timers in New England planted their potato crops when they saw dandelions blooming in the open fields.
- The Pennsylvania Dutch considered St. Gertrude’s Day (March 17, aka St. Patrick’s Day) to be their official potato-planting day.
- Many Christians believed that Good Friday was the best day to plant potatoes because the devil holds no power over them at this time.
See more information about planting potatoes below.
Reader Comments
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Thanks Carol, that's a help.
Thanks Carol, that's a help.
Is hilling super neccessary
Is hilling super neccessary
Hilling helps to protect the
Hilling helps to protect the growing potatoes from the sunlight so that they don't turn green and it also helps you get a bigger harvest.
I bought a bag of potatoes
I bought a bag of potatoes that are all green. Are they safe to eat
Green potatoes have a bitter
Green potatoes have a bitter taste because they were exposed to light during growth (not a good idea). You may wish to trim these parts off. If you ate a lot of it, your stomach might be irritated.
Inspect potatoes at the store before purchasing and store them at home in a cool dark place with good air circulation.
I'm growing potatoes for the
I'm growing potatoes for the first time, what does hilling mean and what do I do
We have had a very wet winter
We have had a very wet winter and spring . We live in Virginia Beach, VA. Is it too late to plant potatoes ?
It's not too late. Plant as
It's not too late. Plant as soon as the soil has dried up a bit.
I would like to know how to
I would like to know how to can potatoes via the water bath method. Years ago my grand mother and mother did it that way and I'd like to also I don't care for pressure cookers. If someone out there knows please let me know.
Hi Letta, Here are some good
Hi Letta,
Here are some good reference guides on how to can potatoes:
http://www.almanac.com/content...
http://www.extension.umn.edu/f...
Has anyone heard of the old
Has anyone heard of the old method of cutting up the seed potatoes and coating them with Copper. Letting them dry for a week or so prior to planting ?? I seem to remember me grandfather doing this but I have lost his 1940s gardening book.
I only heard of dusting them
I only heard of dusting them with sulfur but since copper is a fungiside that is possible.You only have to dry them a day or less.
Thank you Carol You are
Thank you Carol
You are correct. It was Sulfur not copper. I found my answer in a 1957 published Gardening book last night.
how to can potatoes ?
how to can potatoes ?
Hi Connie, Here's a good
Hi Connie, Here's a good reference guide on how to can potatoes:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/f...
What does dragging off
What does dragging off potato's mean? Thanks in advance
how can store pottos for
how can store pottos for about 6 months of so, can I store them in my storm cellar?
Here are tips on how to store
Here are tips on how to store potatoes from the University of Idaho extension: Store in a dark, cool, unheated place that is 42 to 55 degrees F. A garage is a common place. Do not expose to any light. Potatoes need high humidity as well as air flow so put them in a perforated bag that is not tightly sealed. Do not wash the potatoes before storage.
Every year I have a problem
Every year I have a problem with aphids on my cole crops I have tried almost everything to get rid of them.Last year I bought an organic mite,thrip and aphid spray that worked pretty good but it was not cost efficient. Another gardener friend suggested I buy lacewing cacons. What do you think?
Every year I have a very bad Aphid problem with my cole crops. So much so that I have thought of not planting any. But that would be a shame. A gardener friend of mine suggested I buy some lacewing eggs. I have tried most all the recommended sprays and only one worked to keep them under control but never eliminated them completely. This product was expensive considering the amount I had to spray repeatively.
What do you think? I'm open for suggestions.
How and when do I use the the Lacewings?
I was told that if you plant
I was told that if you plant Dill plants near those plants that aphids go after that the aphids will rather attack the dill than the other crops. Hope this idea helps
Have you tried covering your
Have you tried covering your cole crops with row covers? They come in different weights so there are light ones than can be used the entire season. Sun and rain penetrate but the insects don't. That is a better method in my opinion than spraying.
K Mueller
I had read in an organic
I had read in an organic gardening site that planting garlic in my veggie garden and around my rose bushes would get rid of aphids, so I tried it.
100% eradication!
Good Luck!
Thanks Debra I certainly
Thanks Debra I certainly will
give it a try.
The best practice to prevent
The best practice to prevent aphids is to keep the leaves dry - only water the dirt!
I am interested to learn from
I am interested to learn from your experience regarding the age of potato tuber after planting or sowing when it can be harvested to use as seed for next crop. You can relate with size of tuber and age of tuber in days
As recently as 2/3 weeks ago
As recently as 2/3 weeks ago I planted potatoes in 4 seperate containers in shallow soil intending to top the soil up as they grew. When I looked again they had all sprouted leaves but the soil is too shallow to accommodate much potatoes. Can I cover the leaves and what will happen or will I have to transplant into deeper soil? Thanks in advance.
When the plant grows to about
When the plant grows to about 6 inches tall, you can cover the lower leaves and stalk with a few inches of soil or straw. Leave the top group of leaves alone (although for the first hilling, the plant can recover fine even if all leaves are covered). As the plant grows another 6 inches, add more soil or straw to the base. When you reach the top of the container, you should have a nice mound of soil or straw in which the potatoes can grow. The plant will produce stems and leaves above the soil/straw level.
Thanks a million. Much
Thanks a million. Much appreciated. :)
Hello fellow farmers! Am a
Hello fellow farmers! Am a firt timer in potato growing and am trying to find out which could be the very best variety to grow in Ndola, Zambia!
Hi there, I'm in Ireland. I
Hi there, I'm in Ireland. I planted seed winter potatoes in large tubs in the garden. The plants grew really well and grew to over two feet tall when all the foliage / vegetation suddenly died and rotted away. I went to empty the containers a few weeks later and found quite a few perfectly formed baby potatoes. I don't know what killed the plants, probably blight, but the tubers look perfect. Is there any reason I can't eat them?
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