Growing Potatoes

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Potatoes

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.

Planting Dates for POTATOES

Planting Calendar for all Plants

Planting

When to Plant Potatoes

Potatoes prefer cool weather.

In Northern regions, some gardeners will plant the first crop of early-maturing potatoes in early to mid-April, 6 to 8 weeks before the average last frost date or as soon as the soil can be worked; they can survive some cool weather but the threat of frost is a gamble. If there is a threat of frost at night, temporarily cover any sprouted foliage with mulch or an artificial covering such as old sheets or plastic containers (and be sure to remember to remove the coverings in the morning).

To avoid frost, consider starting potatoes 0 to 2 weeks after your last spring frost. You may plant earlier, as soon as soil can be worked, but be aware that some crops may be ruined by a frost or overly wet soil.
The soil, not the calendar, will tell you when it’s time to plant. The temperature of the soil should—ideally—be at least 50°F (10°C). The soil should also not be so wet that it sticks together and is hard to work. Let it dry out a bit first. Like other seeds, potato seed pieces will rot if planted in ground that’s too wet.

In Southern regions, potatoes can be grown as a winter crop and planting times range from September to February. Where winters are relatively mild, you can plant a fall crop in September. In central Florida, gardeners plant potatoes in January; and in Georgia they plant in February.

See our Planting Guide for the best dates to plant by zip code or postal code.

Preparing the Planting Site

Potatoes grow best in cool, well-drained, loose soil that is about 45° to 55°F (7° to 13°C).
Choose a location that gets full sun—at least 6 hours of sunlight each day.
Grow potatoes in rows spaced about 3 feet apart.
With a hoe or round-point shovel, dig a trench about 6 inches wide and 8 inches deep, tapering the bottom to about 3 inches wide.
Spread and mix in fully-rotted manure or organic compost in the bottom of the trench before planting. (Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.)

Man planting potatoes. Photo by tanyss/Getty Images. — *Preparing seed potatoes for planting. Photo by tanyss/Getty Images.*

How to Plant Potatoes

In each trench, place a seed potato piece (cut side down) every 12 to 14 inches and cover with 3 to 4 inches of soil.
If your garden soil is very rocky, put the seed potato pieces directly on the ground. Sprinkle with a mix of soil and compost. Cover them with straw or leaves, hilling the material up as the potatoes grow.
The best starters are seed potatoes. Do not confuse seed potatoes with potato seeds or grocery produce! Select seed potatoes which have protruding eyes (buds).
Use a clean, sharp paring knife to cut large potatoes into pieces that are roughly the size of a golf ball, making sure that there are at least 2 eyes on each piece. (Potatoes that are smaller than a hen’s egg should be planted whole.)
If you are cutting up potato pieces yourself, do so 1 to 2 days ahead of planting. This will give them the chance to “heal” and form a protective layer over the cut surface, improving both moisture retention and rot resistance.
12 to 16 days after planting, when sprouts appear, use a hoe to gently fill in the trench with another 3 to 4 inches of soil, leaving a few inches of the plants exposed. Repeat in several weeks, leaving the soil mounded up 4 to 5 inches above ground level (this is called “hilling” and is explained more here.).
After the potato plants have emerged, add organic mulch between the rows to conserve moisture, help with weed control, and cool the soil.

Check out this excellent video to see how to plant potatoes.

Care

How to Grow Potatoes

Hilling Potatoes

A critical part of growing potatoes is to not let their tubers (i.e., the potato crop) be exposed to sunlight for too long. Exposed tubers will turn green and produce a toxic compound called solanine, which makes them bitter, inedible, and potentially nausea-inducing.

To combat this, we employ a technique called hilling.

Hilling is simple: As a potato plant grows, it produces a main stem with leaves and flowers aboveground. Meanwhile, underground, tubers form on secondary stems that branch off from the main stem. In order to prevent shallow tubers from being exposed to sunlight and to encourage the plant to keep producing more tubers, a few inches of soil are periodically “hilled” up around the base of the stem. This is typically done three to four times during the season.

Tips for growing and hilling potatoes:

Do the hilling in the morning, when plants are at their tallest. During the heat of the day, plants start drooping.
Maintain even moisture, especially from the time when sprouts appear until several weeks after they blossom. The plants need 1 to 2 inches of water per week. If you water too much right after planting and not enough as the potatoes begin to form, the tubers can become misshapen.
The last hilling should be done before the potato plants bloom, when the aboveground part of the plant is at least a foot tall. Hoe the dirt up around the base of the plant in order to cover the tubers as well as to support the plant.
Practice yearly crop rotation with potatoes.

Pests/Diseases

Potato Scab: Most likely caused by a high soil 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. Some readers suggest adding pine straw on top of the potatoes when planting for natural anti-bacterial elements.
Colorado potato beetles need to be hand-picked and predatory birds will often eat them. While they’re in the nymph state, they can be controlled with diatomaceous earth (food grade) which is a non-toxic way to control pests in the garden. If they continue to be a problem, a few sprays of Spinosad, an organic pesticide, will get rid of the beetles. Always use products at dawn or dusk to avoid harming beneficial insects.
Aphids
Flea Beetles
Early/Late Blight

Harvest/Storage

When to Harvest Potatoes

Regular potatoes are ready to harvest when the foliage begins to die back. (See each variety for days to maturity.) The tops of the plants need to have completely died before you begin harvesting.
- “New potatoes,” which are potatoes that are purposefully harvested early for their smaller size and tender skin, will be ready for harvest 2 to 3 weeks after the plants stop flowering. New potatoes should not be cured and should be eaten within a few days of harvest, as they will not keep for much longer than that.
Toughen up potatoes for storage before harvest by not watering them much after mid-August.
Dig up a test hill to see how mature the potatoes are. The skins of mature potatoes are thick and firmly attached to the flesh. If the skins are thin and rub off easily, your potatoes are still too new and should be left in the ground for a few more days.
Potatoes can tolerate light frost, but when the first hard frost is expected, it’s time to get out the shovels and start digging potatoes.

How to Harvest Potatoes

Cut the brown foliage off and leave the potatoes for 10 to 14 more days before you harvest. This allows the potatoes to develop a thick enough skin. Don’t wait too long, though, or the potatoes may rot (especially in moisture-laden soil).
Dig potatoes up on a dry day. Dig up gently, being careful not to damage the tubers. Avoid cutting or bruising potato skin. Damaged potatoes will rot during storage and should be used as soon as possible. The soil should not be compact, so digging should be easy.
If the soil is very wet, let the potatoes air-dry as much as possible before putting them in bags or baskets.
Don’t leave the potatoes that you have dug in the sun for long after they have been dug up from your garden, otherwise your potatoes may turn green. Green potatoes have a bitter taste due to the presence of solanine, and if enough is eaten, can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Small spots can be trimmed off, but if there is significant greening, throw the potato out.

Curing Potatoes

Allow freshly dug potatoes to sit in a dry, cool, dark place (45 to 60°F / 7 to 15°C) for up to two weeks. This allows their skins to cure, which will help them keep for longer.
After curing, make sure you brush off any soil clinging to the potatoes.
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.
After curing, do not put potatoes near apples; the apples’ ethylene gas will cause potatoes to spoil and go bad.

Storing Potatoes

If you’re buying potatoes to eat within a few days, storage is not an issue. You can store anywhere.

For long-term storage, potatoes need the following conditions: ventilation, cool temperatures, high humidity, and no light. Storing potatoes in your home isn’t easy unless you have a root cellar. Most home temperatures are kept at 65 to 75 degrees F and potatoes need be stored at cool temperatures to avoid sprouting.

Recommendation for Home Storage

Store at cool temperatures (42 to 55 degrees F). Warm temperatures encourage sprouting and disease. Storage options include: an extra refrigerator set a few days higher than normal; an unheated entrance, spare room, closet, attic, cabinet, basement, or garage insulated to protect potatoes from freezing.
The room must have high humidity. Potatoes are 80% water so it’s too dry, potatoes wither and dry out. Options are a damp cellar OR you can elevate humidity by storing tubers in plastic bags that are perforated (with many holes cut in the side) to provide fresh air OR/AND placing large pans of water in front of air source.
Avoid all light to prevent greening. The location must be dark or use dark-colored, perforated plastic bags with many holes cut in the side to allow for air movement.
Potatoes need ventilization. Even after harvest, potatoes still use oxygen and give of carbon dioxide so they must have fresh air. Never put potatoes in airtight containers Use perfermated bags as mentioned in steps above.

Find more tips on getting potatoes ready for the root cellar.

Recommended Varieties

There are more than 100 varieties of potatoes! In the home garden, most people grow tan-skinned or red-skinned potatoes with white flesh.

To chose a potato to grow, think about how you like to eat them.

Russets and long white potatoes are used to make baked, boiled, or fried potatoes.
Round white potatoes are used for either boiled potatoes or potato chips.
Red-skinned potatoes are often used for boiling or for potato salads.

There are also speciality potatoes in many shapes, sizes, and colors, including all-blue potatoes as well as potatoes with red or yellow flesh. We also love All Blue Potatoes! They’re delicious and, well, they’re truly blue!

Early Varieties:

‘Irish Cobbler’: tan skin, irregular shape (great heirloom potato for delicious mashed potatoes!)
‘Norland’: red skin, resistant to potato scab
‘Mountain Rose’: red skin and pink flesh, resistant to some viruses

Mid-Season Varieties

‘Red Pontiac’: red skin, deep eyes (easiest and most adaptable red potato there is to grow)
‘Viking’: red skin, very productive
‘Chieftan’: red skin, resistant to potato scab, stores well

Late Varieties

‘Katahdin’: tan skin, resistant to some viruses
‘Kennebec’: tan skin, resistant to some viruses and late blight
‘Elba’: tan skin, large round tubers, resistant to blight and potato scab

See our page on how to choose the best potatoes to grow in your garden for more information on recommended varieties.

Wit & Wisdom

Before planning your garden, take a look at our plant companions chart to see which veggies are most compatible with potatoes.
Did you know: Potato promoter Antoine Parmentier convinced Marie Antoinette to wear potato blossoms in her hair.
Grated potatoes are said to soothe sunburnt skin.

“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)

Recipes

Cooking Notes

Potatoes are naturally healthy. Not only are they fat-free and cholesterol-free but also an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of potassium.
Check out our recipe archives to find potato recipes that range from plain to fancy!

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Reader Comments

Mounding potatoes

Can you tell me how long you should continue to mound potatoes. We have been mounding them leaving about 8-10 inches above the dirt. We have done this two or three times this year and they are about above the ground now. We were wondering how long to keep mounding them? Do you continue to mound until the foliage starts to die?

how much to mound?

The point of mounding, or hilling, is to be sure that any potatoes that grow near the surface of the soil do not get exposed to the sun. If they do, they will turn green and not edible. You can stop when the foliage begins to die off.

mounding potatoes

when and how long

side sprouts

Grew potatoes as a child, now doing my own for first time in 25 years. Potatoes doing great but just noticed some side sprouts coming up around the hill. almost like you would see with raspberries. do I let these side sprouts come up or clip them?

potatoes

Let the side sprouts be–they may help produce more potatoes. When the shoots become of suitable length, you might want to partially cover them with soil or mulch just as you do the hilling for the rest of the plant.

Pictures Please

Is it possible to add pictures of how potatoes should look at each stage. I enjoyed reading your article but for those of us amateurs a picture is worth a thousand words :-) I planted my seeds about 11 weeks ago. They leaves look good I hilled a little. When should I pull them up? If I pull them too soon can I pack it back down? This is my first year. I did about 8 plants.

Harvesting Potatoes

We agree that pictures are always a big help. Thanks for the suggestion!

To get the biggest and best potatoes, harvest only after the foliage has started to die back. How long this takes depends on which type of potato you’ve got: early-, mid-, or late-season potatoes. When you see foliage turning yellow, cut it to the ground and wait 10-14 days before harvesting. (This will allow the potatoes to form a good protective layer.)

My son pulled up all my plants.

My sweet 6 year old son went down in our garden today and "weeded" a 40' row of Yukon gold potato plants. He thought that since potatoes grew in the soil, that the top must be weeds. He managed to pull all the plants up and leave some amount of root on most of the plants. My question is: I immediately planted them all back in the ground with in the hour. What is the likelyhood of them surviving and coming producing potatoes?

potato woes

How far along were the plants? It is really hard to know, but worth a try to see if they will grow back. The plants may go through shock, and wilt a bit at first; it may take a little while to recover, if they can. However, it is possible that the leaves can produce food enough to grow new roots. It is important, though, that some of those existing roots are healthy, to draw in water etc. Keep an eye out for any stresses, such as pests and diseases, and maintain good cultural conditions to baby the plants to help them recover, if possible. If the day is especially hot, you might provide a little partial shade (or place under row cover) during the peak of the heat until plants re-establish. Good luck!

Question about comparable potato varieties

Hello! Thanks for the helpful information on your site. If there's one thing from NZ that I miss, it is the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness that are Jersey Benney new potatoes, grown in the Otago region. They are truly a gift of the earth! I now live in Arkansas and would LOVE to know if there are any potato varieties comparable to the Jersey Benney, here in the US? If so, where can I buy these as seed potatoes? It would be awesome if I could grow some next year.
Thanks again!
Pip

potato options

Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with Jersey Benne, but it appears that it is an early type, with waxy flesh, good for new potatoes, salads, boiling? If so, you might ask your local garden center or county’s cooperative extension for that type of variety that would grow well in Arkansas. For contact info, go to:
http://www.almanac.com/content/cooperative-extension-services
In general, ‘Yukon Gold’ is a popular yellow potato, but grows a little later than the first or second earlies (midseason). Not quite as waxy, but valued for its flavor. ‘Red Luna’ is said to be flavorful. Other options might be ‘Dark Red Northland’, ‘Red Gold’, or other red potatoes often grown as new potatoes. There are also heirloom varieties that might be fun. Good luck!

Potato bugs

I have a problem with potato bugs. They are not the flea beetle. What can I do other than check every plant every day and remove them by hand?

potato pests

Several bugs enjoy potatoes. Controlling them will depend on the insect. The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most common, and is a yellowish-orange beetle with black stripes. Handpicking is one of the better options; also remove any of the bright yellow eggs that cling in clusters on the undersides of the leaves. Mulching with a thick layer of straw helps reduce populations, as does covering the plants in mid-season with row cover. The beetle can quickly develop resistance to many pesticides. Crop rotation can help future crops. Hope this helps!

Coving potatoes

We have grow potatoes for two year theres a chance for frost were we leave. We cover the potatoes top up with some soil we this hurt the potatoes?

Covering Potatoes during Frost

Covering small (less than 4 inches tall) potato plants with a layer of soil will not harm them, as long as the soil is removed as soon as the danger of a frost has passed. For larger plants, use a clear plastic covering.

Why are my potato plants falling over?

I have large 2 foot beautiful potato plants that I planted from a bag of grocery store potatoes that had got eyes. The plants are extremely healthy looking, but I am having a problem with them falling over. Is this normal, or am I over or under watering?

potato trouble

Potato plants can fall over for various reasons. If, however, they look very healthy, it likely isn’t due to over- or under-watering, nor to disease or extreme temperatures. Sometimes the plants just get leggy, such as if the plants are too crowded, don’t have enough light, received too much nitrogen fertilizer, etc. And, when they reach a certain growth stage, falling over is fairly normal. Be sure to keep hilling them at intervals with mulch (such as straw) or soil, as this helps to give them support and encourages more potatoes to form underground. See the article above for more information. Good luck!

Planting season in Algeria.

What are the best seasons for planting potato in a zone with continental climate?

temperatures for growing potatoes in Botswana

Is it fine to start planting potato seeds in may or june in Botswana?is the winter temperatures in Botswana suitable for growing irish potatoes (using true potato seeds)?

Potatoes

What would cause the bitter taste in a home grown potatoe?

potatoes

Potatoes shouldn’t be exposed to the Sun, which will happen if you don’t hill up/cover them with soil. They’ll get sunburned, in which case they turn green and will taste bitter.

soggy potatoes

HELP! I have been planting potatoes for many years in my container garden; boxes and buckets. The last two years i have harvest potatoes that are so full of water that they can't be fried. When steamed and mashed they come our as if regular mashed potatoes were soaked in water. The also are sort of rubbery and don't mash. They chew like hard pieces of cucumber. I haven't done anything different than years before. I water every other day. I plant early. This never happened before.

soggy potatoes

Well, Jack, it sounds like your plants and so your potatoes are getting too much water. You say you water every other day…but not how much or what you climate is or anything else. That seems like a lot of water. Guidance above to “water regularly” to provide “consistent moisture” is not necessarily a soaking. If you are planting in containers, the water may not be running off as quickly as it might in an in-ground planting, saturating the plants as a result. And about those containers: If you are not rotating the crop/s in them, are you at least rotating the soil?? You don’t say, so we will only suggest that you can not have it both ways: same plants in same soil. That’s all we’ve got on this…except to suggest that if it never happened before, you must have done something differently.

This season, start with fresh soil, fresh seed potatoes, and containers with enough holes to provide good drainage. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Re:soggy potatoes

Hello. What variety of potatoes are you using? Genetics play a role as well. Some potatoes are naturally high in moisture. These potatoes are best suited for potato salad or home fries. Red skinned or new potatoes are fine examples. Other potatoes are naturally high in starch and are best suited for mashed or French fries. Russet potatoes are a fine example here. Some potatoes are dual purpose like the Yukon Gold. I personally don't think watering is the problem. If you are truly watering too much, then your potato plants would be suffering. Another thing, perhaps you are harvesting too early. But the first thing to confirm is your variety.

potatoes

i like french fries and sweat taters and hash browns and tater tots and bass fishing

potatoes production guidelines

could you please help me with an infor regarding potatoes growth I am in botswana

Irish Potato

I like the piece. I would also want to know how to control the pest. I am based in Nigeria

Row width

How wide should rows be ? I will be planting Irish Cobblers in the next week or so.
I am from Guelph Ontario.

Potatoes

I have grown, from eyes from potatoes, peelings really. I have grown successfully in bags previously....but I put them in the ground this time (built up from compost ) they grew tall...and when I dug them up the had brown blisters more or less all over them, but I peeled them and the inside is beautifully creamy white, and no blemishes, are they safe to eat?
Kind regards, dorothy

Potato harvest

Hi, Dorothy, It sounds like your potatoes have some kind of scab—there are numerous ones related to spuds. It may have been that the pH of your compost was not suitable. Do a pH/soil test to determine it. See this page for recommended pH: http://www.almanac.com/content/ph-preferences Note that pH is only one possible cause.

In the meantime, your potatoes—once peeled—should be perfectly fine to eat. Congratulations on a successful harvest!