How to Grow Potatoes

If there were a Comfort Food Hall of Fame, the potato would be a star attraction. This much-loved tuber favors cool growing seasons, but if you choose varieties and planting times with care, you can grow spuds anywhere from USDA zone 3 south.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Compost Makers
• Fertilizers
• Garden Hoses
• Garden Spades
• Garden Trowels
• Mulch
• Seed Potatoes
• Shovels

1. Buy seed potatoes from a nursery or catalog. Started potato plants are rarely, if ever, sold in nurseries.

2. Choose a site that gets full sun and has light, well-drained soil that's high in phosphorus and potassium and very low in nitrogen (which encourages lush foliage growth at the expense of the tubers). If your soil is very heavy, grow your potatoes in raised beds.

3. Dig the soil to a depth of at least 12 inches and remove rocks and other debris that could obstruct the tubers as they grow. Work in plenty of compost to ensure the right soil texture, but avoid adding manure, which can cause a disease called scab.

4. Plant potatoes in USDA zone 6 and colder two to four weeks before the last expected frost and when the soil temperature is at least 40 degrees F. In zones 7 and 8, plant anytime from early February to March, choosing varieties that will mature before the hot days of summer. Farther south, plant around the end of September for harvesting in December and January.

5. Plant 2-inch-diameter, "B" size (the most common) seed potatoes whole. If you get larger ones, cut them into pieces with two or three eyes each.

6. Use the deep-planting method for the lowest-maintenance potato patch: Simply plant the seed pieces, cut side down, 12 inches apart and 7 to 8 inches deep. The stems will work their way to the surface, along the way forming spuds on underground stems called stolons.

7. Use the mulching method for the easiest harvesting: Dig a shallow trench and set in the pieces, cut side down, 12 inches apart, and cover them with about 4 inches of soil. Pile a thick blanket of mulch around the stems when the plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, leaving the foliage exposed. Keep mulching as the plants grow. The potatoes will form inside the layer of mulch.

8. Harvest small, early potatoes as soon as seven to eight weeks after planting. Harvest the main crop about two weeks after the tops have died back and before the first hard frost.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't bother planting potatoes from the supermarket - most are treated with a chemical to prevent them from sprouting.

• Potatoes are classed by maturation time: early, mid and late season. If you live where summer temperatures regularly reach 85 degrees F or above, plant early-maturing and heat-resistant varieties. Good choices include 'Irish Cobbler', 'Anoka' and 'Yukon Gold'.

• For the mulching method, dried leaves or straw also work well; so does hay if it's been cut before it set seed.

• Potatoes can fall prey to a number of diseases and insect pests. Most affect commercial growers more than home gardeners, but to be on the safe side, buy only certified disease-free seed potatoes from a reputable nursery or catalog, and rotate your crops every year.

• Make sure you keep potatoes well-covered. If the tubers are exposed to sunlight while they're growing, they'll develop solanine, a bitter, toxic alkaloid that imparts a greenish tinge.