How to Plant Potatoes

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Potatoes are known to be one of the easiest crops you can grow and they are a common staple food. You can also use potatoes with just about any meal you are planning. In just a few short steps you will have a potato plant growing in your garden.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Compost
Trowel
Certified seed potatoes

Step1

Wait until spring before planting your potatoes. Potatoes like cool weather and will do best if planted under the right circumstances. Optimal conditions occur when the soil has reached 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step2

Obtain a seed potato about one to two weeks before the conditions will be optimal for planting.

Step3

Start the sprouting process by placing the seeds in your house in a warm and sunny location. The temperature in this location should fall between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step4

Cut the seed potato into seeds using a sharp knife. Each seed should have an eye and should be about 1 inch square. Allow these seeds to sit out for 24 hours.

Step5

Cultivate your soil by mixing the soil with compost and removing all excess debris such as rocks. This will allow your potato to send roots down into the ground.

Step6

Place potato seed into a square foot area. Be sure to place the seeds in the ground with the eye pointing upwards so that your potato can sprout toward the surface.

Step7

Build a mound of soil and mulch on top of the potato. Your mound of mulch should be about 6 inches deep.

Step8

Water the mound regularly and add additional mulch around the base each time the potato plant grows an additional 6 inches.

Tips & Warnings

Each seed potato can have more than one eye, but be careful not to have too many eyes. If there are too many eyes, they will compete with one another for resources.
Don’t use potatoes that are not certified seed potatoes. These potatoes may contain diseases which may limit the potential of your crop.
Don’t add too much compost as this can lead to potato scab, which can make your potatoes look bad.