How to Grow Red Potatoes From a Spud

Red potatoes are useful in a variety of dishes.

Potatoes are one of the simplest vegetables to grow, as they don't require extensive care and edible potatoes can be pulled at nearly any time in the growing season. Whether you've grown potatoes before or not, the process to grow red potatoes from a spud, also called a seed potato, is straightforward and requires no specialty tools. Once you've planted red potatoes, you can use the same process for any potato variety you want to grow.

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard box or cardboard egg carton
• Shovel
• Garden hoe
• Garden soil or compost
• Garden stakes

Instructions

1. Set your red potato spuds in a single layer inside a shallow cardboard box or in an empty egg carton, so none of them are touching. Place the box or carton in a bright, sunny room but away from direct sunlight to sprout, or chit.

2. Leave the spuds undisturbed in the room for two to three weeks or sooner until each potato holds a minimum of two to three buds approximately ¼ to ½ inch tall.

3. Loosen the soil in a full sun area of the garden with a shovel, and remove sticks and rocks. Spread 3 inches of garden soil or compost over the bed area, and dig the soil to mix it well.

4. Drag the blade of a garden hoe down the length of the loose soil to form a trench approximately 6 inches deep and 4 inches wide. Push a garden stake into each end of your trench to mark it for future reference. Space each additional row 3 feet apart.

5. Plant the sprouted potatoes into the trench with the eyes facing up, spacing the spuds every 10 to 14 inches apart. Spread 2 inches of garden soil or compost over the spuds to cover them.

6. Water the soil as often as needed to keep it moist but not saturated as the potatoes push leaves to the surface over the next few weeks. Cover the leaves over with 2 inches of soil as they emerge.

7. Continue to cover the leaves as often as necessary with soil each time they push through, until you have developed mounds of soil large enough that they begin to touch between potato plants.

8. Dig up "new" potatoes when the plants bloom. Allow the plants to grow all summer, and then yellow and dry in the fall, before harvesting the potatoes.

Tips & Warnings

• Spuds with several eyes will grow several smaller potatoes while spuds that have fewer eyes will yield fewer yet larger potatoes.

References

• "Vegetable Gardening: Your Ultimate Guide"; Robert J. Dolezal; 2000
• "Growing Fruit and Vegetables"; Richard Bird; 2003