How to Grow Potatoes
Solanum tuberosum
Hill them up and harvest a hidden treasure — a satisfying, high-yield staple.
About potatoes
Potatoes are a cool-season staple grown from seed potatoes (tubers), not true seed. They’re easy and high-yielding, and few garden moments beat digging up a hill of fresh potatoes. The key technique is “hilling” — mounding soil over the stems as they grow to protect developing tubers from light and increase yield.
When to plant and harvest potatoes
Timing is relative to your frost dates. Find your USDA zone for exact dates, or browse the month-by-month calendars.
Start seeds indoors
No (chit/pre-sprout indoors first)
Transplant outdoors
Plant seed-potato pieces directly
Direct sow
2 weeks before last frost
Harvest
Summer (new potatoes) to fall (storage)
How to grow potatoes step by step
- 1
Cut seed potatoes so each piece has 1–2 eyes; let cut surfaces dry a day.
- 2
Plant pieces 4 in deep, eyes up, 12 in apart, after the worst frost has passed.
- 3
As stems grow, hill soil or mulch over them, leaving the top leaves exposed.
- 4
Keep evenly watered while plants flower and tubers bulk up.
- 5
Harvest new potatoes after flowering; dig storage potatoes once tops die back.
Common problems growing potatoes
⚠ Green tubers
Exposure to light makes them green and mildly toxic — hill soil over developing tubers.
⚠ Scab (rough patches)
Worse in alkaline soil — keep pH slightly acidic and soil evenly moist.
⚠ Colorado potato beetle
Hand-pick striped adults and orange larvae; check leaf undersides for eggs.
✗ Keep away from
🧺 Harvesting potatoes
Dig “new” potatoes a couple of weeks after flowering for thin-skinned treats. For storage, wait until the foliage dies back, then cure the tubers in the dark for 1–2 weeks.
Potatoes: frequently asked questions
Why hill potatoes?＋
Mounding soil over the stems protects tubers from light (which turns them green and toxic) and gives them more room to form, boosting yield.
Can I plant grocery store potatoes?＋
They’re often treated to prevent sprouting and may carry disease. Certified seed potatoes are far more reliable.
Grow potatoes in your zone
See exactly when to plant and what else to grow alongside potatoes, tailored to your USDA hardiness zone.
