Growing Potato

Solanum tuberosum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      P P              

(Best months for growing Potato in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant seed potatoes
  • Plant tuber. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 12 - 16 inches apart
  • Harvest in 15-20 weeks. Dig carefully, avoid damaging the potatoes.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Peas, Beans, Brassicas, Sweetcorn, Broad Beans, Nasturtiums, Marigolds
  • Avoid growing close to: Cucumber, Pumpkin, Sunflowers, Tomatoes, Rosemary

Your comments and tips

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30 May 20, Laura (USA - Zone 7b climate)
Could I plant certain potatoes in zone 7B in June? I live in Southampton County, Va.
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07 Jun 20, Ross (USA - Zone 7b climate)
I live in Zone 7b in Arkansas. It's been an unusually cool and wet spring / summer. I planted four varieties in a prepared bed. (composted manure was tilled in.) The varieties were Pontiac red, Kenebek, Russet and Yukon Gold in roughly equal amounts, purchased prepackaged at a farm store. The seed potatoes were sown in rows 12 -18 inch spacing on Feb 28 by burying shallow, then covering with several inches of composted manure followed by several inches of straw, two bales on roughly 120 sq feet. I did not document when they sprouted but it seemed weak initially but success rate of sprouts was eventually good. The composted manure is weedy and so was the straw, eventually weed pressure was high so I covered with another layer of composted manure. ( I don't remember the date and the plants were 20 inches or so tall, some in blossom. ) Although at the time of harvest the bed was heavy with weeds again that worked long enough to bring in a harvest on June 4th. While harvesting the soil was still quite moist, only two or three potatoes had rotted and the yield was about 2 to 3 nice sized potatoes per plant with up to three small potatoes per plant too. I followed the harvest with a sweet corn. I contemplated a second potato planting but i think it will be too hot. I'm going to make a deep raised bed from pallets manure and straw out in a shady part of my homestead and try a few to see what happens. Hopefully that helps.
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22 Mar 20, Gretta (USA - Zone 9b climate)
I have dense clay yard soil with rocks so I may need to get ALOT of mulch to grow potatoes in zone 9b. Right? I'm a total beginner so any tips or feedback for zone 9b would be appreciated
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07 Jun 20, Ross (USA - Zone 7b climate)
I like the idea from the gardener in Australia. G'Day to you. I also have soil like you with clay and rock so digging the trench allows a quick easy replacement but drainage can be a problem with the rocky clay soil. Potatoes love water but too much and they will rot. Try choosing a location with a higher elevation if possible. Sometimes rain pooling can be avoided at higher locations by digging a small trench as a drain. Avoid areas that are already wet or are typically wet. At my place the trench filled with water and took more that a week to drain. I back filled the trench and chose another location.
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24 Mar 20, Chris (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
You could try digging a shallow trench, put the seed potatoes in this, and cover with straw/mulch and compost or rotted manure. Keep topping up the straw as the potatoes grow. You'll end up with potatoes and some good quality soil.
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11 Mar 20, Chuck (USA - Zone 9b climate)
Could you please use US measurements (inches/feet) instead of metric? Gardenate reply: Each plant page has (Show °F/in) about two lines down from the top to change between metric/non metric
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20 Feb 20, Tom De Marti (USA - Zone 10a climate)
We're looking for red seed potatoes to grow in SoCal.
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05 Feb 20, Lee Godfrey (USA - Zone 7a climate)
How much sun do potatoes need.. Can they be planted in the morning shade and evening sun
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06 Feb 20, Anon (Australia - arid climate)
Most plants need about 5 + hrs. Look it up on the internet, google it.
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05 Jan 20, Veronica (USA - Zone 7a climate)
I'm not quite sure of my zone. I live in Charlotte, NC 28208. Can you please tell me? Check here www.gardenate.com/zones/#zone-US (Editor)
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Showing 51 - 60 of 67 comments
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Technically you don't HAVE TO HILL any variety of potatoes. Here's how it works: you plant the seed potato (which is an extra small potato saved/stored from last year's harvest -- or a piece of a larger potato that you stored/saved from last year) -- the DEPTH THAT you PLANT that SEED POTATO determines your LOWEST POINT -- GENERALLY, and I do mean GENERALLY (like 95% of the potatoes) the potato plant will not create tubers LOWER than the depth you planted the seed potato at (so your seed potato is the BOTTOM of the plants tubers/potatoes). Which is why some people think the very bottom potato always rots, when in reality it is the seed potato and is expected to grow and will appear rotten. Which means if you don't hill up as your potato plant grows and you planted the seed potato shallow, there is not that much ROOM for the potato plant to put it's tubers, and larger tubers will usually "pop" out of the soil and turn green due to sun exposure. If you don't want to hill up, plant your seed potato deeper than recommended -- yes it will be fine -- the reason you plant shallow and mound up is because the potato plant will be able to get leaves into the sun sooner if it's seed potato was planted shallow, which means it will grow quicker because it is collecting light sooner -- then you mound up to offset that you planted the seed potato shallow, but you always leave lots of leaves exposed to the sun so the plant can collect sun and grow. It's a lot of extra work work to mound up soil-- and maybe speeds up the process "brings in the harvest" by 10 days or so.... My experience is planting seed potatoes a foot deep ((30cm) is fine -- yes the plant takes a little longer for it's leaves to surface -- but it's fine and you should not experience any problems - provided the soil is nice and loose. (hopefully that makes senses). I think in the future I will plant two potatoes side by side -- one deep, one using the mound method and record the progress and final outcomes... I have never done a tandem planting -- BUT I HAVE had potatoes spring up from deep down Once as I dug out one of these "self planted potatoes" I realized it was down about 30" (70cm) -- it was in a potato planting tower (old full size garbage can full of 3" holes all over) which I dumped and collect the potatoes from the year before, then just put the soil back, week by week, as I composted kitchen scraps directly into the soil... so no surprise that a potato was so deep -- it grew -- it put out potatoes and it's crop was average good... it spent a lot of energy growing up -- and perhaps I harvested too early based on the other potatoes-- but it made it and did OK, good size potatoes, good quantity. I would not recommend placing your seed potatoes that deep, but a foot (30cm) should be fine.

- Celeste Archer

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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