When you plant potatoes...

I didn't buy seed potatoes. I used a couple of my potatoes that I let sprout. The potatoes were very soft. I planted them with the sprouts down.

minimum size should be the size of a chicken egg when you cut them up...try to have 2 eyes and plant the eyes up. Start with4-6 inches of cover and "mound" up the soil around the plant as it grows.

google planting potatoes in tires

good luck

the eye goes up...you don't hardly need to plant them...but to keep them moist it helps...to wet and they will rot...

cut potato in many pieces where "eye" is showing... plant under loose soil...at least a foot a part...when the plant dies, dig up the potatoes...if your soil is good you will get about ten potatoes per plant... you can just leave them in the soil til the ground freezes...

I keep them in a drawer in my fridge and they last all winter

Thanks. I guess I will go dig them up again and put the sprout up. I left a potatoe in the ground over the Winter and had a beautiful potatoe plant. I didn't know they would grow in the Spring. Hubby plowed it over!

Doesn't matter really,but up is best.

Eye up, that's where the plant grows from.


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... why. oh why, didn't you use seed potatoes though?

The only bad point to using store-bought eating potatoes that sprout is that you could bring in fungus and disease to your soil.

Seed potaotes are certified free of pathogens.

And, yes, sprouts up!

Craving potatoes.


Just started 5 more tires lol!

Last Edited by Frigg Stuyvesant on 05/30/2009 06:46 PM

I'm growing mine under insect barrier cloth this year. SO far so good, big green healthy plants! I have some new potatoes already, and no leaf-hopper burn.

Yep, can't wait for home grown taters!

Okay thanks. I know it's a little late, but I'm still going to plant some. I'll get some seed potatoes.

Potatoes, tomatoes,corn, squash: these and many more were gifts to the world from american Indians. We planted and went on to the hunting etc and came back and groomed and harvested. No one weeded because that kept the potatoes and all strong. Only weed proof plants survived and the bad bugs often left the plant and hopped onto the weed.

But do remember this: Potatoe is a member of the deadly nightshade family. The flowers and the eyes are so toxic that a tea made of them can kill you. This is why we grew them as no predator would touch them and the fruit of them was safely underground. Once it starts going to seed, dont eat them any more.

They are also a good medicine plant...cut a thick slice or even half a potatoe and put on the soles of the feet to pull out poisens.

Low calorie potatoes? Just cut mashed or ameican fries up in small cuts. Place in hot water for a few minutes and rinse. Repeat. This takes the calorie rich starch out.

This is my first time planting taters so you said once the plant starts going to seed,dont eat them.

I have 3 thats getting flower tops already so is it safe to dig them and eat them at this point or do i let them stay in the ground until the tops die back?

I have some leftovers from an organic grower. Do I put the whole potato in the ground or do I have to cut it up around the eyes?

Don't EVER cut the potato into different eyes. All you will get is little golf ball size spuds.

Plant whole tater in hole with composted manure in the bottom first. Eyes up sprouts down..

So I have to sprout them first? Leave them out in the light to get them to sprout? Thanks for the info BTW.

Yesterday we planted 3 kinds of melons and 3 kinds of winter squash.

Banana melon
Some little watermelon (I saved the seeds from last year)
Hearts of Gold cantaloupe melon

Delicata squash
Kentucky field pumpkin
Pumpkin pie pumpkin.

Now if only my tomaters would wake up and grow like weeds.

Is it best to store potatoes for long-term in barrels of sand or barrels of soil? I am storing them in an intentionally-dry root cellar and so can't leave them open to the air, because the lack of humidity would shrivel them. I understand that the solution to this is storing them in barrels of slightly damp sand or soil, but which is better, sand or soil?

This is a great thread!! Thanks to all for the wonderful tips!!

We grew our own potatos on a farm when I was a kid. Dropping the potatos in the ground was our (the kids') job. We'd just drop them in - never paid any attention to how they went it. They still grew just fine.

That being said - I can imagine - up would be best.

use an old bath tub ;)

I just plant the whole potato left over from last year.

how many potatoes does planting 1 whole potato produce?

It really does not matter that much, but up is a little better.

I didnt even think of bathtub,i have an old one out by the shop.I planted my taters this year in old tractor tires i got from the local tire shop,so far they look good.

Lots more eyes and root system means stronger plant and bigger taters man.

As many eyes as it has and more.

About planting 'seed potatoes' Vs 'eating' potatoes..

Ideally, yes, use seed potatoes..but about 'eating' potatoes...

An old friend once said to me (about 'eating' potatoes) 'Never cook a potato that hasn't got a name' (Meaning 'King Edward' or 'Marris Piper', 'Desiree' etc.).

What he meant was don't go to the supermarket and buy 'White potatoes' or 'Baking potatoes' or 'Potatoes for mashing' etc..

Buy a potato with a name - If you plant it, it should grow true.

Buy one without a name - You might grow a stupid mutoid.

Happy growing :D

It's a five star spud thread.

So I can mound on top? How much sunlight? Direct all day?

sand is a lot easier to push aside to be getting potatoes out during the winter
and cleaner

soil takes too much effort

It's getting too hot here so every time I dig up the Yukon Golds I replace the plant with a Vardaman or Beauregard Sweet Potato vine (in the tires); as they're only double-stacked now so the vines can grow over and out.