How to Plant Potatoes

Growing potatoes is straightforward, productive and surprisingly satisfying. With the right start, you can grow enough to enjoy fresh potatoes for months. Whether you have a garden bed, raised bed or large pots, the method is much the same: plant healthy seed potatoes in fertile soil, hill or cover as they grow, and harvest when the foliage dies back. Timing, variety and soil prep all matter if you want a strong crop.

How Do You Choose the Right Seed Potatoes

Start with certified seed potatoes, not supermarket leftovers. Garden centres and specialist suppliers offer a wide selection of varieties suited to different growing times and kitchen uses. Avoid anything that looks soft, shrivelled or mouldy. Good seed potatoes are firm, with visible eyes, and ideally suited to your local growing conditions.

Planting Techniques

Potatoes can be planted in trenches, hills, bags or containers. Traditional trenching involves digging rows about 10–15 cm deep and placing seed potatoes at intervals, covering them with soil and gradually earthing up as they grow. Hill planting involves mounding soil over potatoes in raised heaps. Both methods work well. Container growing is ideal for small spaces and allows for easy harvesting and soil control. Whatever method you use, ensure good spacing and depth to encourage strong tuber development.

Care and Maintenance: Essential Tips on Watering, Fertilising, and Managing Pests

Water deeply and consistently, especially when the plants are flowering, as this is when tubers are forming. Avoid soaking the soil too frequently, as this can lead to rot. Feed with a balanced fertiliser once the shoots emerge and again halfway through the growing season. Keep weeds in check and mound soil or compost around the base of plants every couple of weeks. This prevents tubers from being exposed to light, which turns them green and inedible. Watch for pests like slugs, wireworms, and potato blight—removing affected leaves promptly can reduce the spread.

Should You Select Certified Seed Potatoes

Yes. Certified seed potatoes are inspected and guaranteed to be disease-free. This reduces the risk of soil-borne infections like blight, scab or virus damage. Supermarket potatoes are often treated with sprout inhibitors and can introduce disease into your soil. Investing in certified seed gives you a cleaner start and better yield.

Variety

Potatoes fall into three main categories: earlies, second earlies, and maincrop. Earlies mature quickly, ideal for new potatoes and smaller gardens. Second earlies follow a few weeks later, offering slightly larger yields. Maincrops take longer but give the highest yield and are best for storage. Choose based on your cooking preferences—waxy varieties are good for boiling and salads, while floury types are better for roasting and mash.

Pre-Sprouting (Chitting)

Chitting involves placing seed potatoes in a light, cool space before planting to encourage strong sprouts. This gives plants a head start and can lead to earlier harvesting. Place them with the eyes facing up in an egg box or tray and leave them for two to three weeks until short, stubby shoots develop.

Site Selection

Potatoes prefer a sunny, open site with at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. Avoid planting in the same spot each year, as this encourages pest and disease build-up. Good air circulation helps prevent fungal issues and improves growth.

Soil Requirements

Potatoes need loose, fertile, well-drained soil. Heavy clay should be improved with compost and grit, while sandy soils may need extra organic matter to hold moisture. Well-rotted manure dug in before planting improves fertility and structure. Avoid fresh manure, which can increase the risk of scab and forked tubers.

pH Level

Potatoes grow best in slightly acidic to neutral soil, ideally between pH 5.5 and 7.0. This discourages common scab and helps nutrient uptake. A simple soil test kit can help you adjust pH levels if needed.

Tilling

Before planting, dig over the soil thoroughly to remove stones and break up any compacted layers. This makes it easier for roots to develop and tubers to expand. Incorporate compost or rotted manure during this step for added nutrition.

When to Plant

In most of the UK, early potatoes are planted in March, second earlies in April, and maincrops by late April or early May. In colder areas, planting may be slightly delayed to avoid frost damage to new shoots. Use fleece or cloches if a cold snap is expected after planting.

Cut and Cure Seed Potatoes

If your seed potatoes are large, you can cut them into pieces, making sure each has at least one or two eyes. After cutting, leave the pieces to cure in a dry, cool place for a day or two. This forms a protective layer over the cut surface and helps prevent rot once planted.

Create Trenches or Hills

For trench planting, dig rows about 10–15 cm deep and 30–40 cm apart. For hills, make individual mounds for each plant spaced around 50 cm apart. Trenches offer more control for large areas, while hills are easier to manage in tighter spaces. Both methods require you to mound soil around the plants as they grow to protect developing tubers.

Place Seed Potatoes

Place the seed potatoes with the shoots facing upwards, spaced 30 cm apart. Cover with soil and water well. As shoots grow, continue earthing up by adding more soil or compost around the stems to encourage more tuber formation and prevent sunlight exposure.

Harvesting and Storage

Early potatoes are ready around 10 weeks after planting, once flowers appear and the plant begins to yellow. Maincrops are harvested in late summer to early autumn when the foliage dies back completely. Use a fork to lift them gently from the soil, being careful not to damage the skins. Let them dry on the surface for a few hours, then store in a cool, dark, dry place in breathable sacks or boxes. Never store potatoes in the fridge or in plastic, as moisture buildup leads to rot.

Crop Rotation Matters

Potatoes are heavy feeders and vulnerable to soil-borne diseases, so avoid planting them in the same spot year after year. A three- or four-year crop rotation is ideal. Follow potatoes with legumes or leafy greens to help restore soil nutrients, and avoid following them with other members of the nightshade family, like tomatoes or aubergines, which share similar pests and diseases.

Growing in Containers or Grow Bags

If you're short on space or dealing with poor soil, growing potatoes in containers or potato grow bags is a great option. Start with 10–15 cm of compost at the bottom, add your seed potatoes, then cover them. As shoots appear, keep adding compost in stages until the container is nearly full. This mimics trenching and encourages more tuber growth. Make sure containers have good drainage, and keep watering consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds.

Managing Potato Blight

Blight is one of the most destructive issues with potatoes, especially in wet summers. It appears as dark blotches on leaves, which then wilt and collapse. If you see signs of blight, cut off the foliage immediately and discard it — do not compost. The tubers may still be usable if the disease hasn’t spread underground. To help prevent blight, choose resistant varieties and avoid watering in the evening, which encourages moisture build-up.

Using Mulch to Boost Soil Health

Mulching around potato plants helps suppress weeds, conserve moisture, and keep the soil temperature steady. Use straw, grass clippings or leaf mould. It also acts as an alternative to earthing up — by gradually adding mulch as the plants grow, you protect developing tubers from sunlight and reduce labour compared to heavy soil mounding.

Staggering Planting for Extended Harvest

To avoid a glut and keep harvesting for longer, stagger your potato planting over a few weeks in early spring. Start with your first earlies, then follow with second earlies and maincrops. If space allows, plant in succession — every two weeks through March and April. This gives you a steady flow of potatoes from late spring through autumn, rather than everything being ready at once.

How to Spot When They’re Ready

Potatoes aren’t ready just because the plant looks big. For first earlies, check once the flowers bloom — gently dig around the base to feel for tubers. If they’re the size of a hen’s egg, they’re ready to lift. For maincrop varieties, wait until the plant has completely died back, then leave the tubers in the ground for a couple of weeks before harvesting. This lets their skins toughen, which helps with long-term storage.

Prepping Your Plot in Autumn

If you know you’ll be planting potatoes the following spring, start preparing the ground in autumn. Clear weeds, dig over the soil, and incorporate plenty of compost or rotted manure. Covering the area with black plastic sheeting can also help suppress weeds and warm the soil early, giving you a head start when it’s time to plant.

Using Green Manures Beforehand

Sowing a green manure like clover, mustard or winter rye in the off-season can boost soil health for potatoes. Once the green manure is cut back and dug in, it improves soil structure and fertility naturally, reducing your need for extra feeding during the growing season.