Potatoes will grow in almost any soil type but do grow better if the soil is a little on the acidic side. Most of us have soil that is closer to neutral or more basic. So to help out your potatoes, add oak leaves, sawdust or pine needles to compost in the soil in your potato patch in order to make the soil a little more acidic. Also if you plan to grow potatoes in certain areas of your garden (remember the suggestions of rotating your crops annually) do not add lime or manure to the area of your garden that you plan to grow potatoes in this year and next year. Both manure and lime can raise the pH of your soil causing it to be less acidic. Lime also can promote the growth of potato scab on your crop of potatoes. The best place to plant potatoes is in the place where you had peas or beans, because they fix nitrogen into the soil and the potato plants will use the nitrogen. The looser your soil is, the better your potatoes will grow. It stands to reason that if you have heavy clay soils it will be harder for the tuber’s shoots to penetrate the soil thus producing a smaller yield. If you have heavy soil, work the soil thoroughly by hand or with a tiller before planting potatoes.

Since you purchased your seed potatoes, store them in a dry, warm (60 degrees) and dark area, usually the basement until you are ready to plant.  Let the soil dry out before planting so the seed potatoes won’t rot before developing into new plants. A few days before you are going to be planting your seed potatoes, take them out of the box or bag they are stored in and look them over, as they may have developed small shoots by now. The smaller potatoes, up to 2.5 inches in diameter should be planted as is, regardless of how many shoots have developed. Larger seed potatoes can be cut into smaller pieces making sure each piece that you cut has a minimum of three eyes developing into shoots on each piece. On some of the potatoes you cut, you may only get two pieces or you may get four, it depends on the number of eyes that are producing shoots and how these developing eyes are positioned across the outside of the seed potato. If you are cutting your seed potatoes, lay them out on a tray or layer of newspaper in a dark, warm place for a few days to give the cut areas a chance to “seal off”, preventing rot from occurring and disease from entering the cut wounds when they are planted.

When you are ready to plant, you must provide deep holes or trenches 10 to 12 inches deep for your seed potatoes. This provides an area for the new plant to form and produce new potatoes and as you gradually fill in the hole the soil stays loose and allows for more tuber shoot penetration and a larger yield of new potatoes. You can dig individual holes for each hill or rows of trenches  across your planting area. Which ever is easiest for you. Space your holes 12 to 14 inches apart if you want to produce high yield with large potatoes. If you want to produce smaller sized potatoes (potatoes called creamers in the grocery store) space the holes or seed potatoes about 6-8 inches apart. Once your hole or trench is dug, place 1 seed potato in the hole with the shoots facing up. It is important that the shoots face up, as this is the new plant forming. You only need one seed potato per hole, as long as, it has a minimum of three developing shoots. Potatoes require a lot of nutrients while they are growing so give your new plants a boost, by sprinkling a 1⁄4 cup of bone meal in the bottom of each planting hole. Once you have placed your seed potatoes in the ground cover with a few inches of soil, continue covering the plants in each hole (or the trench) with a few inches of soil as the new plant emerges. Covering with soil will also protect the plants from frost early in the season. Once the plants have grown the full height of the trench or hole let them grow up to be about 10-12 inches tall and then hill a mound of soil all around the plant almost covering it again. Let it grow another 8-10 inches and then hill again with a hoe. Remember that all of this hilling is providing the environment for new potatoes to develop in. The larger the hills and the looser the soil the better the crop will be. One word of warning though, never hill potatoes that have started to bloom. Once a potato plant has started to bloom, the tender shoots that produce new potatoes are developing. Hoeing around the plants to form a hill could sever these tender shoots killing all of your new potatoes and destroying all of your hard work. As important as a good nutrient level in the soil, is a good moisture level. Potatoes need a steady supply of moisture in order to develop into good sound vegetables. If we have those hot dry spells you will have to supplement the moisture level of the soil with watering. Good constant moisture levels, moist but not waterlogged soil, prevents the potatoes from developing hollow spots in their insides. Keep up the hard work until the blossoms die on the plants and then you can harvest your potatoes and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Potatoes are ready to harvest 2 - 3 weeks after flowers die off, but at this time you will only get baby potatoes.  For maximum yeild, dig potatoes 2 - 3 weeks after the entire plant dies off.