How to Plant Seed Potatoes in the Ground, in Pots, & in Straw

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Potatoes are among the most productive vegetables for home gardens, and knowing how to plant seed potatoes properly ensures your success. For every pound of seed potatoes you plant, expect to harvest three to five pounds of spuds in return. That’s a great investment! Plus, with the long storage life of potatoes and the myriad of ways you can prepare them, they are a must-grow crop for many gardeners. And, to sweeten the deal even more, potatoes are a simple crop for beginner gardeners to grow. In this article, we’ll look at what seed potatoes are, how to plant seed potatoes, and how to grow them successfully—no matter how much, or how little, space you have to grow.

Seed potatoes are not actually seeds at all. Instead, they are small potato tubers that are used for planting. Most often, they are saved from last year’s harvest and stored over the winter under exacting conditions to keep them firm and disease free. Rather than saving some of your own harvest for replanting the next year, I recommend purchasing new certified disease-free seed potatoes at the start of each growing season.

Potatoes are prone to many diseases (bacterial, viral, and fungal), including potato scab and potato blight, that can easily be introduced to the garden when planting your own saved tubers. White potatoes, red potatoes, or those with yellow flesh or patterned skin are no different than spuds with any number of different colored skins or interiors. Purchasing and planting certified seed potatoes is the only way to ensure a “clean” crop. Certified seed potatoes are guaranteed to be free of disease, and