Planting Potato Pieces: Which End Of The Potato Is Up (2024)

FAQs

Planting Potato Pieces: Which End Of The Potato Is Up? ›

Plant each piece of potato (cut side down, with the eyes pointing up) every 12-15 inches, with the rows spaced 3 feet apart. If your space is limited or if you would like to grow only baby potatoes, you can decrease the spacing between plants.

Basically, the only thing to remember when planting potatoes is to plant with the eyes facing up. Here's a little more detail: Small seed potatoes that measure 1 to 2 inches (2.5-5 cm.) in diameter (about the size of a chicken egg) can be planted whole with, as noted, the eye facing up.

Plant seed potato segments cut-side down (eyes up) in a 6-inch-deep hole or trench. Space each segment 12-inches apart on all sides. Between each segment, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer. Then cover both potatoes and fertilizer with 2-inches of soil, and water the soil well.

Potato sprouts should be planted cut-side down, sprout-side facing up. You'll want to plant each sprout 3-4" below the surface of the soil. Plants should be spaced out at least 12" apart so the plants have room to grow both below and above ground.

Place cut side down, with eyes facing up. Space the seed potatoes 12 to 15 inches apart. Fill the trench with 4 inches of soil. As the plants grow, add more soil, mounding it up around the plants.

Small potatoes can be planted whole, but larger potatoes (anything bigger than a golf ball) should be quartered with a clean knife before planting. Make sure each piece planted includes an eye or bud, which is where the new crop will spring from.

Each seed can yield you from 3 to 6 potatoes depending on how many eyes it has to sprout from.

Yes, remember each sprout is a plant, so you need to cut each sprout and plant them separately. You don't actually have to cut up the potato, you can but don't have to. If you do cut them, let them sit around and grow a skin on those edges to reduce chances of fungus or disease.

One way to combat the disease issue is to let your seed potatoes cure for a few days after cutting and before planting. To cure them you simply need to let the cut potatoes sit in an airy, dry place that is out of the sun for 2 or 3 days. The cut side of the potato will dry and harden and get a leathery texture.

The best planting time is February. But I think of potatoes as having two seasons here — one is August into early September for a late fall or early winter harvest, and the other is February for a late spring harvest.

How often should you water potatoes? ›

Here's the thing: potatoes aren't picky, but they have standards. They crave a drink when the top inch of soil feels like a dry martini. One inch of water per week usually does the trick, but stay flexible. Nature's not on a schedule, and neither is your watering routine.

Buy your seed potatoes at least a month before planting, to enable them to sprout. Remove them from the bag and place in trays in a dry, airy spot away from direct sunlight, until sprouts are approximately 2-4cm long.

If larger potatoes are planted whole they will produce larger plants and should be given a little extra room, 12-16 inches. A spacing of 36 inches between rows in adequate but if you have the extra space, further spacing will make hilling easier.

As long as your seed potatoes have 'eyes', which are shoots on various parts of the potatoes, they can be cut in half and planted. If the soil has been well cultivated and is not too wet, you can plant potatoes immediately.

Precutting offers several advantages that will help potato seed overcome adverse soil conditions at planting and avoid dormancy factors of some varieties. Precutting seed potatoes advances the physiological age of the tubers.

More warmth may accelerate the process, within limits (don't bake them). Place potatoes in a brown paper bag with vegetables that are ripening. This will help to quicken the sprouting action. It can also help to layer moist paper towels and put in between potatoes.

Planting and growing seed potatoes

Then, plant your sets 12-15 inches apart with the cut side facing down. Next, cover them with 3-4 inches of soil. After about two weeks, your potato sprouts will begin emerging and you'll need to add another 3-4 inches of soil, filling in around the sprouts.

Sow seed potatoes, "eyes" (sprouts) up, two to three inches deep and about a foot apart. For traditional row plantings, keep rows three to four feet apart. Dig your planting furrow up to six inches deep, keeping extra soil from the furrow stacked alongside the planted row to use for hilling.