Potato

Sun

Full sun, ideally at least 6 hours daily.

Water

Keep soil evenly moist, especially during flowering and tuber development; avoid waterlogging. Reduce watering as foliage dies back.

Soil

Loose, fertile, well-drained soil, preferably slightly acidic at pH 5.0-6.0. Heavy, compacted or waterlogged soil reduces yield and encourages rot.

Height

1.5-3 ft (0.45-0.9 m)

Spread

1.5-2 ft (0.45-0.6 m)

Flowers

Usually late spring to summer, depending on planting time; white, pink or purple flowers, sometimes followed by small green berries. Some varieties rarely flower.

Foliage

Green, compound leaves with oval leaflets on soft, branching stems; foliage yellows and dies back as the crop matures.

Growth

Fast; most varieties reach harvest in about 10-20 weeks.

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.5 ft (0.15 m)

2. After 1 year

   2.2 ft (0.68 m)

   full size

Full size in one season.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant certified disease-free seed potatoes about 4-6 in (10-15 cm) deep and 12-15 in (30-38 cm) apart once soil reaches about 45°F (7°C). Protect emerging shoots from frost.
• Water deeply during dry spells, keeping moisture steady while tubers develop without leaving soil saturated.
• Work mature compost into the bed before planting; use a balanced vegetable fertiliser as directed and avoid excess nitrogen.
• Earth up soil around stems as they grow, or maintain a thick, light-excluding mulch, to keep developing tubers covered.
• Rotate potatoes and other nightshade crops out of the same bed for at least three years where space allows; remove volunteer potatoes.

Pruning. Routine pruning is unnecessary. For storage crops, cut off dead foliage and leave sound tubers in the soil for about two weeks to set their skins, provided the soil is not wet and disease is absent.

For new potatoes, gently check beside a plant about 10–12 weeks after planting and lift a few tubers once they reach the size you want; their skins will still rub off easily. For mature potatoes to store, wait until the foliage dies back, usually 15–20 weeks after planting, then leave them in the soil for another 1–2 weeks until the skins resist rubbing, provided the ground is neither waterlogged nor freezing.

Late winter

Choose certified seed potatoes; in cool climates, stand them in a bright, frost-free place to develop short sprouts before planting.

Spring

Plant when soil is workable and warming; cover emerging shoots if frost is forecast.

Late spring

Earth up growing plants and check that no developing tubers are exposed to light.

Summer

Maintain even moisture and inspect leaves for blight and chewing pests; lift early varieties when tubers reach a useful size.

Late summer to autumn

Harvest maincrop potatoes after foliage dies back and skins have set; dry their surfaces before storing in a cool, dark, frost-free, ventilated place.

Autumn

Clear crop debris and missed tubers. In frost-free regions with hot summers, plant a locally suitable autumn crop instead of following a spring schedule.

• Plant in rows or blocks in a kitchen garden, leaving room for earthing up and harvesting.
• Use large, deep containers or grow bags on sunny patios where ground space is limited.
• Include in productive raised beds with separate blocks of beans, brassicas or salad crops.
• Use early varieties in a potager, then replace the harvested crop with autumn vegetables.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Edible landscape, Homestead, Farmhouse, Cottage garden and Small-space.

Plant it with: Bush beans, Cabbage, Lettuce, Radishes and French marigolds.

Wildlife: Flowers provide pollen for some bees, including bumblebees. Leaves feed various insects, but the berries and foliage are not suitable food for pets or livestock.

• Late blight: rapidly spreading brown leaf patches and stem lesions are favoured by humid weather. Grow locally recommended resistant varieties, avoid wetting foliage and promptly remove infected tops; do not store affected tubers.
• Common scab: corky patches develop on tubers, especially in dry, alkaline soil. Avoid liming before planting, choose resistant varieties and maintain even moisture as tubers begin forming.
• Colorado potato beetle: in affected parts of North America and continental Europe, adults and larvae strip leaves. Inspect leaf undersides, remove egg clusters and hand-pick beetles and larvae; use locally approved controls if needed.
• Green tubers: light exposure causes greening and can accompany elevated toxic glycoalkaloids. Keep tubers covered during growth, store in darkness and discard green or strongly sprouted potatoes.

Leaves, stems, berries, sprouts and green or damaged tubers contain toxic glycoalkaloids and can poison people, cats, dogs and horses. Significant ingestion can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness and neurological signs and may be serious; seek medical or veterinary advice. Sound, non-green tubers are normally eaten cooked, but cooking does not reliably make green or sprouted potatoes safe.

• Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)

  Has trailing vines with simple heart-shaped or lobed leaves and funnel-shaped flowers; potato has compound leaves and small star-shaped flowers.

• Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

  Has simple rather than compound leaves and clusters of small berries that usually ripen black; it does not produce a crop of potato tubers.

• Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

  Usually has yellow flowers and conspicuous fleshy fruits. Potato flowers are usually white, pink or purple, and its small green berries must not be eaten.

The species name tuberosum means 'tuber-bearing', referring to its swollen underground stems.

Propagation. Grow from certified seed tubers, not botanical seed, to retain the variety. Plant small tubers whole; larger ones can be cut into pieces with at least one healthy eye each and allowed to dry over before planting, although cutting increases rot risk in cold, wet soil.

Accepted botanical name

Solanum tuberosum

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Hawaii, the lower 48 states and Puerto Rico.

Native range

Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Measured

Soil pH 7.5 to 8. Average height 37 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.