How To Grow Great Potatoes - Kansas City Community Gardens

Are you looking to add potatoes to your garden? Good choice! Potatoes are a great crop to grow and provide many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium. They are a good source of folate, niacin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese.

Let's get started!

Planting

• In the Kansas City area, plant between March 10th and April 10th.

• Cut a sprouting potato into approximately 4 pieces, each about the size of a ping pong ball.

• Make sure each piece has a sprout on it.

• Lay each piece out at room temperature for 24 hours on a newspaper or drying pan.

• Dig holes 9-12” apart and 5-6” deep.

• Place the potato piece in the hole with the sprout point up.

• Cover with loose soil and compost (if available).

Care

• Water when the top 1 inch of soil dries out.

• When plants sprout, mulch with 1-3” of straw.

• As plants grow 3-4”, mound the dirt around the stem of the plant by gathering soil around it.

• Mound soil 2 or 3 times until plant is fully grown.

Additional Care

• Potatoes need at least 1” of water per week either from rainfall of deep watering.

• Continue to mound with soil, mulch or straw throughout the growing season. Potatoes do not like light. This practice will help reduce the amount of sun the developing potatoes receive.

• Too much sun makes the young potatoes turn green and cause a build up of toxins making them unfit to eat.

Harvest and Storage

• Potatoes are ready to be harvested when plants start to die. The green plants should be about 1.5 - 2 feet tall and the top leaves will start to brown.

• When this happens, use a garden trowel to pull the plant out of the ground.

• Then, use the trowel to dig around the plant, approximately 8” from base of the plant. Make sure to dig deep!

• Store plants in a dark, cool, dry place and allow them to breathe.