It’s that time again gardeners; time to plant potatoes.

The Potato plant is a hardy and versatile plant that produces a lot of food in a small amount of space.  Potatoes are formed out of the tuber that grows on the plant. In order for the tuber to grow into a potato it cannot be exposed to light. These tubers grow above the seed potato. In order for potatoes to grow as the plant grows you must mound around the plant to prevent any light getting to the tubers.

Potatoes are native to the Andes Region of South America.  There are thousands of potatoes to choose from in different colors, sizes, textures, and flavors. You can grow a potato from a potato bought at the grocery store, but you may not have much success.  I recommend starting from an organic potato seed.  These are chemical free and disease resistant.  There are a lot of ways to plant and grow potatoes.   Once planted, your potatoes will be ready to harvest between 2 to 4 months.

You can harvest new potatoes early in the season by carefully searching the soil with your hands or a fork and removing the small baby potatoes without disturbing the entire plant. Once the vines start to die back, the entire harvest is ready for eating! Remember, as with Tomatoes, the leaves of the potato plant are toxic and should not be eaten. Make sure you tell small children no to eat the leaves.

Here are three unique ways to grow your own potatoes,  in limited space, that you can try this year.

1. In a Bag

Potatoes don’t need to be planted in the ground...They can be planted and grown in a bag!  There are different products on the market that are essentially made out of weed cloth or a porous garden fabric or even plastic.  Fill them with soil and plant the potatoes deeply. Depending on the size bag you can plant 3-5 plants in one bag.  Water regularly.  In about 2 months see if you can pull out baby potatoes and after 4 months you should have regular size potatoes to eat.

2.  Using Hay or Mulch

Another great way to grow potatoes is in stacks of hay or mulch. The potatoes will get the nutrients and shade they need without dirt, and as the plants grow, just continue to pile more mulch on top to keep the roots covered. When these potatoes are ready to harvest, they will be clean and easy to pull up! Another variation of this method is to use recycled tires as planters and to continue filling it with hay or mulch, then adding another tire and filling that up with mulch or hay as the potato plant grows around 3-5 tires high depending on the size of tire.  Water regularly and start harvesting baby potatoes after 2 to 3 months.

3.  In a Raised Bed

A very popular method of planting potatoes is the raised bed method. Of course, living in the city, I like to grow all kinds of things in raised beds because it allows me to control what goes into my soil. But with potatoes in particular, they need really loose, fluffy, well-tilled soil to grow larger and more prolific potatoes. I plant one to two seed potato pieces every square foot deeply in the raised bed, which gives them plenty of space to grow and spread. This is also a great way to grow potatoes in small spaces.

Please refer to my videos for more information on planting potatoes.

Night Shade Plants

An introduction to tomatoes and potatoes both part of the nightshade family.

Planting Potatoes

How to Plant Potatoes in a Raised Bed

Happy Planting!