How to plant seed potatoes in the traditional in the ground method.

Learn how to plant seed potatoes There are lots of ways to plant potatoes and I’m going to try a few of the different methods this year. But I’ll still have my main rows be the usual trenches in the ground. I use the good old-fashioned traditional method of planting directly in the dirt. There are multiple ways to plant seed potatoes but sometimes if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I may experiment but I’ll also get my crop in the ground. Trenches are the way I roll.

Transcript (edited for clarity)

I am planting seed potatoes today. There are actually multiple ways that you can do it.

I just do it the old fashioned way. I plant in the dirt. You can also do what’s called a Ruth Stout method, where you just lay your potatoes on top of the ground and you cover it with straw. You can do potato towers. There are lots of different things you can do.

Planting Seed Potatoes the Old Fashioned Way

I am just planting it my usual, old fashioned way. What I do is I dig a trench about four inches deep or so. I then bury my potatoes in the bottom of that trench. So in other words, I don’t just put it in the bottom of the trench and then pull the dirt over. I actually go down another couple inches and cover it with probably four inches of dirt, I’m going to say.

So that means, it’s down in the trench, and then it’s down in the bottom of the trench. I don’t fill in the trench until later. I hope that makes sense.

Why I Like the Trench Method. Hilling Potatoes.

What that does for me is it allows those potatoes to grow up. When they’re up above the trench, like four inches or so, I will go ahead and hill them. And that’s where I will pull that dirt in. And I will go ahead and fill that trench in, up around the stem of the potato. That keeps the tubers covered, and everything is protected from the sun. You don’t want the tubers exposed to the sun. They’ll turn green, and then that green is actually … It’s not good for you. You don’t want to eat green potatoes.

So I have an article where I write about all of this stuff. I’ve got more on how to grow potatoes here where I discuss hilling potatoes. For planting potatoes , this is as easy as it gets. I will get a close up as I’m digging those in, as I go down the trench.

How to Prepare Potatoes for Planting

When I got my potatoes, first thing you want to do is you want to cut them. So I don’t know if you can see that, but that has kind of a leathery film over it. So what I did is I cut these potatoes, making sure I had eyes in each one of them. Learn how to prep your potatoes for planting here.

Not all of my potatoes had real good eyes, but you can see those sprouts starting to come up. Those are called chitting your potatoes. So you want that skin to dry, up and then you can go ahead and plant it in the ground. Some people like to just plant them whole. Some people cut them smaller than I do. Again, multiple ways you can do it. Try different ways and see what works for you.

Planting Potatoes in Hay or Mulch.

Now, this was my planned trench for my potatoes. I am glad that I actually have extra potatoes. I’ve got five extra pieces of potatoes. And so I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to try that Ruth Stout method somewhere, and then I’m going to compare them and just see what I like better, because I really like the whole idea of not having to dig the potatoes. You lay it on the ground, cover it with straw, and then all you have to do is dig around in the straw to get your harvest. So I’ll do another video when I get ready to do that. Today, I am just planting the good old fashioned way. Check this article.

How to Plant Seed Potatoes the Traditional Way.

Okay. So this is my trench. I don’t know if you can tell how deep that is. It’s about to here. When you plant your potatoes, you want to make sure that you put the skin side down so those sprouts are up. I’m just going to dig down a little bit in the bottom of that trench and then cover that potato up.

I like to lay the potatoes out first. It just gives me an idea of how far apart to keep them. And I’m just going to go down the whole way. And it’s as easy as that.

I don’t fill in the trench at this point. Like I said, when those potatoes sprout up through the dirt, they’re going to come up, I don’t know, about into here, just so that they’re above the trench. And then is when I will go ahead and I’ll pull all this dirt up around those potatoes. And that just protects, again, protects the tubers from the sun.

So super easy. I hope you give it a try. And watch for my Ruth Stout method video, because I’m super curious to see how that’s going to work. But I didn’t want to try my entire harvest on a new thing. So I want potatoes this year. You guys have a great day. We’ll talk to you later. Bye.

For more on how to grow potatoes from planting to harvest check out. How to Grow Potatoes

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Pinterest image titled, How to Plant Seed Potatoes, with an image of Sharon in front of her row of potatoes.

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2 Comments

  1. I live in hot Arizona. I’m wondering when to begin planting potatoes here.

  2. Your best bet is to check with a local extension office or some other gardener local to you. Potatoes usually like to go in the ground early spring.

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