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Growing potatoes at home sounds easy—just plant them and wait, right? But if you’ve ended up with small, misshaped, or low-yield potatoes, you’re not alone. Many home gardeners make the same mistakes without even knowing it.
The good news? A few simple changes can make a big difference. In this post, you’ll learn five secrets that help you grow bigger, better potatoes right in your backyard.
Whether you’re planting in the ground, raised beds, or containers, these tips will help you get a harvest you can be proud of.
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1. Start with High-Quality Seed Potatoes
If you want healthy, high-yield potatoes, skip the ones from the grocery store. Most store-bought potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting, and they may carry diseases that can ruin your garden.
Instead, buy certified seed potatoes from a garden center or online. These are tested to be disease-free and are meant for planting—not eating.
Quick tip
If your seed potatoes are large, you can cut them into chunks. Just make sure each piece has 1 to 2 eyes (the little sprouts) and let them dry for a day before planting. This helps prevent rot in the soil.
2. Choose the Right Soil and Location
Potatoes grow best in loose, well-drained soil. Hard, compact soil makes it tough for the tubers to expand, leading to smaller potatoes.
Pick a sunny spot—potatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of full sun each day. Give each plant enough room to grow so the roots can spread out without crowding.
Tip
Mix in compost and aged manure before planting. This improves soil texture and gives your plants the nutrients they need to grow strong and produce more.
3. Hill Your Potatoes Regularly
As your potato plants grow, you’ll need to add soil around the base of the plant—this is called hilling. It may seem like extra work, but it’s one of the best ways to grow bigger potatoes.
Hilling gives the plant more space to form tubers. It also keeps the growing potatoes covered and safe from sunlight, which can turn them green and make them bitter.
Tip
Start hilling when the plants are about 6–8 inches tall. Hill them 2 to 3 times during the season, adding soil or straw around the stems each time.
4. Water Deeply, But Not Too Often
Potatoes need steady moisture, especially when the tubers are forming underground. But too much water can cause rot, and too little water means smaller, fewer potatoes.
It’s all about balance. Water deeply so the soil stays moist—but not soggy.
Tip
Try to give your potato plants about 1 to 2 inches of water per week. Rain counts, so you don’t always need to water if the weather helps out.
5. Feed Them Right
Potatoes are hungry plants. To grow big and healthy, they need the right kind of fertilizer—one that’s low in nitrogen, but higher in phosphorus and potassium.
Too much nitrogen will give you lots of leaves and very few potatoes. What you want is strong root growth and plenty of tubers.
Tip
Add fertilizer after the plants sprout and again mid-season. Choose one that’s made for root vegetables or labeled for potatoes.
Conclusion
Growing big, healthy potatoes at home isn’t as hard as it seems—you just need the right steps.
Here’s a quick recap of the 5 secrets:
- Start with high-quality seed potatoes
- Use loose, rich soil in a sunny spot
- Hill your plants regularly
- Water deeply, but not too often
- Feed them with the right fertilizer
Try these tips this season and see the difference in your harvest. Do you have a favorite potato-growing trick? Share it in the comments! We’d love to hear what works for you.
