Its no secret that I love growing veggies – potatoes in particular – so it upsets me that so many people are getting sad results when they try growing potatoes in novel ways. I just spent an evening watching videos of people who planted potatoes in various enclosures, grew beautiful plants, and then harvested two handfuls of small, knobby potatoes.
It was not their fault, because this is what usually happens when potatoes are given growing conditions that are much warmer and drier than would occur under normal circumstances, normal being the consistent cool, moist conditions six inches (15cm) underground. I learned this twenty years ago, when growing potatoes in towers made from old tires became a passing fad. The soil-filled black tires heated up so much that the plants lost interest in making potatoes (I harvested five), which never happens in my garden.
Growing potatoes can be a fun and rewarding experience for any gardener. With the right care and cultivation, you can maximize the yield of potatoes per plant and enjoy a bountiful harvest. In this article, we’ll explore some key factors that affect potato yield per plant and provide tips to help you get the most out of your potato patch.
What Determines Potato Yield Per Plant?
Several factors influence the number of potatoes produced by each plant, including:
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Potato variety – Some potato varieties naturally produce higher yields than others. Choose high-yielding varieties like Russet Burbank, Yukon Gold, or Katahdin.
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Seed potato quality – Start with certified disease-free seed potatoes that are large and robust with multiple eyes (sprouts). Avoid small shriveled seed potatoes.
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Soil quality – Potatoes need nutrient-rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 5.0-7.0. amend poor soils with compost or aged manure before planting.
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Sun exposure – Potatoes grow best with at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Site your potato patch in a sunny spot.
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Watering – Consistent moisture is key, especially as tubers start to form. Water deeply 1-2 inches per week.
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Spacing – Give plants 12-18 inches between rows and 8-12 inches between plants for ample room to grow.
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Pest/disease management – Control potato beetles, aphids, blight and other pests/diseases throughout the growing season.
Paying close attention to all these factors will ensure your potato plants stay healthy and have the resources they need for robust yields.
Growing Techniques to Maximize Yield
Beyond providing ideal growing conditions, certain techniques can further boost potato yields:
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Hilling – Mound soil or mulch around the base of plants once they are 12 inches tall. Hilling encourages extra tuber growth.
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High nitrogen fertilizer – Applying fertilizer high in nitrogen when plants flower increases total tuber production. Fish emulsion is a good organic choice.
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Vertical gardening – Grow potatoes in bins or barrels layered with soil/mulch, which expands planting space.
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Close spacing – Plant rows or seed potatoes closer than recommended spacing, then thin plants for higher yields in less space
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Tuber planting – Replant a portion of your harvested potato tubers to take advantage of their rapid growth versus growing from true seed.
Realistic Yield Expectations
With excellent growing conditions and techniques, typical yields per potato plant are:
- 5-15 tubers per plant
- 3-5 lbs per plant
- 200-400 lbs per 10 ft row
However, yields vary considerably depending on climate, the potato variety grown, and other factors. Also keep in mind that total yield per row or area planted includes both plant spacing and yield per plant. Wider plant spacing means fewer plants per row.
As a point of reference, research studies found Russet Burbank potatoes planted 6-8 inches apart in very high fertility soil yielded around 600-700 pounds per 10 foot row. That equates to about 5-7 lbs per plant.
Tips for Record-Breaking Yields
Want to go for a record potato harvest from your garden? Here are some extra tips:
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Start with disease-free certified seed potatoes – Don’t use grocery store potatoes, which may carry disease.
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Plant early maturing varieties – Early potatoes mature faster and can be harvested sooner, allowing replanting.
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Use raised beds – Excellent drainage and deep, loose soil in raised beds encourages abundant tuber growth.
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Water frequently – Potatoes are nearly 80% water. Adequate moisture, especially during tuber growth, is critical.
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Consider container growing – Containers allow maximum control of soil quality and make hilling easier.
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Harvest promptly – Harvest potatoes intended for storage immediately after vines die back to avoid rotting tubers.
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Track yields – Keep notes each season on yield per row, plant, or container to find the best performing varieties and techniques for your garden.
With attention to these key potato growing principles, you can maximize your yield per plant and enjoy bushels of homegrown potatoes! Start with small-scale experiments, fine-tune your methods over time, and see just how prolific potato plants can be when grown under optimal conditions.
How to Mulch Potatoes
Any biodegradable mulch is a good mulch for potatoes, though once-popular straw can be a problem because of price and pesticide contamination. I use both grass clippings and weathered leaves since that is what I have, and I especially like the way leaf mulch keeps the potatoes’ root zones cool, moist and free of weeds. A recent research project from Rutgers University showed that plants produced prettier, more uniform tubers with leaf mulch, and it’s fine to combine materials when mulching potatoes, for example by layering leaves with grass clippings. The important thing is to keep a light-blocking blanket of organic material between the shallowest tubers and the sun.
The best time to start mulching potatoes is when the plants are ankle high and in need of their second weeding. Use a sharp hoe to nip out weeds, and then mound loose soil around the plants so the crown of the plant becomes snugged in with an additional two inches of soil. Then start layering on the mulch, and keep adding more until the plants begin to fail.
At this point you can feel around beneath the mulch for some tender new potatoes, and start harvesting all of the potatoes from your most advanced plants. As I pull individual plants, I often move the mulch to the centres of neighbouring plants that are still growing and in need of as much mulch as I can muster.
When it comes to growing potatoes, the simplest method is the best.
The Problem With Growing Potatoes in Containers
Indeed, researchers in tropical climates have found that when soil temperatures rise above 75°F (25°C), potato plants signal their roots to stop making tubers. Instead, the plants may rev up other reproductive strategies, like developing more fertile flowers, or popping out little green potato-like organs on the main stem. Daytime heating of roots is one reason why potatoes grown in above-ground containers may fail in warm summer climates. Potatoes can take warm air temperatures, but when the roots warm up too, productivity plummets.
A second problem with growing potatoes in towers, pots or bags is the dwarfing effect caused by the containers. The plants sense that they are growing close together, which makes them produce numerous small tubers rather than a few large ones. Large containers or broad bins relieve this crowding a little, but consider: When the Master Gardeners of San Francisco, CA (a potato-friendly climate) compared the productivity of ‘Carola’ potatoes grown in beds, bins, bags and pots, these are the numbers from the final weigh-in:
| Growing Method | Average Yield Per Plant |
| Mulched raised bed | 2.38 lb (about 1 kg) |
| Wire bin | 0.70 lb (0.32 kg) |
| Plastic pot | 0.62 lb (0.28 kg) |
| Potato bag | 0.58 lb (0.26 kg) |
| Burlap bag | 0.25 lb (0.11 kg) |
You can follow this link to see the thoughtful work done by Canadian garden blogger Isis Loran, but spoiler alert she has not found a potato growing method to rival the hill-and-mulch method, which involves simply growing potatoes in the ground, and mounding loose soil and mulch around them each time you weed. “I loved that I could just rake up or hill up more soil & straw as the plants got bigger. It was much easier in my opinion than trying to add soil to the pallet container or rolling up the burlap bags,” Loran writes.
Loran gardens in a cool maritime climate like that of the British Isles, where potatoes tend to prosper no matter how they are grown. Research by the Royal Horticultural Society has found that variety does make a difference when growing potatoes in containers. When 21 different varieties were grown in 40-litre (16-inch diameter) green plastic potato bags, these varieties were the strongest producers: ‘Casablanca’, ‘Golden Nugget’, ‘Sharpe’s Express’, ‘Maris Bard’ and ‘Lady Christi’.
The story is the same in the US. In Wisconsin, potato lovers involved in the Kenosha Potato Project have found that ‘Calrose’ and ‘Charlotte’ tend to produce larger potatoes than other varieties when growth in soft-sided pots or bags.
Potato Growing Underground Time Lapse – 92 Days
FAQ
How many potatoes will I get from one plant?
What is the average yield of potatoes per plant?
You can expect to harvest 3 to 5 pounds of potatoes per potato plant. Larger tubers are produced at wider plant spacings, though some varieties, for example, Yukon Gold, develop growth defects such as hollow heart at a wider spacing. Potato plants should be “hilled” when the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall (Figure 7).
Can you eat potatoes that have been in the ground for 2 years?
Unharvested potatoes: Another question surrounding growing potatoes is if they are safe to eat if they were left in the ground over the winter. According to Oregon State University Extension, they are safe as long as they are disease free, firm and the skin is not green.
How many pounds of potatoes are from 1 pound of seed potatoes?
Generally 1 pound of seed will yield 5-10 pounds of potatoes. Dig a shallow trench about 6-8 inches deep. This can be done with a rake in loose soil but you may need a shovel or hoe in heavier soils. Place cut potatoes 10-12 inches apart in the trench.