I planted potatoes today. That’s a big deal for me. You see, I grew up on a 500-acre potato farm. My family planted potatoes by the truckload—hundreds of truckloads. They used machinery to plant, fertilize, cultivate, irrigate, harvest, and store potatoes.

I am using my two hands in my small community garden plot.

Funny, in the six or so years I’ve had my garden plot, I thought about growing potatoes just once. I remember as a kid the potato plants themselves taking up a lot of space. With the way they grow—needing to be “hilled,” or have soil mounded up around their sides—the potato plant reaches up to the thigh of an average adult.

And its canopy is pretty broad, too. With tomatoes, squash, lettuce—pretty much any vegetable I’ve grown, actually—I get a lot of yield from the area the plants occupy. Did I want to give over that space to potatoes?

I decided no, until this spring. I visited my family for Easter, and they were in the midst of the spring potato planting season. Why not give it a try, I thought?

The variety I planted is ‘Marcy’, a good commercial variety bred for disease resistance, crispness, and good color and skin texture. And three months from now, we’ll see if potato growing is in my genes.

Planting Potatoes in Containers

One factor that pushed me toward potatoes was the newish trend of planting potatoes in tubs, old trash cans, heavy fabric containers, anything that can hold soil ABOVE ground. The potatoes develop below soil level but within a set amount of space. Brilliant idea.

I decided that since my carrot box was under-productive last year, I’d turn it into a potato box.

And since I was visiting my potato-growing family, I could get my hands on some free seed, too.

Seed Potatoes

Potatoes are not grown from seed, actually. They are grown from what are called “seed potatoes” (see picture).

Seed potatoes are regular potatoes that are cut into sections so that each section has an “eye,” that little puckered spot on the potato’s surface. Put this potato piece in the ground and the “eye” will develop growing shoots—much the same way they’ll start growing if you leave them in the drawer in your fridge too long.

Eventually this planted potato slice will grow into a plant, develop more underground tubers, and the circle of life continues.

How to Plant Potatoes

I dug two hand-sized, 3-inch-deep holes in my newly named potato box and placed three “seed potatoes” in each hole. I used three for two reasons: to ensure at least one of them would develop growing shoots, and because I happened to have six sections total, but only enough room in the box for two holes. The holes are about a foot apart, giving them plenty of elbow room.

Composting and Potato Nutrition

Had I been prepared, I would have added a handful of compost to give the seed potatoes a nutrient boost as they began to grow.

However, since the developing shoots feed off the remaining flesh of the potato until roots can form, I figure I have some time before I have to add some sort of nutrition. My Dad says to add a formulation such as 1-2-1 or 5-10-5—something that helps to promote strong root formation. The sprouts should emerge from the ground in 10-14 days, Dad says.