How to Plant Potatoes

I am writing this post because when I was looking for some guidance on how to plant potatoes, I couldn't find any good information.  I'm not sure if this will really qualify as "good information," but it's more than I could find online!

I bought potato spuds from the same nursery that I ordered all of the dormant plants (update on those soon, I promise.)  But the instructions that they provided were basically useless and I was left with a bag of potatoes and no idea how to plant them.

This is what the spuds looked like when I took them out of the bag:

I have no idea what that white stuff is on them, but that's how they came

 After reading over a dozen pages about potatoes, I compiled all of my new knowledge and set out to plant.

Things to know:
1. Plant in rows 2 feet apart.
2. Plant spuds about 4 to 5 inches deep.
3. Plant with the new growth and roots pointing UP.
4. Plant each spud 12 inches apart.

Two of my rows

I will admit that my spuds are not quite 12 inches apart, because my hills are 5 feet wide and I didn't want to plant the spuds right on the edge.  So, I would say that the spuds above are about 10 inches apart.  Hopefully that decision won't haunt me later in the summer.

So, after a couple of days, I started to see signs of life.

And two weeks they look like this!

Apparently within a few weeks, all of the plants should look like this, and the leaves should basically fill the area.  Underneath, the potatoes will be growing.  If potatoes start to poke through the soil, you're supposed to cover them up with dirt, otherwise, your potatoes will start turning green from the overexposure to sunlight. 

I am thrilled with how much progress these potatoes have made in just a few short weeks.  This is my first time planting potatoes, so my hopes are not high, but so far I have no reason to think that these won't be sucessful!

Updates to come, I'm sure!!!