How to Plant Potatoes in North Carolina

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are typically grown in a mounded row of soil to avoid exposing the potatoes, or tubers, to sunlight. It's direct sunlight that turns them green from the development of solanine, a mildly toxic substance. Leaving only the tip of the vine exposed encourages the growth of more roots and potatoes. The annual vegetable grows well in North Carolina.

Red potatoes typically store better, but white potatoes have better cooking characteristics. Potato cultivars that grow well in North Carolina include "Red Pontiac," a potato with deep eyes, red skin and white flesh; "Kennebec," a red potato especially good for cooking that also gives high yields; and "Yukon Gold," which has gold, creamy flesh.

To harvest potatoes in late spring to early summer in southeastern North Carolina, plant them in February or March. Plant them the third week of February on North Carolina’s coastal plain. Planting potatoes in March will give the largest yield.

Buy seed potatoes certified to be free of disease from a garden supply center. You can cut and plant potatoes you buy in a grocery store, but that increases the chance of plant disease, and some have been treated with chemicals that keep them from sprouting.

Cut seed potatoes one to two days before ready to plant them and store them in a humid, warm location with good air circulation.

Potatoes grow from buds in dimples or "eyes." Cut an average sized potato into four pieces, each containing an eye, or a large potato into six pieces, each with an eye. These pieces should be about the size of an egg.

To prevent the transmission of plant diseases as you cut the potatoes into seed potatoes, disinfect your knife frequently in a solution of 1 part household bleach to 10 parts water. The surfaces of the cuts will get a slightly powdery or "corky" appearance caused by suberin, a healing compound that potatoes produce to prevent them from rotting.

Let the cuts heal on the seed pieces, store them in a dark, humid place at 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit for two days before planting.

To help potatoes mature faster, spread cut seed potatoes in a single layer in bright light but out of direct sunlight at a temperature of 60 to 65 degrees F. When stalky green shoots grow from the eyes in two to three weeks, plant the pieces with the shoots facing upward. This will cut a few weeks from the time required for the potatoes to mature.

Potatoes grow best in North Carolina’s loamy soils or muck or black soils that drain well and have an average pH of 5.4. To avoid an increase in disease and insect problems, do not plant potatoes in the same area year after year -- or where eggplants, peppers or tomatoes were grown the previous year.

Planting potatoes in mounded rows prevents water from accumulating around the seed potatoes and causing them to rot. Use a shovel to build a mounded bed 10 to 12 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches high. The mounded beds should be 3 feet apart.

Plant the potato pieces 3 inches deep. Planting them deeper than that will delay the growth of the potatoes. The potatoes will grow above planted seed pieces, not below.

Use a stick or the edge of a hoe to dig a 4-inch-deep trench 2 inches from the sides of the bed. This should be about 1 inch below where you plant the seed piece. Apply 2 cups of water-soluble, dry 10-20-10 fertilizer for each 30 feet of row and water well. Do not let the fertilizer touch the seed pieces. Water regularly during the growing season to keep the soil constantly moist.

To keep the sun off the potatoes, turning them green, you will have to cover the tips of the vines with soil as they grow.