Grow Potatoes Indoors

You can grow potatoes indoors year-round if you have a sunny window or grow lights. Potatoes are a wonderful source of nutrients and can be stored for long periods of time after harvesting.

Steps

Sprout Your Potatoes

  1. Buy seed potatoes that have a lot of eyes. The eyes of potatoes are small spots on the skin; this is the part that germinates. One potato with 6 or 7 eyes can yield up to 2 pounds (900 g) of potatoes. If you want to harvest more than that, buy at least 5 seed potatoes.
  2. Scrub potatoes to remove dirt. Use a vegetable brush and scrub each potato under running water. This will also remove pesticide residue if you aren't using organic potatoes.
  3. Fill a wide-mouthed glass jar with water. The mouth of the jar has to be wide enough to support the potato on toothpicks.
  4. Cut the potato in half. Be careful not to cut through an eye, because that is what will be germinating. You may have to cut large potatoes in quarters so that they can fit over the opening of your jar.
  5. Place four toothpicks 1/4 of the way into the potato's skin. Place the toothpicks evenly at about halfway between the cut end and the top of the potato.
  6. Put the potato on top of the jar. Allow the toothpicks to rest on the lip of the jar. Readjust the toothpicks if the potato doesn't rest evenly on the lip of the jar. Make sure the potato's eyes are covered with water, or else they will not sprout.
  7. Put the jar in a sunny location. A south facing windowsill is perfect. You can also place the jar underneath grow lights.
  8. Change the water in the jar if it gets cloudy. Add water if necessary to keep the potato’s eyes covered.
  9. Transplant the potato to a container when the roots have sprouted. Most potatoes take about a week for the sprouts to appear.

Plant Your Sprouted Potatoes

  1. Choose a deep pot that has drainage holes. If you aren’t using a brand new container, be sure to thoroughly wash and rinse your pot before you begin the planting process.
  2. Place some small stones in the bottom of the pot to help with water drainage.
  3. Fill the pot about 1/3 of the way to the top with potting soil. You will need to keep adding soil as the plant grows, so don’t overfill the pot at this point.
  4. Place your potatoes, root side down, 6” (152.4 mm) apart. Don’t place any of the potatoes next to the edge of the pot.
  5. Cover the potatoes with 2 to 3” (50.8 to 75.2 mm) of soil.
  6. Water your potatoes deeply.
  7. Add more soil when the plant has grown 6” (152.4 mm) above the surface. When the potato vine reaches the top of your pot, mound the soil around the plant.
  8. Harvest your potatoes when there are small tubers on the vines; these tubers aren’t edible as sunlight causes potatoes to produce toxins, but it acts as a sign that there are potatoes underground out of sunlight which are ready to be dug up:
    • Gently dip into the soil with a small gardening tool.
    • Lift the potatoes out of the soil.
    • Rinse them thoroughly before cooking or eating them.



Tips

  • You must water your potato plants regularly; keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
  • Enrich your potting soil with organic compost before you plant.
  • If you use grow lights, keep them on for at least 10 hours a day; you will want to duplicate outdoor conditions as much as possible.
  • Keeps your potato harvest going by planting successive indoor pots of seed potatoes every 3 to 4 weeks.

Warnings

  • Potato bugs are a pest problem only for potatoes grown outdoors. Your indoor potato plant might get aphids, but you can eliminate them by spraying the potato leaves with a mixture of mild dish detergent and water. Just add a few drops of the detergent to a spray bottle filled with water.
  • If you plant a potato you have purchased from a grocery store, you must be sure to wash it thoroughly before planting. Potatoes shipped to stores have growth retardant on them and if you don’t wash all of the retardant off, your potato will not sprout.
  • Store your harvested potatoes in a cool, dark place or they will quickly deteriorate. If you don’t have a root cellar, you can store them in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator.

Things You’ll Need

  • Seed potato
  • Deep pot
  • Potting soil
  • Compost
  • Small gardening spade
  • Wide-mouthed glass jar (optional)
  • Toothpicks (optional)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • http://www.gardenguides.com/94261-grow-potato-plant-inside.html
  • Richard Jackson and Carolyn Hutchinson, Easy Container Gardening, (London, England: HarperCollins, 1999)
  • Michael Wright, The Complete Indoor Gardener, (New York, NY: Random House, 1974)
  • Wendy B. Murphy, Gardening Under Lights, (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1978)

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