Easy Step by Step guide to Growing Seed Potatoes🥔
- Tammy Johnson
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 18
Written and edited by Tammy 14th July 2025
There’s just something exciting about digging up your own homegrown potatoes, that anticipation of how many treasures lay hiding beneath the soil! And the good news is, they’re actually super easy to grow with a bit of know-how and the right timing.
I've compiled an easy step by step guide, so there's no excuse for you not to be in on the fun too. I've even included my favourite potato and leek soup recipe!
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How to Grow Seed Potatoes: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Choose Your Seed Potatoes
These aren’t the ones from the bottom of your pantry that started sprouting.
You want certified seed potatoes, reason being, these are disease-free and bred for healthy yields. Pop in and see me at our Naracoorte K&B Mitre 10, I've still got plenty available in stock, or you'll find them at any garden centre or nursery. Pick a variety that suits your cooking style. Popular varieties include Kipflers, Dutch Cream, Pontiac, Sebago.
🌟HINT: If you're a newbie to growing spuds and aren't sure what variety to get, there'll be some suggestions for the most suitable use for each variety on the packaging. Waxy, firmer varieties are great for roasting as they hold their shape, starchy, creamier types are perfect for mashed spud!
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Step 2: Chit Them (aka Pre-Sprout-optional)
Lay your seed potatoes out in a tray or egg carton, eyes facing up, in a cool bright spot out of direct sunlight.
Wait a couple of weeks for little stubby sprouts to form. This gives them a head start once they’re in the ground. (You're not a bad spud parent if you've skipped this step, they're still going to sprout and grow regardless, they may just take a tad longer in cooler zones like ours in SA).
🌟TIP: If your potatoes are big (about the size of a lemon or larger), you can cut them into chunks. Just make sure each chunk has at least one strong eye and allow the cut surface to dry for a day or two before planting to prevent rot.
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Step 3: Prepare the Soil
Choose a sunny, well-drained spot in your garden or use a large container or grow bag. Potatoes love rich soil, so dig through some compost or aged manure. (Reach for a bag of Neutrog Chocka blok 😁👍) They also like slightly acidic soil, around pH 5.5 to 6.5. I've planted some in a grow bag at work so we can watch them grow. They've just began to sprout in the last week, I'm super excited, pop in for a look!
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Step 4: Plant Them
• Dig a trench or hole about 10–15 cm deep
• Place your seed potatoes in, eyes facing up
• Space them about 30 cm apart
• Cover lightly with soil, don’t mound fully yet!
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Step 5: Hill Them Up
As the green shoots pop through the soil and grow to about 15–20 cm tall, mound soil or straw around them, just leave the tops poking through.
Doing this protects the developing tubers from sunlight (which turns them green and toxic) and encourages more potatoes to form up the stem.
Repeat hilling every couple of weeks as the plants grow.
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Step 6: Water & Watch
Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Too much water and they rot, too little and they sulk.
Once flowering begins, the tubers are forming, so get excited!
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Step 7: Harvest Time!
• For baby new potatoes, gently dig around the base once the plant flowers.
• For full-sized spuds, wait until the plant’s foliage yellows and dies back.
• Then dig them up with a fork (carefully, don’t stab them!).
Let them dry off in a cool, airy spot before storing in a dark cupboard.
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🌟Tip: Rotate Your Crops
Don’t plant potatoes in the same spot year after year, they’re greedy feeders and can attract soil-borne diseases. Rotate with legumes or leafy greens next season.
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And it's as simple as that!
Whether you’re planting them into garden beds or big pots out in the patio, growing your own potatoes is fun, rewarding, and super satisfying come dinner time.
As promised, here's a downloadable recipe for my favourite potato and leek soup😁
Keep warm and enjoy your gardens 😘🪴
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