Today I will show you how to get potatoes to sprout eyes. I do this a few weeks in advance of planting, which can mean your potatoes will be ready up to 2 weeks earlier than usual.
So you have decided to plant some potatoes, but if you are unsure what steps to take to get them planted, you are in the right place. Past experience has taught me that preparation is key to many things, and growing potatoes is no exception.
How to get potatoes to sprout: the process
When you have sourced good quality seed potatoes the next thing to do is put the seed potatoes in a slatted wooden box or the base of an egg carton tray and place them somewhere inside, like a shed or an outbuilding, free from frost and with plenty of light.
Planting pre sprouted potatoes will mean your plant will mature earlier and allow you to harvest your potatoes earlier in the year.
- Harvesting earlier in the year is better for you for a couple of reasons.
- 1. You get to eat them sooner
- 2. The later in the year the wetter the weather making it harder to harvest you potatoes in good (dry) conditions.
Many people also call this sprouting as chitting seed potatoes.
Before you decide where you want to plant your potatoes, how to prepare your soil or even working out the amount or type of potato fertilizer you need – you should start with preparing your seed.
Finding a reputable seed potato supplier
Before you plant your seed potatoes in the ground you need to decide where you are going to buy them, depending on the amount of seed you require, you can purchase your seed from a number of different vendors.
I would encourage you to find a reputable seed potato supplier rather than just use ones left over in the bottom of your bag purchased at the supermarket or farm shop, as the potatoes purchased from a seed potato supplier either online or in your community should have been inspected either by the Department of Agriculture or a similar reputable body.
Now while you might think this is a bit extreme, and it will be ok to use the small potatoes in the bottom of the potato bag, some of these potatoes may be at their last planting.
These old seed potatoes have been degrading from when they were first planted. This means running the risk of having a poor to non-existant crop and/ or introducing disease into your garden or plot of land and having nothing to show for it at the end of the years work.
If you start with bad seed, you are not giving yourself a very good chance of growing a great crop of potatoes. There are many ways to plant potatoes. Either traditionally outdoors or even by growing potatoes indoors.
Buy graded seed potatoes
The grades of potatoes inspected by the Department of Agriculture in the US can be viewed below:
https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/potatoes-grades-and-standards
If you grow a lot of potatoes you will usually go to a registered seed potato producer who will will sell you graded seed potatoes from half a ton upwards.
Depending on the grade they could be from $200 to $600 per ton, but there is nothing to say he/she couldn’t sell you a 50lbs bag, or even a handful, it all depends on the person and your relationship with them.
Buying seed potatoes online
Many gardening websites sell seed potatoes online. Some are expensive and some may even sell ungraded potatoes. It is a good idea to check that the seed is graded or there is a risk of getting poor quality seed potatoes.
Northshire Farm seeds sells Certified Non GMO potato seed, take a look at which varieties suit you. They have Red Lasoda, Golden Yukons and Blue to name a few.
If you don’t have any luck finding seed potatoes online – have a look at this article about selecting the best variety of potatoes to grow – it has some links to seed suppliers online.
If all else fails I would recommend visiting your local potato farmer I’m sure they wouldn’t mind helping you out with graded seed.
There is a deadline for the latest time of the year you can plant potatoes so be sure to plan your planting date well in advance. After this time the potatoes may not get enough time to mature and fully grow out.
How to get potatoes to sprout eyes
It is important where the potatoes will be chitted and is not susceptible to frost as this will kill your seed and make it unusable.
This gradual increase in temperature will encourage buds to grow on the seed potatoes- the buds will grow from the “eyes” on the potato. By prestarting the buds on the potatoes before you plant them will mean when conditions are right for planting you will have a headstart on the growing of the plant.
It’s also important that it’s not too dark as this will encourage long soft white buds to grow. These will break off easily if knocked- which will be a waste of your time.
If you do notice that your buds are slightly white you can bring them out into the light ahead of your planting date and the white buds will turn into green leafy buds when the daylight gets at them.
You should aim to have your buds 1cm to 2cm long and green colour on your planting date.

Above: A potato with good buds- green and not too long.

Above: A badly chitted seed potato with soft white buds which are too long.
The majority of your potatoes should only have a few chits or buds.
If you find there are a few potatoes with lots of buds you can remove the excess to leave 2-4 buds.
This will help to ensure there aren’t too many stems fighting for competition leaving you with lots of small potatoes instead of a few large ones.
How long do seed potatoes take to sprout
The length of time it takes to sprout a potato depends on the temperature it is stored at.
In most cases, chitting takes place a couple of weeks before planting and planting ocours from mid-February to April so at these temperatures you should expect chitting to take from 1 to 2 weeks depending on your location.
Removing excess buds from seed potatoes
Sometimes a seed potato can produce buds from up to 10 different eyes – all we need is a couple of eyes to sprout.
Some people prefer to remove these excess buds to give more power to the couple they want.
The practice of removing buds is something easy to do, if you only have a few potatoes to plant or if you are planting in a bag or a small container.
If you have boxes upon boxes of seed potatoes I would not worry too much about having to remove buds.
It is more important that the buds you do have are green and not too long.
When a seed potato is planted into the soil, the buds will grow vertically upwards to the surface.
Toughen your seed before planting
If the room you have the seed potatoes in for chitting is quite warm, I would advise you to bring the seed outside to a cooler area three to four days before planting.
This will toughen the seed up before you plant it in the ground. This prevents the shock from it coming straight from a warmish room to being planted in cold soil.
This shock can set the seed back a few days growing as it adjusts to the soil temperature.
Choosing what to sprout your potatoes in
The best type of container to sprout your potatoes in is a wooden box with slatted sides to let plenty of light and air in.
The light will prevent the buds from going white and allowing air to flow through will help to prevent mould or damp conditions which could rot your seed.
Take a look at this summary video I made of this post
I can say thanks for this advice as I have been planting potatoes I didn’t know this…
Hello Simpiwe, you’re welcome! If you have any other questions please let me know.
Richard
Hi thank you for all the great advice (made easy to understand) some of my seed potatoes are huge do I cut them up before planting?
Hello Ali, yes you can cut the large potatoes up as long as each piece has an eye. I wouldn’t cut them any smaller than one square inch.
Thanks
Richard
Hi, some of my seed potatoes have dark or blackish tips. Are they safe to plant?
Note-I did have them in my basement where they did not get much light at all.
Hello Kathy, if it is only the tips of the buds they will be fine. Put them out in the daylight for a few days and they will green up.
Thanks
Richard
If I have some extra potato “seed” potatoes w/chits, how long can I store them before planting or how long before they will go bad?
Thank you
Hello Kay you should get them planted now as soon as possible. I would keep them in the daylight so they don’t grow big buds – they should be ok to use until they begin to shrivel up too much.
What causes black in the middle of the potatoes?
Hello Terry, it sounds like either bruising or blight. If the potato looks ok on the outside but dark inside it will be bruising, and if it looks rotten in places outside and dark inside it will be blight. Thank you, Richard.
I am planning to grow potatoes in containers, can same containers be used year after year?
Hello Tom, yes, you can use the same container. Its probably best to wash it and let it dry before filling with soil again. This will help prevent spread of any disease from last year’s crop.
Hi Richard, I have experimented on a small scale for the last two years and have gotten a few potatoes each year.
This year I want to plant them in a 10 gallon food approved (plasic buckets) containers. I understand using this method requires putting drain holes around the outside bottom of buckets for draining and a blend of soiling allowing for easy growth as well as harvesting, I planned on setting the buckets on 2x4s to help prevent insect problems. Do you see any problem with this method and how much sunlight should they get?
Hello Ruben, I think this sounds ok, I would be careful not to add too many seed potatoes to each bucket as they could turn out small. 1 or 2 should be enough in each bucket. Position them to get maximum sunlight for as long as possible during the day – providing they don’t begin wilting you should be ok. Thank you and good luck.
Hi I just got by potato seeds out of the frig and they don’t have many eyes and the ones that do are super tiny. What can I do to get them going asap.Thanks
Hello Tyra, put the seed potatoes into a warm cupboard for a few days – keep checking them often, the buds should soon start to grow from the eyes – don’t let the buds get longer than 1 inch before planting. Richard.