Plot · field guide
How Many Potato Plants Per Person?
Potatoes are a storage crop, so the count depends on one question: are you eating them fresh through summer, or filling a bin for winter? For fresh summer eating, plan on 2 to 3 plants per person. For a real storage supply that carries you into winter, plan on 8 to 10 per person. Each plant gives about 3 pounds. Here is how to size it.
Photo: singamelodie (CC BY 2.0)
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The short answer
Potatoes are harvested once and stored, so count by how much you want to put away, not by a weekly rate. Sized per person:
- Fresh summer eating, a side dish a couple times a week: 2 to 3 plants per person.
- A winter storage supply, potatoes most weeks: 8 to 10 plants per person.
- For a family of 4 that wants to store them: 30 to 40 plants, about 90 to 120 lb.
- First time? Grow 10 plants and see how fast your family eats 30 lb before scaling up.
How much one potato plant gives
One potato plant yields about 3 pounds of tubers, dug all at once at the end of the season, around 90 days from planting. At about 3 servings per pound, that is roughly 9 servings per plant.
So 10 plants is about 30 pounds, which feeds a family of 4 as a regular side dish for a couple of months. Forty plants is about 120 pounds, enough to eat potatoes most weeks from harvest through late winter if you store them well.
Storage is the whole point
Unlike tomatoes or lettuce, potatoes keep for months with no canning or freezing. Cured and held in a cool, dark, humid spot around 40 to 50 F, they last through winter. That is why the storage count is so much higher than the fresh-eating count. You are growing a pantry, not a weekly harvest.
Do not wash them before storing, brush off the dirt and keep them in the dark so they do not turn green. Green spots mean they have made solanine and should be cut away.
Space them 12 inches apart
Potatoes want 12 inches between plants in rows 36 inches apart, planted about 4 inches deep. At that spacing 10 plants fill one 10-foot row, roughly 30 square feet, or you can grow them in grow bags on a patio.
Whichever way you plant, hill soil or mulch up around the stems as they grow. Tubers that poke into the light turn green, so keeping them covered protects the harvest.
Get your exact number
The right count comes down to how much of your winter you want potatoes to cover. The planner asks how often your household eats them, then computes the exact plant count and the space to grow them, so you plant 24 or 36 instead of a round guess, and store the right amount.
Keep going
Questions, answered straight
About 2 to 3 plants per person for fresh summer eating, and 8 to 10 per person if you want a winter storage supply. Each plant yields roughly 3 lb, dug all at once at the end of the season.
About 3 pounds per plant, or 5 to 10 tubers depending on variety and how well it grew. Unlike a tomato, it is a single harvest at the end of the season, not a steady trickle.
Cured and kept in a cool, dark, humid spot around 40 to 50 F, potatoes hold for several months into winter. Do not wash them first, brush off the dirt, and keep them dark so they do not turn green.
About four 10-foot rows, roughly 120 square feet, at 12 inches between plants and 36 inches between rows. You can also grow them in grow bags to save ground space on a patio or small yard.