Q&A for How to Grow Potatoes Indoors

Yes, potatoes are a common year-round crop. Depending on the climate, you can either choose to grow potatoes inside or if you are in a temperate climate, they can be outdoors throughout the seasons.

It is advisable to avoid the sun while in the potato tuber growing stage, however, the rest of the growth process definitely requires lots of sun.

Yes, simply place potato sprouts in a wide container filled with a blend of pebbles, sand, and soil. Place the sprouts face down around 6 inches down.

Yes, you can use a store bought potato to spawn other potatoes. Cut out the eyes of the potato, generally white, and use those to begin new potatoes. Be warned that not all store bought potatoes will spore, as some are treated not to.

You misread. It is the above ground tubers on the vines that are not edible (they are actually poisonous!). Those above ground tubers serve as a visible indicator for the ripe potatoes underground. The potatoes themselves should be ripe and edible.

A clear cup helps you to see when the water is dirty and needs to be changed, but the color of the cup itself does not matter.

Yes. You'll have to store the potatoes in a cool, dry place, preferably with layers of dry material such as clean paper shreds or dry straw around them.

Yes.

Harvest your potatoes when there are small tubers on the vines; these tubers aren’t edible, but it is a sign that your potatoes are ready to be dug up.

You will want to leave at least a walnut sized piece of potato with each sprout. The potato is the nutrient pack for the sprout. It feeds the growing sprout while it's trying to establish roots.

Before putting the potato in the glass of water, you have to cut it in half so it can absorb the water.

Plant it as you would a typical quartered seed potato. A lot of the work and waiting is already cut out for you.

No. This is unnecessary because the nutrients from the soil are absorbed through the roots of the potato rather than the leaves. Also, to clarify, you MUST be using soil, NOT mud. Preferably organic soil mixed with cow feces and straw for best results.

If you don't plan on harvesting the potatoes, you can plan them in anything.

You can use a special light that acts as the sun and provides them with the energy that they need to grow and produce.

Sweet potatoes. Russets, redskins, and other potatoes of Solanum tuburosum grow on more of a bush than a vine. (It looks a bit like a young tomato plant, actually.)

It's okay to eat a small amount of raw potatoes, but they're not considered safe in large amounts.

Your plants will actually need more water than you think, but make sure not to over-water them. For growing potatoes Indoors, you will need about 5 more gallons of water than outdoor potato plants.

Like with any plant, the instructions should tell you how much water it needs. Pay attention to the leaves. If they are full and flush, then odds are the plant is getting sufficient water. If they're droopy, you should have watered it a couple of days ago. If you pay attention to the leaves, you'll learn how frequently you should be watering your plant. With container plants, it's riskier to overwater than to underwater - plants bounce back from a bit of drought stress until you learn their rhythms, but few plants can recover from root rot.

Potato plants need full sun, so you will want to plant them where they'd have at least 4-5 hours of direct light per day.

If it's too hard to remove the insects and they affect only a few leaves, you can remove the affected leaves.

Yes, you can definitely plant your potatoes whole. Cutting them before planting means you will be cutting off "eyes" to multiply seedlings. This is getting multiple seeds from each potato.

When you start to see small tubers on the vine itself, you know your potatoes are growing below. Refer to method 2 above - # 8.

Yes. You don't want a stinky potato, because it will get moldy. Always start with a new potato.

That depends on the number of eyes the potato has. A singular potato can produce many potatoes.

It usually takes about 10 weeks.

Most potatoes will grow, from seed to full harvest, in about 3 months. Environmental conditions can change this time, so utilizing the visible signs of small tubers appearing above ground, and the stalk beginning to wilt, are the most effective methods.

The best water for plants is water that's already a few days old, but tap water will do just as well.

The eyes go in the water so they can grow. Without being submerged, they won't.

That means they are very young and you'll have to wait for them to sprout.