The Top 5 Potato Growing Mistakes—And How to Avoid Them

I still remember that first year I tried growing potatoes. I thought I’d cracked the code: strong vines, waist-high growth, and flowers popping everywhere. When it came time to dig, I grabbed my fork, pushed into the soil, and came up with… a handful of green nubs. The tops looked great, but the harvest? Embarrassing. Most weren’t edible.

Potatoes seem simple, but a few easy-to-miss mistakes can ruin an entire season. The good news? These aren’t complicated fixes. Once you know what to look for, each season becomes a little more productive—and a lot more satisfying.

Here are the five most common potato-growing mistakes I’ve seen (and made), along with practical ways to avoid them.

1. Skipping Hilling—Or Doing It Too Late

Hilling isn’t just a garden ritual—it’s the key to protecting your crop and getting more of it. As the plant grows, it pushes up new shoots that eventually become tubers. Those tubers need to be buried to stay productive and safe. If you leave them exposed to sunlight, they’ll turn green and bitter, and worse—they’ll produce a toxin called solanine.

The mistake? Folks wait too long or skip hilling altogether. I did it once, thinking the plants looked healthy enough to leave alone. When I finally did dig them, the sun had already turned half my crop green.

Here’s what to do instead:

• Start hilling when your plants are about 6–8 inches tall.

• Use a hoe or your hands to mound 4–6 inches of soil or compost around the base.

• Repeat every 1–2 weeks until the plants flower.

Grandma always said: “Better to hill too much than not enough. A little dirt never hurt a potato.”

Zone Tip: If you’re in Zones 3–5, you may only need to hill twice. In Zones 6–8, plan for three or more as the season stretches longer.

2. Watering Inconsistently During Tuber Formation

Potatoes hate extremes when it comes to water. Too little and the tubers stall out. Too much and they split, rot, or grow hollow. The real problem comes from inconsistency—letting them dry out, then flooding the bed, then drying out again. That’s how you get cracked skins and poor flavor.

I used to rely on summer rains—until I lost half my crop to dry cracks and internal browning one hot July.

Here’s how to fix it:

• Keep the soil evenly moist (not soggy) from flowering through harvest.

• Water deeply once or twice a week, depending on rainfall.

• Use mulch—straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings—to retain moisture and regulate soil temps.

Zone Tip: In hot, dry climates (Zones 6–8), mulch isn’t optional. It’s how you protect those tubers from baking underground.

3. Using Grocery Store Potatoes as Seed

This one trips up a lot of beginners. Grocery store potatoes seem like a budget-friendly shortcut, but they’re often sprayed with sprout inhibitors and can carry hidden diseases like late blight or scab. Even if they do sprout, you risk infecting your soil for years.

I learned this the hard way with a bag of Yukon Golds from the discount bin. The plants came up weak and yellowed fast. Nothing worth digging.

Do this instead:

• Buy certified seed potatoes from a trusted supplier.

• Look for region-appropriate varieties—Red Norlands, Kennebecs, or fingerlings depending on your zone.

• Cut larger seed potatoes into golf ball-sized chunks, each with at least one eye. Let them cure for 24 hours before planting.

Want help picking varieties?
Download my free Seed Potato Buying Guide with zone-specific suggestions and suppliers I trust.

4. Harvesting Too Early—Or Too Late and Rotted

Timing is everything when it comes to digging your crop. Pull them too soon and you’ll get small, tender potatoes with skins that rub right off. Leave them too long and they may rot in the soil or get chewed by wireworms.

My first good-looking crop? I got too eager. Dug early and ended up with underdeveloped tubers that didn’t store worth a lick.

Here’s how to get it right:

• Wait until the plant tops yellow and die back naturally.

• Gently dig around one plant to check: the skins should be firm and not flake when rubbed.

• Use a fork or your hands to avoid stabbing or slicing them.

Zone Breakdown:

• Zones 3–5: Early types like Red Norland can be ready in 75–90 days.

• Zones 6–8: Maincrops like Russets may need 100–110 days.

Want a visual harvest timeline?
Print the Potato Harvest Readiness Guide—a quick-reference chart for early, mid, and late-season varieties.

5. Not Rotating Crops—Leading to Soil Fatigue and Disease

Potatoes are heavy feeders and love to invite trouble—scab, blight, nematodes, you name it. Growing them in the same bed year after year is like rolling out the red carpet for problems. You’re not just depleting nutrients—you’re building up pathogens.

That second-year patch where I got lazy? Blight hit hard. I lost most of the crop, and it took two years to get the soil back to balance.

Best practices:

• Rotate nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) on a 3–4 year cycle.

• Don’t plant potatoes where you grew them—or their cousins—last year.

• Follow up with legumes (like bush beans) or soil-building cover crops.

Soil Note: Potatoes prefer slightly acidic, well-drained, loose soil. Avoid compacted beds or manure-rich compost that can invite scab.

Grandma’s line I still remember: “The dirt remembers what you plant—treat it like a living thing.”

Need help tracking rotations?
Download my printable Crop Rotation Grid—just pencil in your crops each season and stay one step ahead of disease.

⚠️ Mistakes Attract Problems

You won’t see scab, rot, or wireworms in perfect conditions. But let your soil dry out, skip hilling, or plant infected seed? That’s when trouble shows up. Every one of the mistakes above makes you more vulnerable to pests and disease. Fix the fundamentals, and the rest tends to sort itself out.

🥔 Bonus: Don’t Ruin It in Storage

Once your spuds are harvested, let them cure in a cool, dry, dark place for 10–14 days. Brush off excess dirt, but don’t wash them until use. Store in a paper bag, crate, or bin in a basement or shed that stays around 40–50°F.

Final Word

Potatoes are forgiving—but only up to a point. Fixing these five mistakes won’t just give you more to eat—they’ll give you the confidence to expand next year. And maybe, like me, you’ll find yourself digging up a real harvest worth bragging about.

Want a quick reminder for next season?
Grab the Top 5 Potato Mistakes Printable and stick it by your seed bin or garden journal.