How many potatoes do you get from one plant?

It can quickly become daunting when gardeners try to estimate the number of potato plants they need to grow. One plant can deliver more potatoes than another, and also, the size of potatoes can give you a far heavier potato yield.

It is handy to know how many potatoes grow per plant and the potato yield per plant you can expect.

As a good rule, you can expect to receive ten times the amount of seed potato planted. So, if you planted around 15 lbs of seed potato, you can expect to harvest 150 lbs. of potatoes.

A single potato plant should produce around 5-10 potatoes per plant. Of these, you’ll find up to 5 or 6 medium to large-sized potatoes and the remaining smaller potatoes. (Read Can You Eat Potatoes With Eyes)

potatoes on soil

The number of eyes or sprouts on seed potatoes before planting, as well as how far apart you plant your potatoes, will affect the number of plants you get per plant, but not the final output.

One way to know how many potatoes you’ll get is the number of eyes on your seed potato, as the more eyes or sprouts, the larger the number of potatoes you’ll find, albeit smaller.

However, there is more to it than this, as there are many other factors in play that determine your potato yield.

In our guide, you can learn more about planting your own potatoes from the soil conditions, the weather, and where you are growing them. By the end, you’ll know much more about growing potatoes and how to yield a pound per plant indoor crops or how many you need outdoors to feed the family.

How Many Potatoes Do I Need to Plant For a Family of 4?

Knowing how many potatoes to plant for a family of four can be difficult for someone who has never farmed potatoes before. (Read Companion Plants For Potatoes)

To begin, figure down how many potato-based meals your family consumes every week. This will allow us to get a more precise estimate of how many potato plants you’ll need to grow.

Potatoes are a versatile vegetable that you may use in various ways, including morning hash browns and dinner mashed potatoes.

If your family routinely eats potato dinners, you’ll choose to produce extra, and unless you only eat potatoes occasionally, then will use that area for other crops.

Start by planting 40 potato plants to feed a household of four. This will give you a potato-based supper two to three times per week. The 40 plants will feed you for up to six months.

couple potatoes on the ground

How Many Potatoes Do I Need To Plant For a Family Of 2?

You will follow the above guidelines; thus, 20 plants would suffice. From a single plant, you can expect harvesting between 5 and 10 tubers. So, if you plant a single seed potato as a single plant, you’ll end up with that many potatoes at the end of the growing season.

However, this is only a guess. The actual yield will be determined by the variety of plants you sow and the growing conditions in which they are grown.

Increase yield by maintaining wet soil with constant watering, hilling the plants to support the stems, and encouraging the growth of additional tubers and an ideal supply of nutrients with fertilization.

The amount of potatoes produced by each seed potato is also determined by whether the seed potato is planted whole or in parts.

Because they’ve been treated to prevent sprouting, supermarket potatoes aren’t the ideal variety to plant in your yard.

Instead, go to a garden center and buy “certified” seed potatoes. Smaller seed potatoes can be planted intact. Cut them into smaller pieces if they’re larger, ensuring that each has one or two “eye” buds.

Each of these “eyes” will become a separate potato plant. So, if you want to know how many potatoes you grew from a single seed potato, you’ll need to keep a count of the number of pieces you planted and the number of plants that successfully developed from those pieces.

For every pound of seed potato sown in the ground, you may usually harvest roughly 25 pounds of potatoes. A 10-foot row of potatoes can generate 10 to 20 pounds of potatoes with proper care and weather conditions.

For best results, space seed potatoes 10 to 14 inches apart in ditches at least 2 feet apart. The plants won’t have enough room to grow a lot of spuds if the spacing is narrower than what’s recommended.

Various potato varieties produce different results. Potatoes are categorized as early, late, or mid-season varieties based on how long they take to mature.

These types of potatoes are also known as

  • First earlies (early)
  • Second earlies (mid-season)
  • Maincrop potatoes. Maincrop typically gives the highest yield.

The cultivar of potatoes isn’t the sole factor that influences production. The way you grow the plants will also affect the yield.

The plants stop generating tubers when the soil temperature rises above 75°F.

Summer heat causes above-ground containers to heat, reducing yield. In addition, growing methods have a huge impact, such as growing in confined spaces like pots or potato grow bags. The plants yield small, yet lots of small potatoes, such as new potatoes.

The tubers you harvest will be fewer but larger when grown in larger settings like a garden bed or raised bed. (Learn How To Tell When Potatoes Are Ready To Harvest)

Here are a few tips to increase potato yield:

  • Potatoes should be grown in light, friable, well-draining soil. Water your potato patch before the soil dries. A soil test is also recommended before you plant.
  • Planting potatoes in hills helps plant growth, aids yellow tubers to grow, and enhances average yield because potatoes grow underground from the base of the stem. Continue hilling the potato plants as they grow by bringing the earth up around the base of the plants as they grow, leaving only a few inches exposed.
  • Because potatoes are shallow-rooted plants, they need continuous hydration to improve the number of potatoes per plant. To keep the soil moist, water before it dries out and mulch around the plants.
  • Any plants that show signs of pests or illnesses should be removed and destroyed immediately to prevent the problem from spreading to other plants.
  • Apply a 5-10-10 fertilizer to the soil before planting and again in the middle of the season. If you see plants turning yellow, this shows they’re under fertilized.

How Many Potatoes Can You Plant In a 5-gallon Bucket?

First, you need a large enough bucket. You won’t yield more potatoes from growing in a 6 gallon vs. 5-gallon bucket, as you will plant the same number of potatoes.

Here are some simple instructions on how to grow potatoes in a 5-gallon bucket.

  1. Drill a ring of drainage holes around the bottom of each 5-gallon bucket you wish to plant.
  2. Cover the holes with stones or broken ceramics to improve drainage.
  3. Fill each bucket with 4 inches of good-quality loose soil or compost and two tiny seed potatoes evenly spaced. Alternatively, cut mature potatoes in half and let them dry for a day or two before laying the parts cut-side down on the earth in the bucket.
  4. Add 2 inches of soil or compost on top of the potatoes.
  5. Place the buckets in a warm position.
  6. Cover the plants with more soil when the potatoes develop fresh growth, only the top plant growth exposed. This stimulates a potato-producing underground stem. Instead of soil, put straw or sawdust over growing potatoes. Straw can help retain moisture, stop weed growth, and prevent dry soil with proper watering.
  7. Water the soil an inch below the top to keep soil moisture and add soil as the potato plants develop until the bucket is full.
  8. Weekly nutrient supply of low-nitrogen fertilizer or compost tea. Using compost instead of soil when covering the growth also gives nutrients in the growing season.

potato plants

How Long Do Potatoes Take To Grow?

Small new potatoes can be harvested as early as ten weeks after planting. Full-sized potatoes require roughly 80-100 days to mature when you can harvest potatoes. You can harvest early, and the potato yields could be the same in numbers, but the size will be much smaller.

Here is a bit more about getting the best from the potato seed planted in your garden.

When planting potatoes, seed potatoes are used. How you prepare them determines whether they will take root or rot. You’ll have to do it manually unless you’re sure your soil is at the temperature to encourage your seed potatoes to sprout.

Place your seed potatoes and banana peels in a plastic bag. The temperature in the bag will be raised by the banana peels, which will assist the seed in sprouting.

Buy seed potatoes from reliable sources rather than your grocery store. When you get potato seeds, they should be certified disease-free.

How many potatoes should I plant for a family of 4?

To feed a family of four, start off by planting 40 potato plants. This will provide you with a potato based meal 2 to 3 times a week. The 40 plants will provide up to 6 months worth of meals. If you find 40 plants provides you with too many potatoes you can plant less next year.

What is the average yield of potatoes?

An average yield is 10 pounds harvested to 1 pound planted (10:1).

How many potatoes do you get from 2 plants?

On average you should expect 8 to 14 potatoes from each potato plant. Different varieties will product slightly more or slightly less. Growing from each plant you should have 2-3 smallish potatoes 6- 8 medium sized potatoes and 2-3 larger potatoes from each potato plant.

Do potatoes multiply when you plant them?

Unlike other major field crops, potatoes are reproduced vegetatively, from other potatoes. Therefore, a part of each year's crop – from 5 to 15 percent, depending on the quality of the harvested tubers – is set aside for re-use in the next planting season.