How to Grow a Petite Yukon Gold Potato

Cut seed potatoes so that each piece contains at least one good eye about 5 days before planting in springtime. Place the cut seed potato pieces in a well-ventilated area to encourage the cut sides to scab over, protecting against rot during germination. For a fall planting of Yukon gold beds, use small whole Yukon gold potatoes. Encourage dormancy breakage of Yukon gold seed potatoes any time of the year by storing seed potatoes in warm, moist conditions about two weeks before planting.

Prepare the potato bed by digging 8 to 12 inches deep with a spade and removing all rocks, sticks and large objects. Work the loosened soil into rows 10 to 12 inches high, 3 feet apart. Flatten the tops of the hills so they are 6 to 8 inches high and 10 to 12 inches wide.

Use a hoe to create a 4-inch deep trench approximately 1/3 of the way from each edge of the flatted mound. Apply a 10-20-10 fertilizer to each 4-inch deep trench, using approximately 2 cups per 30-foot row. Fill each trench with soil.

Carve a trench about 3 inches deep in the center of each mounded row. Place a piece of Yukon gold potato eyes up, 10 to 12 inches apart, in the trench. Step on each seed piece to ensure complete contact with the soil. Fill the trench with soil.

Apply a mounded pile of mulch around each plant when the potatoes have reached 8 to 10 inches in height, leaving only 2 or 3 inches of plant above ground. Water potatoes thoroughly, but do not leave them in standing water.

Check the mulch below the potato's foliage for tuber formation in July. Wait for potatoes to reach 1 to 2 inches in length before harvesting petite Yukon gold potatoes. Pull entire plants or harvest a few potatoes at a time and allow the deeper potatoes to fully mature.