How to Grow an Irish Potato Vine

Plant the potatoes when the ground soil in your garden has begun to dry and get warmer, such as in early April. You can plant potato seed pieces -- very small whole potatoes or pieces of larger potatoes -- early regardless of the variety, but if the soil is too wet or too cold the seeds may fail or rot.

Plant the potato seed pieces into well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. You should plant the pieces 1 to 3 inches into the soil and spaced out every 10 inches. If you want to plant more than one row of potatoes, space the rows approximately 24 inches from each other.

Hoe the soil toward the potato plant once they begin to break through the surface. Use a garden hoe and build up a small ridge along the plants. Do this every several days, but be very careful not to slide or cut any developing tubers. By the end of the summer, this ridge may be as tall as 6 inches high, which is optimal for protecting the tubers from getting burned by the sun.

Incorporate organic mulch around the potato vine once the plants begin to emerge from the soil. This will help the plants stay moist and also reduce weeds.

Water the plants as often as it is needed to keep the soil uniformly moist. You don’t want the soil to dry out, but you also don’t want the soil to be overly wet or muddy.

Wait until the potato vines have dried, at which point you can harvest your potatoes.