How to Grow Potatoes From Potato Eyes

A potato eye is a bud. Under the right conditions it sprouts into a shoot that becomes the above-ground plant. Tubers form later on underground stems (stolons), not from the eye itself like a “seed.”

What you actually plant

You plant a chunk of tuber that includes one or more eyes, not a shaved eye alone. The flesh stores energy for roots and shoots until the plant can photosynthesize.

Best practice:

• Include 1–3 eyes
• Keep roughly 1½ inches of potato around them
• Heal cut surfaces before planting

See How to Cut Seed Potatoes.

Encouraging eyes to sprout (chitting)

Maryland describes a useful pre-sprouting approach:

1. Keep whole tubers in the dark at room temperature until sprouts appear
2. Move them into light so sprouts stay short and sturdy
3. Cut into pieces and plant

Short green sprouts handle planting better than long, pale, fragile ones.

Will every eye make a potato plant?

Usually the strongest sprouts dominate. Multiple eyes on one piece are insurance, not a guarantee of multiple separate plants. If a piece has many sprouts, you can still plant it as one unit.

Grocery potatoes and eyes

Store potatoes may sprout in your kitchen, but that does not make them ideal seed. Dormancy treatments and disease risk still apply → store-bought potatoes.

Plant next → How to Plant Potatoes