Can You Grow Potatoes From Store-Bought Potatoes?

Sometimes — but grocery tubers may be treated to stay dormant and can carry disease. Certified seed is safer.

Short answer: sometimes they grow — but extension services generally recommend against relying on grocery potatoes as seed.

Why store potatoes are risky

Sprout inhibitors — many market potatoes are treated to stay dormant in storage, so they sprout slowly or poorly
Hidden disease — tubers can carry viruses, bacteria, or fungi without obvious symptoms
Soil contamination — pathogens can persist and threaten potatoes and related crops for years
Not selected as seed — food potatoes were grown for eating quality, not seed performance

UMN Extension states this clearly: do not plant grocery potatoes when you want a reliable garden crop. Maryland similarly warns that supermarket potatoes and saved garden tubers may be symptomless disease carriers.

If you still experiment

Treat it as a learning project, not a food-security plan:

Choose organic potatoes if you want to reduce the chance of sprout inhibitors (still not disease-certified)
Chit them and plant only vigorously sprouting tubers
Grow in containers with fresh mix to avoid contaminating garden beds
Do not save tubers from that experiment as next year’s seed

Better approach

Buy certified seed potatoes, cut and heal as needed, then plant correctly.

That single upgrade prevents more disappointment than almost any fertilizer tweak.