What to Do With Potatoes in April – 5 Crucial Steps of Prepping and Planting for the Best Crops

April is a time when growing potatoes really kicks off. In many climates, it is a month when early and maincrop potatoes are planted, and a bit of pre-planting attention can make a big difference to your crop.

Gardeners should check their chits, prepare the soil, and add compost or fertilizer to the planting site when planting the potatoes. Preparing and amending the soil creates the ideal environment for growing potatoes, and your plants will prosper. It means you can plant your crop this month in confidence.

I have enjoyed bumper harvests, as well as my share of disappointing ones, over my many years of growing potatoes. More often than not, my poor crops were a result of not doing enough to boost the soil before planting. Growing potatoes can be simple and prosperous, and here is what to do with potatoes in April to get the best crop possible.

1. Check Your Chits

Chitting potatoes is a tried-and-tested way to kickstart the season and get a bigger harvest. By arranging the potatoes in seed trays or egg boxes and placing them in a bright, warm place, they’ll develop sprouts and get off to a great start.

If you’ve been chitting potatoes for a few weeks already, they should be ready for planting. But it is a good time to examine the shoots. If a tuber has lots of them, rubbing some off to leave two or three is a good way to grow bigger potatoes. Whereas, leave all the shoots, and you’ll get more, but smaller, potatoes.

In April, there may still be an opportunity to chit your potatoes, but it is not always necessary. It is too late for first earlies, but if you act quickly at the start of the month, you may be able to chit second earlies for two weeks before planting. You will still have time to chit maincrop potato varieties (like these Red Pontiac Potato Tubers at Burpee), which isn’t always necessary but can help to boost the yield.

If you don’t chit potatoes, don’t be too worried. The crop just takes a few weeks longer to mature, and the harvest is pushed back a bit. But you can still get a top potato harvest without chitting.

2. Check and Prepare the Planting Site

Before planting, it is advisable to dedicate a bit of time to preparing the growing site before putting the tubers into the ground. Putting in that effort now can make a big difference to the size and quality of your harvest.

This includes getting rid of weeds, especially perennial weeds that need to be removed completely to avoid them from resprouting in spring. A long-handled tool like this stand-up weed puller on Amazon can help you remove even perennial weeds without lots of bending or kneeling.

Removing weeds early prevents them from stealing water and nutrients from your potato plants, and getting on top of them early stops them from seeding and spreading, becoming a bigger problem later in the season.

Another undervalued step of preparing the planting site is removing any large stones from the ground. As these can hamper the development of potato tubers, it is beneficial to remove them.

Early spring is also an opportunity to test the soil pH ahead of planting. Potatoes prefer a slightly acidic soil type with a pH of 5.5-6.5. Doing a test can reveal what your soil is, and you can get a soil test kit at Amazon that offers laboratory analysis to reveal the pH and nutrient levels in your soil.

Gardeners can add sulfur (you can get sulfur granules at Amazon) to lower the pH and make the soil more acidic, which helps as potato scab (a common potato growing problem) thrives in alkaline soils with a pH of 7.0 or higher.

3. Amend the Soil to Boost Nutrients

Potatoes will grow in a variety of conditions. For the best plants, though, it pays to add nutrients to the soil for this hungry crop.

Adding homemade compost to the planting sites is always beneficial, as it enhances the structure, retains moisture, and boosts soil nutrients over time. If you don’t have access to homegrown compost, a bag of organic compost like this one at Lowe’s is suitable for the task.

In addition to compost, or as an alternative to organic matter, gardeners can add slow-release all-purpose fertilizer to the soil at planting time to fertilize potatoes. A product like this organic all-purpose plant food at Burpee will provide essential plant nutrients to get potatoes off to a great start for their first 4-6 weeks.

Avoid using any high-nitrogen fertilizers. It encourages lots of foliage growth rather than tuber development, and an excess of nitrogen in the soil leaves the crop more susceptible to potato blight.

If you are growing potatoes in a container or growing potatoes in a bag, use a well-draining potting mix, like this organic potting mix at Amazon, that also contains fertilizer to feed plants for the first month or two in the container.

4. Plant Tubers at the Right Time, and the Right Way

April is a prime time to plant potatoes in the vegetable garden, whether in the ground, raised beds, pots, buckets, or grow bags.

Different types of potatoes are planted at different stages in April. First earlies are traditionally planted in late March, but you’ll still get a good crop planting at the start of April.

Second earlies are planted in early to mid-April, and maincrop varieties go into the ground from the middle of April onwards. All of these planting dates can vary depending on your US hardiness zone, climate, and weather.

If the soil temperature is above 50°F, and the ground isn’t waterlogged, you can start planting potatoes. If your soil is saturated or cold, if you are still getting frosts, hold off planting potatoes until the conditions improve. Potato tubers could rot in freezing, sodden soil.

Planting too shallow or too close are classic potato planting mistakes to avoid making, and both can affect your yield. To plant potatoes, dig a trench six inches deep and place each tuber 12 inches apart for earlies or 15 inches apart for maincrop. Alternatively, you can make individual holes to plant the potatoes into.

5. Water as Necessary

Potatoes like consistently moist soil, but take care not to overwater after planting the tubers in the ground. Warm, moist ground will encourage healthy development. So water immediately after planting the tubers, and then keep a close eye on the weather and moisture levels.

Natural rainfall will often be sufficient in April; those famed April showers will supply enough moisture in many climates. If you have a dry period, water the soil to keep it moist, but not waterlogged. Overwatering plants risks tubers rotting in the ground, especially if temperatures drop in spring.

Potatoes need an inch or two of water a week, whether from rainfall or additional watering.

Check local forecasts and use a soil moisture meter (get a soil moisture meter at Amazon) to measure the levels beneath the surface. If the top few inches of soil are dry, the crop needs watering.

Potatoes growing in containers will require more frequent watering than those in the ground, especially during warmer periods in April.

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For a healthy crop, it helps to think about companion planting. This practise of planting beneficial vegetables, flowers, or herbs near your potatoes ensures plants don’t compete, there are sufficient nutrients in the soil, and helps combat pest problems. Our guide to potato companion plants reveals what and what not to plant with your crop for the best results.

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