How potatoes are grown and harvested
Potatoes are stems, not roots, and sunlight turns them green and toxic, so growers pile soil over them.
- stations
- 4
- things downstream
- 3
The short version
Potatoes are grown from certified seed potatoes, tubers raised to be disease-free, planted in rows. New tubers swell at the tips of underground stolons, and growers pile soil up around the plants so light does not turn them green. Harvesters scoop up the plant and the soil, then shake the soil away from the tubers.
-
Plant seed potatoes
Potatoes are grown from seed potatoes, tubers raised specifically to be disease-free and give healthy, consistent plants. Sprouts emerge and roots form, then the plant puts out leaves above ground.
-
Hill up the rows
Tubers that form near the surface and see light turn green and develop solanine, a toxin. Growers pile additional soil around the base of the plant, called hilling or earthing up, to keep the tubers covered.
-
Dig and shake out the tubers
A commercial harvester scoops up the plant and surrounding earth onto a steel apron chain that separates out soil. More complex designs add vine choppers, shakers and blowers.
-
Cure for skin-set
Potatoes are usually cured after harvest so the skin resists scuffing and wounds heal. That prevents infection and water loss in storage.
Worth repeating
- There are over 5,000 varieties of potato, and Peru alone grows around 3,000 of them.
- After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits like cherry tomatoes, each holding about 300 tiny seeds.
- The potato is in the same genus as the tomato, Solanum, and its leaves and stems contain the toxin solanine.
Where it comes from
2024, share of the 390 million tonnes of potatoes produced worldwide.
Where it goes next
Potatoes feeds 3 lines directly.
Keep walking
Sources
Cite this page: "How potatoes are grown and harvested." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/potatoes