How Far Apart to Plant Potatoes

Use closer spacing for more small tubers, wider spacing for larger storage potatoes — plus row spacing.

Spacing is how you trade tuber size against tuber count.

Standard home-garden spacing

Across UMN, Maryland, and Clemson guidance, a reliable starting point is:

In the row: about 8–12 inches between seed pieces
Between rows: about 24–36 inches (UMN often cites 30–36 inches)

Clemson commonly uses 8–10 inches in-row. Maryland notes:

Around 9 inches if you mainly want new potatoes
Up to about 20 inches if you want fewer, larger storage potatoes

Why spacing changes size

Each plant has limited water and nutrients. Crowded plants compete and tend to make more, smaller tubers. Wider spacing gives each plant more resources — often fewer but bigger potatoes.

Soil fertility and water still matter. Wide spacing will not fix drought or poor soil.

Containers and bags

In pots and grow bags, “row spacing” disappears. Think in plants per container:

Small pot: often 1 plant
Large grow bag / half-barrel: commonly 2–4 seed pieces depending on volume

See How to Grow Potatoes in a Grow Bag and How to Grow Potatoes in a Pot.

Quick recommendation

Goal	Try this
New potatoes / higher count	~8–10″ apart
Balanced home crop	~10–12″ apart
Large bakers	~12–20″ apart
Rows	24–36″ apart

Then plant at the right depth → How Deep to Plant Potatoes