My first suggestion is to raise them in a cool climate or cool season. Hah!

I till a row and dig out the top 4 or 5 inches of soil.
. I spread some organic fertilizer with higher potassium [for starch production] and till that in. I them place the seed pieces down in the loosened soil a bit and ring some higher octane fertilizer around the seed pieces. I then fill in just enough soil to cover the seed and later fill in more soil...not making too high a ridge. Sweetpotatoes like a high and dryer ridge, but not potatoes.

Yes, I water some if it is very dry. I have often planted a cover crop the fall before...have one growing right now...tillage radishes.

I don't worry about juggling the ph. It isn't a factor here. I raise proven varieties.

The pH issue is only for scab. Potato plants themselves are remarkably tolerant of both acid and alkaline soils. They are the only plants that not only grow but thrive in a pile of wood ash mixed with soil I have at the back of my garden that registers a pH of 9.0. I read a study that suggests scab is worst between pH 6.5 and 8.0 - anything above 8.5 or below 6.0 will greatly inhibit scab.

FIrst tip: move to a place with a nice deep sandy loam. It makes all the rest so much easier.

Wayne, thank you very much for the specifics. What is the fertilizer that you use? And is the higher octane one also organic? I've read that non organic potato production is significantly higher than organic.

And what you said about not making too high a ridge -- I've been hilling twice and ending up with a high, dry hill. Sounds like not the best idea?

I am in a cool climate -- hardly even got up to 80 this past summer

Slimy -- very interesting about the Ph. Since the nutrients are more available at higher Ph, then I'll go ahead and keep things in the 6's

ltinton -- speaking of deep vs shallow: as I dug the rest of the quack grass out of the potato bed today I realized what one of my big problems was this year: shale bedrock less than a foot down. Note to self: don't ever use that section of the garden for potatoes again!

additional question: a lot of my loss of "poundage" this year was because something ate pieces of many of the potatoes under ground -- either voles or slugs or rolly polly bugs, not sure which. Any suggestions to prevent this? (other than Juicy Fruit Gum in the vole holes).

In my droughty sandy loam soils I find that planting early is super important, otherwise they get drought-stressed when warm weather comes and much more damage from CPB.

For sure potato responds hugely to N-fertilizer, and in my soil large tubers won't happen without raising K.

Anyone have tips for dealing with wireworms? Probably half of my potato harvest is lost to wireworm damage every year. We till our potato rows a few times before planting to try to expose the worms to birds but that doesn't seem to do much good. I read that a mustard cover crop may repel the worms, so i'm going to try that next year. I'm an organic grower and can't/won't use some of the soil insecticides that conventional growers use.

el;isa, I have amended my soils where I plant potatoes and have that deep sandy loam that ltilton is talking about.

I use Tomato Tone for a slow release organic type fertilizer and the higher octane is like 12-12-12 non 'organic' for the most part. I like to use the best of organic methods, but not be imprisoned totally by organics.

If your soil is deep enough and drained enough, you are better off to plant deeper and hill less high.

Sometimes voles and mice can be a problem. I have already trapped about a dozen so far this season with peanut butter. They were eating on green cantaloupes earlier and then they move to lima beans and especially sweetpotatoes.

For voles, a cat will be a lot of help. For slugs - Sluggo.

A slug eats a round hole into the potato. A vole is more irregular gnawing.

I mulch my potato bed heavily with straw, and it keeps the soil nice and moist. It also attracts both voles and slugs. When I was pulling early new potatoes I saw dozens and dozens of the biggest slugs in creation. One application of Sluggo took care of them.

Voles and scab are my biggest problems. For voles, keep a vigilant eye for the telltale dirt mounds. I use cinch traps. Good to read about the pH and scab. I used to fertilize with composted manure until I learned that was a contributor to scab. Next year I'll check the pH more closely.

To mdfarmer about wireworms...
They are larva of click beetles and grow several years in the soil before they actually become a beetle and produce eggs. So manual removal helps a lot. I dig my bed 3 times a year - spring, after harvest and right before hard frost, or even after it before the next one. Every time I pick what I see. They hard to smash, so I just rip them in half - that kills them. The fact they grow several years before become to be able to reproduce means that if you didn't find one this year - you will find it next year. Just remove each one you see. Also, if after harvest you place several potatoes in the already empty soil and mark where they are, you can come once a week, dig around the marks and collect the wireworms eating you lure. Keep in mind, that you also should kill beetles when you see them, they usually do not do any harm themselves, so we tend to ignore them.

I believe beneficial nematodes will kill wireworms.