Why Do Potatoes Sprout and How Can You Prevent Sprouting?

Reader Contribution by Pam Dawling
Updated on November 8, 2022
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by Adobe Stock/Laura Pashkevich

Why do potatoes sprout? Learn one of the best ways to store potatoes and how to provide the ideal conditions for long-term potato storage.

Under certain conditions, potatoes grow shoots (sprouts). You only want this to happen shortly before you plant seed potatoes. How can you stop potatoes sprouting at other times? Under what conditions are potatoes more likely to sprout? How can you help them sprout when you do want them to?

Potato sprouts are toxic. (See my earlier post, Green Potato Myths and 10 Steps to Safe Potato Eating.)

“White” or Peruvian potatoes (sometimes called Irish potatoes) are stem tubers in the nightshade family; sweet potatoes are root tubers in the morning glory family – completely different. I do plan to write about sweet potatoes in another post. This article is about white potatoes, not sweet potatoes.

There are three key stages of potato storage, and they require different conditions, if you are to make a success of long-term potato storage.

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