Potatoes are nutrient-hungry plants, so growing a bountiful crop requires a quality fertilizer.
However, potatoes require specific nutrients that vary from other vegetables, which can be confusing when shopping for fertilizer.
Luckily, this guide explains everything you should know about what fertilizers for potatoes are best and answers frequently asked questions about potato fertilization, so let’s begin!
Best Potato Fertilizers
Check out these best potato fertilizer products to achieve a bountiful harvest:
Best Overall For Better Yields
Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food
Reasons To Buy
- Contains 18-18-21 NPK plus micronutrients
- Easy to mix and apply
- Quickly improves growth of struggling potato plants
Reasons To Avoid
- Need to reapply every 7-14 days
- Easy to overfertilize and kill/damage plants
Miracle-Gro is well-known for giving potato crops a chance to flourish, and with the correct ratio of fertilizer to water, you’ll see improvement in color and growth in only a few days.
In addition, this formula helps tubers swell to an impressive size due to the higher potassium content.
Miracle-Gro Plant Food is ideal for people who want to see quick growth in foliage and enjoy more potatoes per plant at harvest time.
Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food uses a mix of synthetic and natural ingredients to boost potato crop health and production. The water-soluble formula provides instant food to nutrient-hungry plants.
Great Organic Choice That Can Be Used For All Vegetables
Jobe’s Organics Vegetables & Tomato Plant Food
Reasons To Buy
- Contains 2-5-3 NPK plus 7% calcium
- Introduces archaea, mycorrhizal fungi, and good bacteria to garden soil
- Safe for use around pets and children
Reasons To Avoid
- Lower level of nutrients than other products
- Has a strong odor
- Works better in the soil than as a top dressing
Because the fertilizer contains Jobe Biozome, which includes archaea, it quickly breaks down the granules into usable nutrients and conditions the soil to reduce damage from diseases and drought.
Jobe’s Organics Plant Food is ideal for people who prefer organic gardening practices.
Jobe’s Organics Vegetables & Tomato Plant Food is an OMRI certified organic fertilizer in a quick-acting granular formula that delivers reliable results when adding it to the soil around your vegetable plants.
Best For Early Stage Growth
Burpee Bone Meal Fertilizer
Reasons To Buy
- Contains 6% nitrogen, 8% potassium, and 7% calcium
- Will not burn plants
- Helps prevent blossom end rot
Reasons To Avoid
- No phosphorus content
- Smells bad
- Dogs and cats are attracted to the scent
Bone meal has enough nutrients and trace minerals to work as a stand-alone potato fertilizer, and it’s best to apply it to the soil before planting.
Burpee Bone Meal Fertilizer is best for people who want a natural and organic source of nutrients to spur potato growth in the early stages of development when roots are spreading.
Burpee Bone Meal Fertilizer is OMRI listed for organic gardening when you want to grow chemical-free potatoes. The formulation is ideal for encouraging a strong root network, so your potatoes will deliver a higher yield.
Safe Pick For Pet Owners
Dr. Earth Premium Gold All Purpose Fertilizer
Reasons To Buy
- Contains 4-4-4 NPK plus 11% humic acid
- Includes beneficial bacillus and mycorrhizae to garden soil
- Safe for people and pets
Reasons To Avoid
- Expensive for large garden applications
- Scent is unpleasant
- Works best after many months of use
The formula delivers both instant and long-term nutrient and microorganism deposits to garden soil, so your potatoes can quickly uptake what they need to grow plenty of tubers. You can use this all-purpose fertilizer before planting and use it as a top dressing as the season progresses.
Dr. Earth Premium Gold All Purpose Fertilizer is ideal for people who want a single organic fertilizer for their potatoes and other vegetable crops.
Dr. Earth Premium Gold All Purpose Fertilizer has a list of impressive organic certifications, but the real value is in how well it performs, transforming potato crops into high-yield winners.
Best For Imperfect Applications
Espoma Organic Garden Vegetable Food
Reasons To Buy
- Contains 4-3-4 NPK plus 5% calcium
- Affordable
- Increases growth and yield quickly
Reasons To Avoid
- Takes several days for the odor to dissipate
The fertilizer does amazingly well to perk up tired or low-producing vegetable plants, so tilling it in before planting will really jumpstart healthy potato growth.
Espoma Organic Garden-tone is best for gardeners who don’t want to spend time fussing about perfect fertilizer application ratios because the gentle formulation is hard to overuse.
Espoma Organic Garden-tone Vegetable Food is an environmentally-safe organic fertilizer that works well for potatoes. The fertilizer includes the propriety Bio-tone blend of good bacteria and endo and ectomycorrhizal fungi to condition soil as it feeds your plants.
Potato Fertilizer Buying Guide
The fertilizer you use for potatoes varies with your soil type and the plant’s growth stage. Here are types of potato fertilizers for you to consider:
High Yield Potato Crop Fertilizers
High-yield potato crop fertilizers provide phosphate and potassium in the highest ratio, with nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, and critical micronutrients to spur robust growth and more numerous tubers per plant. You till this type of fertilizer into the soil before planting.
Top Dressing Fertilizers For Potatoes
You apply top dressing fertilizers (granule or water-soluble) to the soil surface during the growing season and water well to wash the nutrients down to root level. However, you must avoid getting fertilizer on potato plant leaves or stems, as it can cause burning.
Organic Fertilizers For Potatoes
Organic potato fertilizers sold at garden centers use natural ingredients instead of synthetic chemicals to enhance plant growth. They are suitable for tilling into a garden plot or as a top dressing.
Fertilizers tested for compliance have OMRI Certification, while other brands with non-synthetic ingredients label themselves as a natural fertilizer. Compost is a gentle natural fertilizer.
When To Fertilize Potatoes
After testing your soil, you want to mix in a fertilizer that will bring overall nutrient levels into balance, keeping nitrogen lower than phosphorus and potassium levels.
At first planting, you need your soil to have moderate amounts of nutrients so leaves and roots can establish themselves evenly.
After planting, add an appropriate root-crop fertilizer two weeks later to give a boost to the potato plants. Fertilize every four weeks after that, until it gets close to harvest time.
Immediately water in any fertilizer you apply. Never leave it sitting on the surface where it can burn the upper foliage of the potato plant and cause stress.
Stop applying fertilizer two weeks before harvest time. You should also stop watering at the same time, so your potatoes can finish up growth and be ready for pulling.
Best Potato Fertilizer FAQs
Do Potatoes Need Fertilizer?
Potatoes don’t NEED fertilizer, but are a vegetable that performs much better when given fertilizer versus non-amended soil.
Do Potatoes Like Nitrogen?
Potatoes need nitrogen to form healthy foliage, but the root system and tuber development are below ground, where potassium and phosphorus are the most beneficial fertilizer ingredients.
Is Epsom Salt Good For Potatoes?
Epsom salt around your potato plants is good because it adds magnesium to build stronger cell walls and stimulate biochemical reactions within the plant that help in development.
Are Coffee Grounds Good For Potato Plants?
Coffee grounds help make the soil more acidic, which potato plants prefer. Coffee grounds also add small amounts of macro and micro-nutrients.
Do Potatoes Like Bone Meal?
Potatoes grow well when you add bone meal to the bottom of planting holes or trenches before placing seeds. The high phosphorus content aids in healthy root and tuber development.
In Summary
The best potato fertilizer will provide a hearty dose of potassium and phosphates to boost tuber yield, with enough nitrogen to keep foliage green and lush.
I hope the best fertilizer selections above help you improve your next potato crop so that you can harvest an abundance of spuds to enjoy with meals for many months!
