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Make sure your potatoes have all the nutrients they need

Making sure your potatoes are fully supplied with all the nutrients they require is the best way to improve crop yield and tuber quality

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How crop nutrition affects potato

Browse the complete list of all the potato articles pages to see how crop nutrition affects potato yield, quality, health or effect on the environment and see the roles of different nutrients

How to increase potato yield
How to increase potato yield
The two key yield components of potato are tuber numbers per unit area, and tuber size or weight. Increased yields come from achieving the optimum tuber numbers, maintaining a green leaf canopy, and increasing tuber size and weight.
How to influence potato tuber numbers
How to influence potato tuber numbers
The numbers of potato tubers produced by each potato plant is influenced by agronomy and varietal potential. The nutrients phosphate, potassium, and calcium all influence tuber number.
How to increase potato tuber size
How to increase potato tuber size
Tuber size and uniformity is critical for every market, whether it is fresh potatoes, seed or processing crops. Anything that the grower can do to prolong a healthy leaf canopy will increase the average tuber size.
How to influence potato quality
How to influence potato quality
There are three main criteria which define the quality of potato: tuber quality, skin finish and storage and cooking quality. A balanced crop nutrition program is important to help manage all of these criteria.
How to improve potato skin finish
How to improve potato skin finish
Skin finish is important as consumers increasingly demand potatoes with clean, attractive skins. Tubers with surface infections of skin diseases are less attractive and also likely to have a reduced storage life.
How to reduce potato bruising
How to reduce potato bruising
Potato tuber bruising is a serious problem in the potato industry. Correct nutrition of the crop prior to harvest can minimise the risk of bruising occurring with potassium, calcium and boron all having effects that reduce bruising.
How to reduce internal spotting in potatoes
How to reduce internal spotting in potatoes
Internal spotting of potato is a physiological internal disorder resulting in small brown spots appearing in the tuber. It is usually associated with either poor or interrupted supply of calcium to newly formed and expanding cells.
How to influence potato starch content and quality
How to influence potato starch content and quality
Potatoes are one of the most important sources of starch worldwide. Variety choice is very important and potatoes with greater than 13% starch content are required in countries such as Germany. The higher the starch content, the lower the waste.
How to influence potato tuber dry matter content
How to influence potato tuber dry matter content
Potato tubers with high dry matter tend to bruising more easily and disintegrate when boiled but have better fry colour when processed. Nitrogen, potassium and magnesium can all have influences on tuber dry matter content.
How to reduce potato tuber discolouration
How to reduce potato tuber discolouration
Discolouration or internal blackening or browning of potato tubers is responsible for significant post-harvest losses. Potassium, magnesium and boron can all have an influence on discolouration and blackening.
How to maintain potato health with nutrition
How to maintain potato health with nutrition
A well balanced crop nutrition programme will ensure that plants are robust and resilient, whilst avoiding excessive nutrient build up that can also be detrimental to plant health
How to reduce incidence of potato foliar diseases
How to reduce incidence of potato foliar diseases
Nitrogen applications can have the effect of encouraging foliar diseases, particularly applications later in the season which delay maturity and increase the risk of blight infection.
How to improve potato storage and cooking quality
How to improve potato storage and cooking quality
Balanced crop nutrition can help to improve potato storage and cooking quality.
How to reduce the incidence of potato soft rots
How to reduce the incidence of potato soft rots
Potato soft rots are a range bacterial diseases that rot the tubers in storage. Correct crop nutrition prior to harvest, particularly calcium and boron has a positive effect against soft rots.
How to reduce potato carbon footprint
How to reduce potato carbon footprint
Whilst the use of fertilisers contributes to the carbon footprint of potato production, this can be significantly reduced by careful choice of the type and source of fertiliser and by using the fertiliser more efficiently.
How to increase water use efficiency in potatoes
How to increase water use efficiency in potatoes
A healthy, fast-growing potato crop, fully supported by fertiliser, makes more efficient use of water to maximize yields.
Magnesium deficency of potatoes
Identify and diagnose potato nutrient deficiencies
Identify and diagnose if your potatoes are suffering from nutrient deficiencies and learn more about the symptoms and causes and how to control or correct the deficiency
Potato nutritional summary
Potato nutritional summary
A correct balance between macronutrients and micronutrients is essential to obtain the best results possible from potato crops. A deficiency of any single nutrient is enough to limit crop yield.
Potato nutrient requirements
Potato nutrient requirements
Potato nutrient requirements vary depending on the crop growth stage. Find out which nutrients are most important at different growth stages.
Analysis - recommended analysis suites for potatoes
Analysis - recommended analysis suites for potatoes
Potato analysis suites includes various tissue and soil analyses as well as analysis of organic materials and heavy metal contamination and counts of potato cyst nematodes.
Potato agronomic principles
Potato agronomic principles
When growing potatoes the aim of the grower is to produce a high-yielding, quality crop that matches the needs of the intended market.
Potato fertiliser application
Potato fertiliser application
Correct timing and placement of fertiliser applications to potatoes is important to achieve the highest level of nutrient use efficiency, which also minimises any environmental impact whilst maximising crop productivity.
Potato petiole analysis
Potato petiole analysis
Petiole analysis allows a more accurate measurement of the available nutrient levels within the potato plant, particularly useful for maintaining phosphate availability above critical levels as well as other nutrients.
Potato types
Potato types
There is a wide range of different types of potato with some 85 genera and nearly 3000 species worldwide. The information on this website concentrates upon the ‘white potato’ – Solanum tuberosum – which is the most widely grown potato.
Potato market requirements
Potato market requirements
Generally, it is no longer possible to plant a potato crop and aim for a general market. Growers now have to adapt their agronomic management to produce a high yielding crop that fulfills the specific quality requirements of the marketplace.

Potato agronomy advice

Farmer on a potato field
Establishing potatoes successfully
As with any other crop, good nutrition is key to securing a healthy potato crop, one that will return good yield and high quality and ultimately achieve a better profit margin for you.
Agronomy Advice - Is your potato quality being let down by a lack of calcium?
Is your potato quality being let down by a lack of calcium?
Calcium is a vital nutrient for potatoes and most aspects of tuber quality can be improved by having a sufficient supply of calcium during growth.
Agronomy Advice -Biotrac helps combat stress in potatoes
Biotrac helps combat stress in potatoes
There are many types of biostimulants on the market, each with different purposes. Yara's biostimulant products focus on is enhancing tolerance to abiotic stresses such as extreme temperatures or drought. They contain bioactive components that help the plant mitigate the effects of stress.
See all agronomy advice

How to make better informed nutrient decisions

Our collection of tools help you to make better nutrient decisions in making the right fertiliser choice and applying the right amount of nutrients at the right time and in the right place so that the crop yield and quality can be maximised whilst still keeping costs in check, avoiding over-fertilisation and protecting the environment.