To ensure a good potato harvest, give your garden potato plants extra care through the summer. As potato plants grow, gradually mound soil around the base of each plant six inches to either side.
Sunlight causes newly formed potatoes to turn green.
Mounding the soil around the plant helps protect new tubers from the sun. When piling the soil around the plants, be careful not to cover plant foliage. Use a hoe to cut the weed roots just below the soil surface. Be careful not to hoe too deeply, or you may damage the potato plant roots. Irrigate potato plants so that soil dampness is maintained at least an inch below the surface where the feeder roots are located.