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Vegetables · Tuber

Growing potato

Solanum tuberosum · also called Aloo, Olu (Kashmiri)A cool season tuber crop planted from seed tubers on ridges. It needs cool nights to form tubers and is hurt by frost.

Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A flowering potato plant with white flowers and a lifted tuber resting on its leaves
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

Potato in the Temperate Himalaya

  • Season

    Summer crop in the high hills, planted mid-March to May; a spring crop in the mid hills2,5

  • Sowing to last picking

    Hill varieties grown in the long-day summer season take 120 to 150 days.4

  • Sow

    Mid-March to April2,5

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until January

The next sowing here is January to February.

Sowing now in:Gangetic plainsCentral plateauDeccan plateauSouth interiorEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti
Compare all 12 regions
Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Temperate HimalayaMid-March to AprilApril to MayJanuary to FebruarySeptember to OctoberSeptember to OctoberMay to June
Cold desertApril to MaySeptember to October
Sub-tropical foothillsSeptember to OctoberSecond half of JanuaryJanuary to FebruaryApril to May
North-west plainsLast week of September to mid-OctoberSecond half of JanuaryFebruary to MarchApril
Gangetic plainsMid-OctoberEnd of October to mid-NovemberEarly NovemberFebruary to MarchJanuary to February
North-east hills and valleysMarch to AprilJuly to August
Arid westMid-OctoberMid-SeptemberFebruary to MarchMid-November to December
Central plateauMid-October to NovemberEnd of JuneFebruary to MarchSeptember to October
Deccan plateauEnd of June to JulyMid-October to NovemberSeptember to OctoberFebruary to March
South interiorMarch to AprilAugust to SeptemberJanuary to FebruaryEnd of JuneMid-October to November
West coastNot suited here
East coastEarly NovemberOctober to NovemberJanuary to February

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure (FYM)5

    100 q per hectare · Apply all of it at field preparation. · Field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 14 to 28

    Seeds come up1,2,4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 120 to 150

    Last picking4

A watering before planting gives even sprouting. Water again about a week later, then as needed. Light, frequent watering works better than heavy, rare watering. Stop about 10 days before harvest so the skins firm.5

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1

    6.5 to 7.5

    Grows in alluvial, black, red and laterite soils. Alkaline and saline soils do not suit it.

  • Sunlight3

    Full sun. Grows well when days are sunny and nights are cool.

  • Temperature1

    Grows best at 15 to 20 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Temperate Himalaya aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering5

A watering before planting gives even sprouting. Water again about a week later, then as needed. Light, frequent watering works better than heavy, rare watering. Stop about 10 days before harvest so the skins firm.

Weeding5

Hoe and weed when the crop is about a month old, then earth up. Pine needles or leaf litter as mulch hold moisture and slow run-off on slopes.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationFarmyard manure (FYM)100 q per hectareApply all of it at field preparation.

Sources5

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

15 to 25 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here4,5

  • Kufri Jyoti

    Main hill variety; resistant to late blight; 130 to 150 days in Himachal.

  • Kufri Giriraj

    High yielding, late blight resistant hill variety.

  • Kufri Chandermukhi

    Early in the plains, 110 to 130 days in the Himachal hills.

  • Kufri Himsona

    For chips; highly resistant to late blight.

Good neighbours4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Grows well with

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases6

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Cutworm (Agrotis species)

    Signs

    Caterpillars cut young plants at ground level at night and later bore into tubers.

    What to do

    • Hand pick the larger caterpillars early in the crop.
    • Use light traps and pheromone traps to watch moth numbers.
    • Put up bird perches for predatory birds such as drongos and mynahs.

    Prevention

    • Plough deep in summer to expose resting stages.
    • Grow 4 rows of maize, sorghum or bajra around the field as a barrier.

  • Pest

    Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella)

    Signs

    Caterpillars mine leaves and tunnel into tubers in the field and in store.

    What to do

    • Watch moths with pheromone traps and change lures every 2 to 3 weeks.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5% against eggs and young caterpillars.

    Prevention

    • Keep tubers covered with soil by timely earthing up.

  • Pest

    Aphids and leafhoppers

    Signs

    Suck sap; aphids carry potato leaf roll virus and potato virus Y.

    What to do

    • Hang yellow sticky traps.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
    • Conserve ladybird beetles, lacewings and spiders.

    Prevention

    • Plant healthy seed tubers.
    • Use early bulking varieties where the aphid-free period is short.

  • Pest

    White grub

    Signs

    Grubs eat roots and gouge holes in tubers.

    What to do

    • Use entomopathogenic nematodes in infested fields.

    Prevention

    • Plough deep in summer.

  • Disease

    Late blight (Phytophthora infestans)

    Signs

    Water-soaked patches at leaf edges turn black; in cool wet weather the whole crop can collapse in days. Tubers rot.

    What to do

    • Grow resistant and short-duration varieties.
    • Remove the first infected plants early.

    Prevention

    • Plant healthy, certified seed tubers.
    • Avoid waterlogging and earth up high to cover tubers.

  • Disease

    Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum)

    Signs

    Plants wilt while the soil is moist; cut tubers ooze.

    What to do

    • Apply neem cake to the soil.

    Prevention

    • Plant pathogen-free tubers.
    • Follow crop rotation.

  • Disease

    Leaf roll and mosaic viruses

    Signs

    Rolled, puckered or mottled leaves and stunted plants.

    What to do

    • Pull out infected plants as soon as they show.

    Prevention

    • Use virus-free seed and renew it every few years.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,3

Plant a seed crop from healthy, virus-free seed tubers. Pull out sick-looking plants as they appear. Renew seed every 3 to 4 years: yield falls when the same seed is replanted year after year.

When the seed is ready

Cut the haulms once aphids reach 20 per 100 leaves, then leave the tubers in the soil for about 15 days to mature.

Grade the tubers and keep them in cold storage at 2 to 4 °C until the next planting season.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Lift every tuber so none sprout next year as volunteers. Follow with peas, a cereal or a green manure, and keep potato and tomato off the same plot for at least two years.

Collect and destroy crop debris and cull tubers; do not leave rejected tubers lying in the open.

Rotation

Grow potato in a rotation with cereals and pulses, for example potato, mung, paddy, rather than potato after potato.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  2. 2Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2016 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  3. 4Potato: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  4. 5Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Potato)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  5. 6AESA based IPM package: PotatoNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  6. 7Horticulture: Vegetables: Potato (TNAU Agritech Portal)Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

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