Watering your potatoes in a dry spell

As well as earthing up your potatoes as they grow, it is a good idea to water them if the weather is really dry.

At the stage when the new 'little potatoes' are starting to form, if the weather goes through a dry spell you may find watering the potato patch a good idea. If the forming potatoes suffer from 'drought conditions' as they develop then the crop yield will be reduced.

This is different to my approach to watering
most things I grow, where I keep watering down to just the essential trips with a watering can. My attitude to this is that if you are going to grow your own potatoes, you might as well give the crop the best chance of producing a good yield. Under watering the potatoes will also make the potato crop more prone to disease.

However, watering in the early morning is a better idea than watering at evening/night, at night cool temperatures and wet soil increase the chance of fungal disease in your potato crop.

Try to water between the rows of potatoes to keep the water off the leaves.