Never throw away your old potatoes as they serve a very important purpose in your outdoor space. Now one gardener shared a clever method for those spuds at home

If you’ve ever stuck with old potatoes at home, listen up as they serve a vital purpose in your garden. One of the most labour-intensive jobs at home is gardening, but it’s so worth it.

With summer now in full swing, keeping your garden in tip-top condition is essential to ensure your plants and seeds can thrive in the warm sunshine. So if you’ve got any leftover potatoes from last year’s harvest, here’s how you can make use of them without having to throw them in the bin. In fact, it’s a good way to grow even more potatoes in your back garden.

Over on TikTok, one gardener demonstrated exactly how to put those old spuds to good use and grow even healthier vegetables. Going by the name Planted in the Garden, the expert, who boasts an impressive 1.3million followers, shared a handy technique.

In the clip, the gardener takes some old sprouted potatoes and places them in a pot of soil. He then covers them with dried hay, before laying chicken wire on top to deter any pesky squirrels.

He then sets up drip irrigation to keep the soil consistently moist. Finally, he moves the pot to a shaded spot alongside the rest of his crops and begins gently watering it.

Shortly afterwards in the video, he reveals the potatoes growing in clusters — and just like that, you’ve got yourself a fresh batch of spuds.

In his caption, he added: “No nonsense potato planting. Saved potatoes from last year’s harvest. Kept them in a cool dark place all winter. By spring, they sprouted on their own.”

Here’s how the gardener planted them:

• 10 gallon container, soil 3/4 full
• One sprouted potato in the centre
• Topped off with compost
• Dried hay to hold moisture
• Chicken wire cut to fit, pegged down to keep squirrels out
• Drip irrigation for consistent watering
• Handful of compost once a month
• Harvest when the leaves turn yellow and die back

There are many benefits to planting old, sprouted and wrinkly potatoes. You simply bury the potato or cut it into pieces with the sprouts facing upward. The technique is a great way to maximise your crop.

How to resprout old potatoes:

The process requires you to plant the potatoes and keep them in a warm, dark place to break dormancy. Once the sprouts reach 1/4 inch, you can move them to a bright location.

Start by washing and prepping the potatoes, if you’re using store-bought spuds, rinse them in cold water to remove any commercial growth inhibitors.

It’s worth noting organic potatoes are best, as conventional ones are often sprayed to prevent sprouting and may not grow.

Next the dark phase is where you place the potatoes in a shallow dish, cardboard box or deli cup. Store them in a cool, dark and frost-free area for about two weeks to encourage the “eyes”, or dormant stem buds, to emerge.

Now we’re at the greening phase, once the “eyes” become noticeable, move the potatoes into a spot with indirect light for 6-8 hours a day.

This keeps the sprouts short, stout, and green rather than long and unmanageable. It’s important to keep the soil somewhat moist, but not waterlogged.

As green stems begin to emerge above the dirt, continue to heap additional soil, or hay, around the plant base. Once you follow these steps, you can expect a fresh harvest of new potatoes in roughly 60 to 120 days.