Seed Potato Cutting & Plants, Tubers & Weight
Plants potatoes
Enter spacing, tuber size and pieces per tuber to get the plants, seed tubers and seed weightyou need — so you can stretch seed potatoes across more area without over-buying.
Plan your seed potato
Next: cut 8,431 seed tubers into 4 pieces each (one viable eye per piece), suberise/cure the cuts 2–3 days, then plant 33,724 hills.
Whole small seed tubers reduce rot risk; if cutting, dust cut faces or cure before planting and disinfect knives between tubers.
Seed potato cutting — key facts
- Each piece needs
- at least one eye
- Piece size
- ≈ 30–60 g (small egg)
- Plants
- from spacing × area
- Seed tubers
- plants ÷ pieces per tuber
- Seed weight
- tubers × tuber size
- Cure cuts
- 1–2 days before planting
- Add buffer
- 5–10% for rejects
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
Stretch seed potatoes across more ground, the right way
Large seed potatoes are expensive to plant whole, so growers cut them into pieces — each with an eye — to multiply planting material and cover more area for less seed. The trick is getting the numbers right: too few pieces and you buy more seed than you need, too small and the pieces emerge weakly. A clear plan from spacing, tuber size and pieces per tuber turns guesswork into a precise seed order.
This tool returns the plants, seed tubers, seed weight and hills per square metre from your spacing, tuber size and cutting plan. Use it to order exactly the right amount of seed, plan your cutting day, and budget seed cost. Pair it with the Potato Seed Rate, Plant Spacing & Population and Seed Rate tools for a complete planting plan.
Order exact seed
Buy the seed tubers and weight you actually need.
Stretch your seed
Cover more area from fewer whole tubers.
Plan the cutting
Know pieces per tuber before you start.
Budget the cost
Turn seed weight into a clear seed budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why cut seed potatoes?+
Cutting large seed potatoes into pieces, each carrying at least one eye, lets you plant more area from less seed and cuts your seed cost. Every viable piece grows into a plant just like a whole small tuber. As long as each piece has an eye and enough flesh for energy, cutting is a normal, economical way to multiply planting material.
How does this calculator work?+
Enter your row spacing, in-row spacing, tuber size and how many pieces you cut per tuber, and it works out the plants you'll grow per area, the number of seed tubers you need, and the total seed weight to buy. It turns your spacing and cutting plan into a clear shopping and planting figure.
How big should each seed piece be?+
Aim for pieces of roughly 30–60 grams (about the size of a small egg), each with one or two healthy eyes. Pieces too small lack the stored energy for a strong start and emerge weakly; very large pieces waste seed. The number of pieces you can cut depends on the tuber's size — bigger tubers yield more usable pieces.
How many pieces can I cut per tuber?+
It depends on tuber size and eye distribution. A small tuber may be planted whole or halved, a medium one cut into two to four pieces, and a large one into four or more — provided every piece keeps an eye and enough flesh. Enter your typical pieces per tuber and the calculator scales the seed tubers and weight accordingly.
Should I plant cut pieces fresh or cured?+
Cutting a day or two before planting and letting the surfaces 'suberise' (dry and heal) reduces rot, especially in cool, wet soil. In warm, dry conditions some growers plant fresh-cut. Healing the cut surfaces forms a protective skin that resists soil-borne disease and improves the strike rate of each piece.
How do I get the seed weight?+
Seed weight is the number of seed tubers you need multiplied by your average tuber weight. The calculator derives the tuber count from your plant population and pieces per tuber, then applies your tuber size to give total seed weight — the figure you actually buy. Add a margin for non-viable pieces and rejects.
What spacing should I use?+
Common potato spacing is around 70–90 cm between rows and 20–35 cm between plants in the row, closer for seed/baby potatoes and wider for large ware potatoes. Tighter spacing lifts plant population and total tuber number but reduces individual size. Set your row and in-row spacing and the tool computes hills per square metre and total plants.
Will cut seed yield as well as whole seed?+
Well-cut, properly sized and cured pieces yield comparably to whole seed of the same weight, which is why cutting is standard practice. The keys are an eye per piece, enough flesh for energy, clean cutting to avoid spreading disease, and healing the cuts. Poorly cut or tiny pieces are the usual cause of gaps and weak plants.
Can I use any area unit?+
Yes — enter your spacing in your preferred units and the area in acres, hectares, bigha, guntha or m². The calculator works in plant population per area, so it adapts to any field size or unit and returns plants, seed tubers and total seed weight to match.
Are the figures exact?+
They're solid planning figures. Real seed needs vary with tuber size spread, how many usable eyes each tuber has, cutting waste and non-viable pieces. Add a buffer of 5–10% for rejects and gaps, and weigh a sample of your actual seed to refine the tuber-weight assumption.