Anyone who has great potato growing success willing to share their methods and secrets?

How do you fertilize? Feed the soil?
Do you water?
Is it about choosing types of potatoes that work well in a certain area?
Do you till? Mulch?
Use a preceeding cover crop?
Do you keep soil acid (in the 5's) or raise it up to the 6's the way everything else likes it?
Any other tips?

Thanks!

I till a row and dig out the top 4 or 5 inches of soil.
. I spread some organic fertilizer with higher potassium [for starch production] and till that in. I them place the seed pieces down in the loosened soil a bit and ring some higher octane fertilizer around the seed pieces. I then fill in just enough soil to cover the seed and later fill in more soil...not making too high a ridge. Sweetpotatoes like a high and dryer ridge, but not potatoes.

Yes, I water some if it is very dry. I have often planted a cover crop the fall before...have one growing right now...tillage radishes.

I don't worry about juggling the ph. It isn't a factor here. I raise proven varieties.

And what you said about not making too high a ridge -- I've been hilling twice and ending up with a high, dry hill. Sounds like not the best idea?

I am in a cool climate -- hardly even got up to 80 this past summer

Slimy -- very interesting about the Ph. Since the nutrients are more available at higher Ph, then I'll go ahead and keep things in the 6's

ltinton -- speaking of deep vs shallow: as I dug the rest of the quack grass out of the potato bed today I realized what one of my big problems was this year: shale bedrock less than a foot down. Note to self: don't ever use that section of the garden for potatoes again!

additional question: a lot of my loss of "poundage" this year was because something ate pieces of many of the potatoes under ground -- either voles or slugs or rolly polly bugs, not sure which. Any suggestions to prevent this? (other than Juicy Fruit Gum in the vole holes).

For sure potato responds hugely to N-fertilizer, and in my soil large tubers won't happen without raising K.

I use Tomato Tone for a slow release organic type fertilizer and the higher octane is like 12-12-12 non 'organic' for the most part. I like to use the best of organic methods, but not be imprisoned totally by organics.

If your soil is deep enough and drained enough, you are better off to plant deeper and hill less high.

Sometimes voles and mice can be a problem. I have already trapped about a dozen so far this season with peanut butter. They were eating on green cantaloupes earlier and then they move to lima beans and especially sweetpotatoes.

A slug eats a round hole into the potato. A vole is more irregular gnawing.

I mulch my potato bed heavily with straw, and it keeps the soil nice and moist. It also attracts both voles and slugs. When I was pulling early new potatoes I saw dozens and dozens of the biggest slugs in creation. One application of Sluggo took care of them.