Cait said: I'd say I planted them 5 or 6 inches deep in mid-May, I used russets that I chitted, halved, then dried for a couple of days. I used my tiller to mix bagged in-ground garden soil, compost from my bin, and the clay soil that's already in the garden.
As Dill and the article say, the nasties are already in the ground.
I would not cut the potatoes as that leaves no wound for what causes the rot to enter.
You can get a compound/s to treat potatoes before planting.
In fifty plus years of planting potatoes I have not not had more than a handful of potatoes go bad in the ground and I put in, guessing, from 40 to near 100 hills over the years.
I actually do not hill, and plant deep, 8-12 inches down, and now do put all but a few into the ground whole.
I also space the plants wide , two shovel lenths apart center to center.
