Hello community! I have a question for those more experienced growing potatoes. I grew some last year for the first time and had so much success I want to grow more this year. I was hoping to plant my seed potatoes in phases so they aren't all ready for harvest at the same time. However I noticed last night that all of them are sprouting (I store them in a cellar that stays 55 degrees and is dark). Sprouts are 1-3". I have Kennebec, Red Pontiac, and Russet.

My question is this, how long can I wait to plant these before they are no longer viable? Do I need to get them all in the ground soon?

The real question is; Where are you?. Once the sprouts get a couple of inches long, it is usually best to break them off before planting. The potato will resprout in the ground or other growing medium. Potatoes are a cool weather crop. In the south we have to plant them in winter in order to get in in a harvest before the July heat arrives. we can fall plant in August for harvest in November, but results are not as good as in spring. The potato itself is viable until it completely shrivels up.

Central Ohio. Kind of on the line between zones 5/6. I set a batch of them out in the light a couple weeks ago, cut and planted them yesterday. Was hoping to stagger the plantings into three phases but when I looked at the rest of the seeds I started wondering if they can wait much longer.

Thank you for weighing in!!!

farmerdill said: Once the sprouts get a couple of inches long, it is usually best to break them off before planting.

I disagree.

When the sprouts get inches long / feet long... I simply run them out along the furrow and cover them.

Took a lot of effort to grow those sprouts... I've seen potatoes form on those sprouts...

In Ohio, you probably could stretch the season, but I'm not entirely sure that it's worth doing...

I am always in favor of side by side experiments, and would encourage you to take pictures and keep us updated on this thread.

Welcome to NGA, @MadHornet

You can extend your potato harvest by planting varieties with different maturity times - I think the ones you have are all pretty much later-season types, so you might want to consider some that are ready earlier. (Of course, you can always harvest some "new potatoes" earlier - they just don't store very well.)

Also, when your seed potatoes first start sprouting put them where they are exposed to light and the sprouts will stay much shorter.

Weedwhacker said: Welcome to NGA, @MadHornet

You can extend your potato harvest by planting varieties with different maturity times - I think the ones you have are all pretty much later-season types, so you might want to consider some that are ready earlier. (Of course, you can always harvest some "new potatoes" earlier - they just don't store very well.)

Also, when your seed potatoes first start sprouting put them where they are exposed to light and the sprouts will stay much shorter.

Thank you weedwhacker! What is the maximum number of days you would recommend letting them sit in the light before planting?

I don't know what the maximum number of days would be - but right now mine have been "out in the light" since January 24th and I won't be planting them until at least mid May.

Oh wow. Yea I'm sure the ground is still frozen up your way!

Thank you ALL for the help!

How much rain can seed potatoes take before they rot in the ground? I planted my first batch 9 days ago and it has rained every day but one since. Poured all day yesterday. Dry today but more rain tomorrow, then supposedly dry through Easter.

I think your potatoes will be fine; no matter how wet our fall and spring are, and how much snow we have, potatoes that I missed harvesting will sprout when the time is right. That is to say, if those were potatoes that you planted in the fall, and now you're getting a lot of rain, they would still come up - so I don't see why the ones you recently planted won't do the same.

The past couple of years I've thought about deliberately planting a row of potatoes in the fall to see how that would work out; maybe this will be the year I actually try it!

Weedwhacker said: I think your potatoes will be fine; no matter how wet our fall and spring are, and how much snow we have, potatoes that I missed harvesting will sprout when the time is right. That is to say, if those were potatoes that you planted in the fall, and now you're getting a lot of rain, they would still come up - so I don't see why the ones you recently planted won't do the same.

The past couple of years I've thought about deliberately planting a row of potatoes in the fall to see how that would work out; maybe this will be the year I actually try it!

My understanding is that potatoes are not really "frost proof". Old timers around here said to plant out when the dogwood trees are blooming. Of course the dogwoods generally bloom before we have our last frosts. So last year, I didn't want to buy my seed potatoes to far in advance since I really don't have a good cool dark place to store them. Big mistake, by late April, every place around here were sold out and I couldn't find any other than $5 a pound ripoff's on line and I certainty could buy potatoes during the winter much cheaper. This year, I bought them as soon as they were available and was able to store them at one of my relatives basement.

MadHornet said: How much rain can seed potatoes take before they rot in the ground? I planted my first batch 9 days ago and it has rained every day but one since. Poured all day yesterday. Dry today but more rain tomorrow, then supposedly dry through Easter.

How deep did you plant?
If you want potatoes coming up at different times, best to buy early, middle and late season varieties.
Same potato at different times, is a crap shoot at best.

I have potatoes in the basement now that have been sprouting for many weeks; some times I break them off and some times I do not.
If you are going to store them for a while yet, just break off the very long ones, new ones will be sent out.
Unless the potatoes have started turning/rotting, you will be surprised how long they can be in the sprouting stage.
I have been planting them for decades and trying this, that and the other thing, but never stop learning.

[quote="CraigCoGardens"] My understanding is that potatoes are not really "frost proof". Old timers around here said to plant out when the dogwood trees are blooming.

that seems very late. My dogwoods are just coming into full bloom, my potatoes were planted 3-4 weeks ago and all have greens showing a few inches now (in their depressions that I will fill later.) and I've often read plant them St Patricks Day. Which is certainly during 'frost' season.

CraigCoGardens said: My understanding is that potatoes are not really "frost proof". Old timers around here said to plant out when the dogwood trees are blooming. Of course the dogwoods generally bloom before we have our last frosts. So last year, I didn't want to buy my seed potatoes to far in advance since I really don't have a good cool dark place to store them. Big mistake, by late April, every place around here were sold out and I couldn't find any other than $5 a pound ripoff's on line and I certainty could buy potatoes during the winter much cheaper. This year, I bought them as soon as they were available and was able to store them at one of my relatives basement.

Plant deep, and cover with mulch, unless you get a super rare hard freeze up here, ground freezes solid an inch down, they will do fine as by the time they pop out of the mulch, frost chances are gone.
I have had potatoes I missed the year before come up in spring and do just fine.