Hi all...
Fairly new to vegetable gardening, and with the current state of affairs- I got a VERY late start planting my seeds in for this year.
Any advice on the best time to plant my seed potatoes for my crop that I want for winter storage. What's the latest that I can get them in the ground, and still hope for a somewhat decent late fall/early winter crop? I'm in zone 6, and quite often- we can have a very late fall.

Thanks in advance!

zone 6...
please tell us what state you are in...

while taters aren't going to grow through the heat of a southern summer... autumn planting is a possibility...

turnips would do better with an august planting.... taters... just not a good southern crop...

Why not consider sweet potatoes?
or jicama?
or jerusalem artichoke?

there are a number of squash that you could try....

I'm in Massachusetts. Turnips might also be a good idea.

Massachusetts, You may some success with June planting and late September harvest. As a kid in Virginia we double cropped potatoes. First planting in March. Second planting in early July. Of course we used short season varieties like Early Rose and Irish Cobbler. Long season varieties would not work well.

Makes sense.
Thank you both for your advice.

yeah... mass... here I was thinking tn... memphis... nashville...

Zone 6 tells us a lot less than you'd think.

I don't know how hot your summers are, but something tells me that they would feel positively Spring-like to me...

The thing about an autumn planting to remember is that a hard frost will burn the plants back to the ground... maybe with a row cover?

or... as Dillard suggests, maybe it won't get hot enough to kill the potato plants if you go ahead and plant.

At my house... I'm still planting beans and cow peas in september...

and in october last year, we were still getting 100 degree days... put my autumn planting way back...

never did get turnips from my turnip planting... they bolted before even forming the root.

I am getting nice kale, though.

Thanks for the info, Stone... you're right- I should have given more information than just my zone number. haha.
Honestly, our summers are really up and down.. definitely not like the heat you're getting, but we'll have two or three days at 90 degrees then back down into the low 80s for a few more days, then maybe another 90+ degree day. It's definitely not consistent. Same with our autumns... into the 70s most of the time- then suddenly one day it's 90 again.
Our fall season has also been starting pretty late the past few years... So, I was thinking of maybe throwing some "seeds" into some soil maybe around early July (?) or so, and see if they'll give me anything to harvest around October or November.

Oughta work...
Incidentally... taters actually do produce seed, and I've grown taters from those berries at the top of the plant!

stone said:Oughta work...
Incidentally... taters actually do produce seed, and I've grown taters from those berries at the top of the plant!

Interesting. What was the days to maturity from seed?

Actually, I can't answer that question... was back in my traveling days... I worked up some soil at a buddy's house, planted the seed and then (?) went to another state... on a phone call, got a grow report...

Ah ok. I might try it. I got flowers last year, not sure I got the berries. Will have to read up on it.

Thanks for the info, Stone... you're right- I should have given more information than just my zone number. haha.
Honestly, our summers are really up and down.. definitely not like the heat you're getting, but we'll have two or three days at 90 degrees then back down into the low 80s for a few more days, then maybe another 90+ degree day. It's definitely not consistent. Same with our autumns... into the 70s most of the time- then suddenly one day it's 90 again.
Our fall season has also been starting pretty late the past few years... So, I was thinking of maybe throwing some "seeds" into some soil maybe around early July (?) or so, and see if they'll give me anything to harvest around October or November.

IF you have not, put them in the ground, do it NOW.
I am in Minn. and planted some very late last year; they sat there till late summer before popping out of the ground. (the potatoes really did not have eyes when got them)
I managed to get a small crop from them but it was weird to see potato plants growing, rather vigorously, when the rest were turning brown or were already out of the ground.
Now up here , rarely, very rarely, do you not have to have them out of the ground by Oct. due to cold, but where you are, if the ground is not too warm, that will cause problems, you should just have a very late crop depending on potato variety.
I mulch mine with leaves, a lot of, which keeps the ground moist and helps keep the ground cooler.