How warm for potatoes?

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Ariel301

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How warm should it be out before I can plant my potatoes? I'm getting my planting schedule all planned out and realized I'm not sure when to plant those. Looking around online, a lot of places said February 14th is the day to plant potatoes, but I don't know if that's necessarily so in the climate I live in, I'd rather go by temperature.
 
Here winters usually freeze the top 1-2 inches of soil for maybe a week or two at most. I tend to put out the potato seeds middle of march because that is when I go home for spring break to plant. That said, soil is probably in the 40's at that time, and more often than not, the tiny taters I left in the ground the year before will pop up and survive all winters. If the ground was not frozen in dec (winter break), I'm convinced that you can toss them in the dirt and they will start to grow when the time is right for them.

Think you'll just have to try it out and see how they do for you. I plant bush beans and tomatos when the soil is still in the mid to lower 50's... they say you should wait till the soil is 60. But if I did that, I'd not plant those till june and there would be no chance of anything to eat.
 
Ok, thanks! We should be at 50 degrees soil temperature in another week or so if we aren't already...I'll have to go check.
 
In my area St Patty's Day is the time to plant potatos, at least thats the way my grandma and my pop did it.

THANX RICH
 
As an interesting aside to this soil temp discussion, I was tilling for a fellow last spring and he said his grandpa was a crop farmer. After he'd work the soil he'd drop his bibs and boxers, sit down in the soil and if it wasn't uncomfortable on his backside, it was time to plant!!!

Never tried this and don't intend to!!!

THANX RICH
 
OMG Rich, that is too funny! I guess it wasn't good enough, if it felt warm on his hands!!! What a gardening trend that could be!
 
thistlebloom said:
Your soil should warm up to at least 50* Ariel, thats the minimum for them to start growth, the maximum soil temp is 70*.
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I plant mine in March/April, so that would be about right on the temps.
 
dickiebird said:
As an interesting aside to this soil temp discussion, I was tilling for a fellow last spring and he said his grandpa was a crop farmer. After he'd work the soil he'd drop his bibs and boxers, sit down in the soil and if it wasn't uncomfortable on his backside, it was time to plant!!!

Never tried this and don't intend to!!!

THANX RICH
Click to expand...
You sure he wasn't "FERTILIZING" his plants?? LOL

Jeff
 
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