Potatoes

[annageckos]

I have some potatoes still in the ground. The weather has been all over the place, some days it is almost 70 and a couple of nights we have had it freeze. I was wondering if I leave the potatoes over the winter will they start growing again in the spring? This is the first year I have grown potatoes and they did really well, I also have some growing in the compost pile. I am probably going to leave them in there anyway, just to see what happens(there aren't that may plants), I just wanted to get others experience on this. On another note, I did sweet potatoes this year for the first time too, I will defiantly do them again next year. We had a frost earlier then I expected so I dug up the patch, they were huge! Some of the sweet potatoes were over a foot long, looks like I am going to be making some mashed sweet potatoes and sweet potato pie.

 

[digitS']

We have had some fairly mild winters lately. Last winter, there were no nights below zero . . !

Anna, if your potatoes do not freeze in the ground, they should begin growing again when the soil temperature reaches about 45F. If they freeze, that will be the end of them.

Storing them in the ground can make sense. Some folks just dig a hole in their garden, put their potatoes in the hole and insulate them well for the cold weather to come. The insulation is ALSO a good idea for keeping them cool enuf they don't begin to grow before you can make use of them. I suppose there are places where just covering the potatoes with something like straw can allow all-winter harvesting. At some point, 45F is going to be pretty easy to reach . . . and, they will begin to sprout & grow.

Sprouted potatoes become bitter - they contain solanine, an alkaloid toxin.

I once planted potatoes very late. They did not grow during the late summer and fall - I guess. Anyway, they didn't show above ground until April of the following year!They didn't produce very well so my little experiment didn't work well, at all!

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

I've never tried overwintering potatoes, but we always eat whatever I grow long before the next years crop is ready, so I'm not inclined to experiment with them. Steves experience is convincing enough to me to not even bother, but we are well north of you.

I know Lesa has had some experience with potatoes that were overlooked at harvest and grew the following season. Maybe she'll chime in here and relate how that has worked for her.

 

[catjac1975]

I am in zone 5. Any potatoes that we miss grow into a plant the next spring and give us our earliest potatoes.

 

[annageckos]

Thanks everyone. There really aren't that many potatoes left in the ground, plus a couple plants from potatoes I missed in my first bed.

 

[nachoqtpie]

So... I could potentially just leave my potatoes in they grounds and have them over winter for a new crop?!? Oh this is sounding better all the time! Lol

 

[lesa]

Here in zone 4, my potatoes have been wonderful volunteers every year...Granted we have had very mild winters, by our standards. You just have to remember not to pull them up, when they surprise you in the spring! Something very satisfying about volunteers. They appeal to my "cheap" side!

 

[nachoqtpie]

I think we might actually do boxes for our potatoes.... so I would have to actively participate in the volunteering...LOL

 

[catjac1975]

Why do you want to leave them and not eat them? If it's a full harvest the plants will be quite close. You could just dig the very center of the plant and take the biggest potatoes and leave the rest.

So... I could potentially just leave my potatoes in they grounds and have them over winter for a new crop?!? Oh this is sounding better all the time! Lol