3 November 2022, written by Barbara Pleasant
Little potatoes always get by me when it’s time to harvest, no matter how hard I try. The next year, they grow on their own among the cabbage or corn. The volunteer potatoes are robust plants, because they are growing the way potatoes want to grow, as perennials. Potatoes are perennial plants that come from the Andes Mountains in South America. They die back in the winter and grow back from fat storage roots (potato tubers) when the weather gets warmer in the spring.
Fall is a magical time in the garden. While summer’s harvests wind down the crisp autumn air energizes us for new planting projects. One immensely rewarding endeavor is planting seed potatoes in fall for an early spring crop. This comprehensive guide will illuminate everything you need to know about procuring quality seed potatoes and successfully planting them in the autumn months.
Why Fall Plant Seed Potatoes?
You may be wondering — why go through the trouble of fall planting potatoes? Truthfully, planting in fall offers multiple advantages over spring planting:
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Earlier harvests – Fall-planted spuds mature earlier in spring, allowing you to enjoy fresh potatoes weeks before a spring crop.
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Larger yields – With extra months of growth before summer heat, fall plantings generally yield higher than quick-growing spring plantings.
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Fewer pest issues – Emerging earlier than spring plantings, fall potatoes tend to avoid peak populations of pests like potato beetles.
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Soil prep – Fall planting gives you a head start on amending and prepping soil for peak quality come spring.
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Weed suppression – Emerged fall potato plants help suppress early spring weeds.
In short, fall-planted spuds get a head start on growth, maturity, and pest avoidance — all while producing higher yields. Let’s look now at how to pick the right seed potatoes for fall planting success.
Choosing Seed Potatoes for Fall Planting
The most fundamental factor in a prolific fall potato harvest is starting with high-quality seed potatoes. Here’s what to look for:
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Certified disease-free – Seek certified seed potatoes guaranteed free of viruses and bacterial/fungal diseases. Avoid sacrificing quality by planting diseased potatoes saved from summer crops.
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Proper size – Pick smaller potato tubers, approx. 1-2 inches, which establish faster than large tubers. Avoid potatoes over 4 inches wide.
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Good skin set – Select firm, blemish-free potatoes that have cured 2-3 weeks after harvest. Soft, wrinkling, damaged potatoes often decay and rot.
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Strong sprouts – Ideal tubers will have short, thick sprouts indicating health and vigor. Avoid excessively long, thin sprouts which are prone to breaking off.
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Suited for climate – Match potato varieties to your growing region’s climate and season length. Consult regional growing guides for perfect variety choices.
Pro tip: When possible, choose certified organic seed potatoes to reap bigger yields free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers!
Now that we’ve covered how to pick ideal seed tubers, let’s explore actually getting spuds in the ground for fall growing.
Planting Seed Potatoes in Fall
Here is a simple step-by-step guide to successfully planting your seed potatoes in autumn:
Site Selection
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Choose a site with full sunlight to maximize growing time before winter.
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Pick a spot sheltered from wind to prevent soil drying.
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For good drainage, plant in raised hills or beds versus flat ground.
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Rotate annual crop sites to prevent disease buildup. Avoid areas where potatoes or related crops grew.
Soil Prep
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Loosen soil 10-12 inches deep via double-digging. Break up compaction.
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Work in 2-4 inches of compost to enrich soil nutrition and moisture retention.
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Adjust pH to 5.8-6.5 range. Potatoes thrive in slightly acidic soil.
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Mix in balanced organic fertilizer to satisfy potato’s hunger for nutrients.
Planting
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Dig 8-10 inch deep trenches spaced 12-18 inches apart.
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Place seed potatoes 10-12 inches apart in trench, sprouts facing up.
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Cover tubers with 4 inches of soil. As sprouts emerge, continue filling trench with loose soil until level with bed.
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Water newly planted potatoes well and continue ample water as plants establish.
Follow-Up Care
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Monitor for pest problems and apply organic remedies promptly. Be vigilant for Colorado potato beetles.
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Hill up soil around stems or mulch heavily as potatoes grow to prevent sunlight hitting and greening tubers.
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Side dress extra compost or organic fertilizer when plants reach 12-18 inches to fuel plants through harvest.
Get potatoes off to the right start this fall by following these simple planting guidelines. Avoid novice pitfalls like overwatering, planting too deep, or choosing diseased seed tubers. Now let’s examine optimal fall potato varieties to plant.
Best Potato Varieties for Fall Planting
With thousands of potato types, choosing the best varieties for fall planting in your climate can be daunting. Keep these tips in mind:
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Maturity length – Early and mid-season potatoes fare better in fall than late-maturing long season varieties.
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Purpose – Pick types suited for your desired use – baking, mashing, roasting etc.
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Adaptability – Opt for varieties able to withstand your winter conditions and emerge unfazed in spring.
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Disease resistance – Seek varieties bred with tolerance to prevalent potato diseases in your area.
Here are some terrific options for robust fall plantings:
Early Season
- Red Gold – Dependable all-purpose red potato.
- Dark Red Norland – Nutty flavor, ideal boiling.
- Yukon Gold – Buttery-flavored yellow skin, white flesh.
Midseason
- Katahdin – Oval tubers, excellent mashed or fried.
- Purple Viking – Purple skin, white flesh, great roasted.
- Carola – Yellow round potatoes, high yielding.
Fingerlings
- Ruby Crescent – Waxy red skin, creamy interior.
- French Fingerling – Oblong shape, smooth texture.
- Austrian Crescent – Great grilled or roasted.
Talk to local gardeners to zero in on fall-friendly varieties that thrive in your growing zone. With prime potato types chosen, let’s get these tubers planted!
Step-By-Step Fall Planting Guide
Follow this simple 7 step how-to guide for planting robust potatoes this fall:
1. Pick Site
- Choose a sunny, wind-sheltered spot with well-drained soil.
2. Prep Soil
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Loosen top 12 inches of soil via double-digging.
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Work 2-4 inches of rich compost into soil.
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Test and amend pH to optimal 5.8-6.5 range.
3. Dig Trenches
- Dig 8-10 inch deep trenches spaced 12-18 inches apart.
4. Plant Seed Potatoes
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Place tubers 10-12 inches apart with sprouts facing up.
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Cover with 4 inches of soil.
5. Hill Soil
- As sprouts emerge, keep hilling loose soil until bed is level.
6. Follow Up Care
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Maintain even moisture.
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Control pests immediately with organic remedies.
7. Hill Stems
- Once plants are 12+ inches tall, mound soil or mulch around stems to protect tubers from light.
Check sprout progress a few weeks after planting. If any fail to emerge, replant a new seed potato in its place. With this simple process, you’ll be harvesting a bountiful early crop of spuds next spring.
Growing a Bountiful Fall Potato Crop
You’re on your way to growing a stellar fall potato crop! Follow these final tips for success:
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Handle seed potatoes gently to avoid bruising and damaging sprouts.
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For extra-early emergence, pre-sprout tubers indoors 2-3 weeks before planting.
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Intercrop fast-maturing cool season veggies like lettuce and spinach with potatoes.
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Control weeds until plants are 12+ inches tall and hilled up. Weeds compete for nutrients.
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Side dress plants with extra compost or fertilizer when 12-18 inches tall to fuel maximum yields.
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Monitor closely for Colorado potato beetles – hand pick adults and larvae promptly to prevent defoliation.
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Timely water prevents hollow heart in tubers – keep soil consistently moist but not saturated.
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Hilling stems with soil or mulch prevents tubers from greening when exposed to light.
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Delay harvesting after vines die back 2-3 weeks for ideal curing and skin set of tubers.
Can You Plant Potatoes in the Fall?
You can mimic nature’s natural plan for potatoes by planting potatoes in the fall. Not all of them – your big planting can wait until spring. But fall is the time to plant the little potatoes that have turned green in storage, or the ones you found one day while digging in the garden and left outside in a dirty pail. Gardening experts in Wisconsin recommend fall potato planting so the plants can establish themselves ahead of cutworms and weeds in spring. I like having a good use for my puniest potatoes.
It is possible to plant potatoes in the fall as long as the soil gets cold and stays cold through the winter, with temperatures below 48°F (9°C) 8 inches (20 cm) deep. Buried potato tubers start growing as soil temperatures rise above 50°F (10°C). Your garden gets a vote, too. If you often see volunteer potatoes in your garden, planting potatoes in the fall should work out well.
Note: If you live in a mild winter area where the ground doesn’t freeze, you should wait until late winter to plant potatoes. The plants can then grow without stopping in the mild spring weather and turn into a crop before it gets too hot.
Seed Potatoes for Fall Planting
This is not the time of year to find seed potatoes at nurseries, so you will have to grow your own. Small sprouters from the summer can be used if you don’t have any left. You can also prepare and plant potatoes from the market. Before planting, let the potatoes sit in a warm, well-lit place to green up for a few days. The fact that potatoes have green skins shows that the tuber has bitter solanine compounds that keep animals from liking it.
Whether they are large or small, keep potatoes whole when planting potatoes in the fall. Cut potatoes are much more likely to rot or get eaten by voles compared to whole potatoes. When potatoes are planted in the spring, they grow so quickly that cutting them doesn’t hurt them much. But potatoes planted in cold soil should be left whole for the best chance at survival.
In the fall, there are lots of leaves around, and they make a great mulch for potatoes planted in the fall. A leaf mulch protects the soil from getting packed down by heavy rain and keeps it cool when the weather is mild in the winter. When planting potatoes in the fall, some gardeners put leaves right into the holes they made, but this isn’t required. It’s important to cover the ground well to keep weeds and soil from washing away, but not so much that the potatoes think winter is over.
If you plant potatoes in the fall, some gardeners say they come up earlier than mine. This could be because I plant them about 10 inches (25 cm) below the surface. I’m using the potato’s trick here because most of the potatoes that grow on their own in my garden come from tubers that are buried too deep for me to reach with a hand spade. They show up after the ground has been tilled and something else planted.
Why not just let the volunteer potatoes grow? Letting potatoes grow in place allows soil-borne diseases to spread. These are potato problems like nematodes, scab, and pink rot that don’t show up when the soil is given time to heal between potato crops. Planting potatoes in the fall gives them a new spot to grow and time to get settled. It’s a good way to get a nice little crop of summer potatoes.
Planting Potatoes in Fall // Any Climate!
FAQ
Can I plant seed potatoes in the fall?
Can I plant potatoes in August?
Can I leave potatoes in the ground over winter?
What month do you plant potatoes in the ground?
Should I plant seed potatoes in the fall?
This means you will need to save your own seed from a previous harvest. When you plant potatoes in the spring you often cut the tubers into smaller pieces to make the seed potatoes go further. However, when fall planting it’s best to plant the whole potato. Amazon is one of the few places I’ve found seed potatoes available in the fall!
Can you plant potatoes in the south in the fall?
Fall planting in the South is usually done in hot weather. To reduce the losses from seed pieces rotting in the ground, plant the smallest of the mature seed potatoes you’ve saved. It’s not advisable to cut your large seed potatoes in this situation; cut seed stock loses more of its energy in hot weather.
How do you plant seed potatoes?
The planting rows are deep enough that the mulch is pulled to the side and the bare soil is exposed. Next, place the seed potatoes into the planting furrows leaving 6 to 8 inches between the tubers. Once the potatoes are planted we cover them with 1 to 2 inches of rabbit manure mixed with composted wood chips.
How do you plant late variety potatoes?
To plant late variety potatoes, first sow the seed potatoes 12 to 14 inches (30-35cm) apart and space the rows 30 to 36 inches (75-90cm) apart. When seedlings (developing sprouts) emerge, add the remaining 2 inches (5cm) of soil to the hole or trench. Continue adding light soil as the plants grow tall, leaving the top two sets of leaves exposed.