Starting potatoes now in zone 6

[Rence]

I never did put out my potato seeds this past spring. But I figured I had nothing to lose by just setting them out and seeing what would happen.

A neighbor told me that she grows her potatoes in round laundry baskets. She cuts out the bottom, turns it over, so the larger size is on the ground. She puts a few seeds per basket, covers it with a layer of dirt, and then adds straw or mulch or whatever she has on hand, as they grow. So that's what I'm doing.

Questions is...has anyone tried growing potatoes this time of year? What do you guys think?

I never put out my sweet potatoes either...should I bother?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Depending on variety, sweet potatoes take 90 to 105 days to mature and they like hot weather. You can always try, but that looks like November to me. I would not expect much.

There is another recent thread on gowing a fall crop of potatoes on this forum. I think you will find it with a search on "seed potatoes". I don't remember it coming to a real conclusion, but I think the problem was in getting good seed potatoes this time of year.

I did a google search and got some interesting information on seed potatoes. My search was "seed potatoes breaking dormancy". I never did find a good"how to" though without using very dangerous chemiclals. Frustrating. What I think, though, is that if you can get good seed potatoes, it is very doable.