When to plant potatoes in the south

[Artichoke Lover]

I just picked up some seed potatoes from the farm store. But I’m finding conflicting info on when to plant and harvest them. I was wondering when some of the other gardeners in my region plant? I’m finding different places saying anything from plant them as soon as the soil can be worked which means I could plant today but I’m also found somewhere that said not to plant them until 2 weeks after the last frost date. Which would be somewhere in May! I also read that I have to harvest them before temps regularly reach 80 which is also 2 weeks after the last frost. Someone help this confused gardener out!

 

[dickiebird]

Around here (St Louis) I've always planted on St Patrick's Day, with pretty good results.

THANX RICH

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd call your county extension office and chat with them. When I was in Arkansas the extension service had a planting calendar. For each month of the year they listed what you could transplant or start from seeds.

When I moved to Louisiana I got a planting calendar from the Louisiana Extension Service. Mine tells me I can plant Irish Potatoes between January 20 to February 28 in the spring. For fall they suggest August 15 through September 10th. It also lists what varieties they recommend. I have found these planting guides to be really helpful. They are a good reminder of what can grow here.

Your county extension off office should have local knowledge of what to plant and when to plant it. All gardening is local, yours will be different from mine. If you are too shy to call your extension office, you can probably find information on your Alabama Extension Service Website.

I don't grow them down here, don't have the room. In Arkansas I typically planted them maybe two weeks before the last frost date. A frost or freeze would knock them back but they would recover. If a frost was predicted I covered them with a bedsheet.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I'd call your county extension office and chat with them. When I was in Arkansas the extension service had a planting calendar. For each month of the year they listed what you could transplant or start from seeds.

When I moved to Louisiana I got a planting calendar from the Louisiana Extension Service. Mine tells me I can plant Irish Potatoes between January 20 to February 28 in the spring. For fall they suggest August 15 through September 10th. It also lists what varieties they recommend. I have found these planting guides to be really helpful. They are a good reminder of what can grow here.

Your county extension off office should have local knowledge of what to plant and when to plant it. All gardening is local, yours will be different from mine. If you are too shy to call your extension office, you can probably find information on your Alabama Extension Service Website.

I don't grow them down here, don't have the room. In Arkansas I typically planted them maybe two weeks before the last frost date. A frost or freeze would knock them back but they would recover. If a frost was predicted I covered them with a bedsheet.

Thank you. I just looked up my extension site and it looks like I’ll probably plant around the end of February. Part of the reason I posted on here is because i know of at least 5 or 6 people who are within about 200 miles of my location and I was hoping to get some advice!

 

[baymule]

You got good advice. If they are sprouted up and a frost is coming, you can cover them with sheets or hay. Then the hay would make good mulch!

 

[Artichoke Lover]

You got good advice. If they are sprouted up and a frost is coming, you can cover them with sheets or hay. Then the hay would make good mulch!

Do you know if there is any reason why I can’t use pine straw? I’m asking cause I have an unlimited free supply of the stuff.

 

[baymule]

Pine straw is FREE! That's even better. LOL

 

[flowerbug]

there are some residual resins in pine-needles that some plants may not like if they are used continually, but i don't think that is a common problem. i will not use them exclusively to mulch a garden for years in a row, but alternate them with humus from partially or mostly decayed wood chips and other amendments like the worm castings. mainly i think it a good idea to use varied materials because not all plants use the same nutrients as they grow either. just like rotating crops i think it a reasonable and common sense idea to rotate mulching sources and amendments.

if there are major issues going on a soil test is also helpful, but i'm pretty casual and just use the eyeballs and nose along with the texture of the garden soil to figure out what to do next. also, observing how the plants grow and reading about how to spot deficiencies for the various plants. i still have a lot to learn - there are a lot of garden plants i've not grown or had much experience with.

my overall problem here is that we have so many gardens i can't ever get enough mulch or time to deal with everything every season. we have to just pick some gardens and areas each year that need it the most and work on those.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

there are some residual resins in pine-needles that some plants may not like if they are used continually, but i don't think that is a common problem. i will not use them exclusively to mulch a garden for years in a row, but alternate them with humus from partially or mostly decayed wood chips and other amendments like the worm castings. mainly i think it a good idea to use varied materials because not all plants use the same nutrients as they grow either. just like rotating crops i think it a reasonable and common sense idea to rotate mulching sources and amendments.

if there are major issues going on a soil test is also helpful, but i'm pretty casual and just use the eyeballs and nose along with the texture of the garden soil to figure out what to do next. also, observing how the plants grow and reading about how to spot deficiencies for the various plants. i still have a lot to learn - there are a lot of garden plants i've not grown or had much experience with.

my overall problem here is that we have so many gardens i can't ever get enough mulch or time to deal with everything every season. we have to just pick some gardens and areas each year that need it the most and work on those.

I try my best to only use pine straw around the acid loving or leaning plants. Life would be a lot easier if we had a bagging mower though. That fall leaves are my main mulch. Last fall my rake broke though so I didn’t get very much piled up.

 

[Zeedman]

I try my best to only use pine straw around the acid loving or leaning plants. Life would be a lot easier if we had a bagging mower though. That fall leaves are my main mulch. Last fall my rake broke though so I didn’t get very much piled up.

Potatoes are acid lovers, so pine straw would be good for mulching those.