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Potatoes

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When to plant potatoes

Plant seed potatoes two to three weeks before the last frost; earth up any shoots if a late frost threatens. Tubers stop forming in hot weather.

Photo: Ruslan V. Albitsky aka pauk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rules we use

Frost
Takes a light frost. Can go out 2 weeks before the average last frost.
Soil warm enough
Weekly mean around 8°C46°F or more
Heat limit
Average highs above 34°C93°F while it matures (it bolts)
Days to harvest
About 95 days from sowing in warm weather; longer when it is cool
Picking
About 6 weeks from one planting

General guidance, kept on the cautious side. Varieties differ: check the seed packet. How the dates are worked out.

At a glance

Grows outdoors in
89 of 89 cities
Earliest start (north)
San Diego, January 1
Latest start (north)
Fresno, December 31
Can go in this week
18 cities

Potatoes: city by city

Sorted from the earliest start after midwinter to the latest. Southern-hemisphere cities follow, with their seasons six months on.

Sow indoorsSow or plant outdoorsHarvestFrost seasonToday

Northern hemisphere
San DiegoCalifornia
San JoseCalifornia
Las VegasNevada
HoustonTexas
CharlestonSouth Carolina
TucsonArizona
AustinTexas
San AntonioTexas
DallasTexas
El PasoTexas
MemphisTennessee
BirminghamAlabama
Little RockArkansas
AtlantaGeorgia
PortlandOregon
CharlotteNorth Carolina
RaleighNorth Carolina
NashvilleTennessee
TulsaOklahoma
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
RichmondVirginia
LouisvilleKentucky
Kansas CityMissouri
Oklahoma CityOklahoma
BaltimoreMaryland
AlbuquerqueNew Mexico
LondonEngland
St. LouisMissouri
Salt Lake CityUtah
PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
SeattleWashington
BristolEngland
CardiffWales
ManchesterEngland
VancouverBritish Columbia
IndianapolisIndiana
CincinnatiOhio
DublinIreland
New YorkNew York
PittsburghPennsylvania
ColumbusOhio
OmahaNebraska
Des MoinesIowa
BelfastNorthern Ireland
BirminghamEngland
ClevelandOhio
BoiseIdaho
ChicagoIllinois
GlasgowScotland
BostonMassachusetts
DetroitMichigan
SpokaneWashington
MinneapolisMinnesota
MilwaukeeWisconsin
EdinburghScotland
DenverColorado
BillingsMontana
MadisonWisconsin
BuffaloNew York
PortlandMaine
TorontoOntario
FargoNorth Dakota
MontrealQuebec
BurlingtonVermont
OttawaOntario
EdmontonAlberta
HalifaxNova Scotia
AnchorageAlaska
WinnipegManitoba
CalgaryAlberta
JacksonvilleFlorida
Los AngelesCalifornia
SacramentoCalifornia
New OrleansLouisiana
OrlandoFlorida
TampaFlorida
MiamiFlorida
HonoluluHawaii
PhoenixArizona
San FranciscoCalifornia
FresnoCalifornia
Southern hemisphere
HobartTasmania
CanberraAustralian Capital Territory
SydneyNew South Wales
AdelaideSouth Australia
BrisbaneQueensland
PerthWestern Australia
AucklandNew Zealand
MelbourneVictoria

Swipe sideways to see the whole year →

Dates

CitySow outdoorsHarvest
San Diego CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
San Jose CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Las Vegas NevadaJan 10 – Mar 24Apr 25 – Jul 15
Houston TexasJan 16 – Apr 25Apr 13 – Aug 14
Charleston South CarolinaJan 21 – Jun 6, Sep 9 – Sep 26May 2 – Sep 25, Nov 25 – Dec 30
Tucson ArizonaJan 22 – Mar 14Apr 20 – Jul 5
Austin TexasFeb 6 – Apr 21Apr 30 – Aug 10
San Antonio TexasFeb 6 – Apr 17Apr 26 – Aug 6
Dallas TexasFeb 16 – Apr 19May 11 – Aug 8
El Paso TexasFeb 16 – Mar 25May 15 – Jul 17
Memphis TennesseeMar 2 – Jun 1May 29 – Sep 20
Birmingham AlabamaMar 7 – May 25May 28 – Sep 13
Little Rock ArkansasMar 7 – May 9May 28 – Aug 28
Atlanta GeorgiaMar 10 – Jun 7May 31 – Sep 26
Portland OregonMar 15 – Aug 10Jul 4 – Nov 19
Charlotte North CarolinaMar 16 – Jun 2Jun 5 – Sep 21
Raleigh North CarolinaMar 17 – Jun 6Jun 7 – Sep 25
Nashville TennesseeMar 17 – Jun 1Jun 8 – Sep 20
Tulsa OklahomaMar 17 – May 7Jun 7 – Aug 26
Washington District of ColumbiaMar 19 – Jun 18Jun 16 – Oct 7
Richmond VirginiaMar 20 – Jun 7Jun 12 – Sep 26
Louisville KentuckyMar 20 – Jun 15Jun 14 – Oct 4
Kansas City MissouriMar 21 – Jun 12Jun 17 – Oct 1
Oklahoma City OklahomaMar 21 – May 2Jun 7 – Aug 21
Baltimore MarylandMar 22 – Jun 18Jun 18 – Oct 7
Albuquerque New MexicoMar 23 – Apr 22Jun 17 – Aug 14
London EnglandMar 24 – Aug 6Jul 11 – Nov 21
St. Louis MissouriMar 25 – Jun 10Jun 17 – Sep 29
Salt Lake City UtahMar 26 – May 1Jun 30 – Aug 26
Philadelphia PennsylvaniaMar 28 – Jun 22Jun 24 – Oct 11
Seattle WashingtonMar 29 – Aug 4Jul 15 – Nov 17
Bristol EnglandMar 29 – Aug 2Jul 19 – Nov 22
Cardiff WalesMar 30 – Aug 3Jul 19 – Nov 25
Manchester EnglandMar 31 – Jul 27Jul 20 – Nov 16
Vancouver British ColumbiaMar 31 – Jul 30Jul 14 – Nov 5
Indianapolis IndianaApr 1 – Jul 3Jun 26 – Oct 22
Cincinnati OhioApr 2 – Jun 22Jun 24 – Oct 11
Dublin IrelandApr 2 – Jul 21Jul 29 – Nov 10
New York New YorkApr 3 – Aug 18Jul 1 – Nov 20
Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaApr 4 – Jul 3Jun 29 – Oct 22
Columbus OhioApr 4 – Jul 2Jun 28 – Oct 21
Omaha NebraskaApr 4 – Jun 21Jun 29 – Oct 10
Des Moines IowaApr 5 – Jun 30Jul 1 – Oct 19
Belfast Northern IrelandApr 5 – Jul 18Jul 27 – Nov 7
Birmingham EnglandApr 8 – Jul 22Jul 28 – Nov 10
Cleveland OhioApr 10 – Aug 11Jul 6 – Nov 12
Boise IdahoApr 10 – May 23, Jun 12 – Jun 26Jul 9 – Oct 15
Chicago IllinoisApr 11 – Aug 6Jul 9 – Oct 31
Glasgow ScotlandApr 13 – Jul 10Aug 7 – Nov 3
Boston MassachusettsApr 14 – Aug 8Jul 11 – Nov 9
Detroit MichiganApr 14 – Aug 5Jul 10 – Oct 31
Spokane WashingtonApr 14 – Jul 18Jul 18 – Oct 15
Minneapolis MinnesotaApr 16 – Jul 28Jul 10 – Oct 18
Milwaukee WisconsinApr 19 – Aug 1Jul 16 – Oct 29
Edinburgh ScotlandApr 19 – Jul 8Aug 14 – Oct 31
Denver ColoradoApr 20 – Jun 17Jul 13 – Oct 6
Billings MontanaApr 20 – Jul 2Jul 20 – Oct 7
Madison WisconsinApr 21 – Jul 24Jul 16 – Oct 10
Buffalo New YorkApr 24 – Aug 2Jul 20 – Oct 26
Portland MaineApr 24 – Jul 24Jul 22 – Oct 15
Toronto OntarioApr 24 – Jul 24Jul 20 – Oct 9
Fargo North DakotaApr 26 – Jul 16Jul 19 – Sep 30
Montreal QuebecApr 26 – Jul 22Jul 20 – Oct 9
Burlington VermontApr 28 – Jul 25Jul 23 – Oct 15
Ottawa OntarioApr 28 – Jul 18Jul 21 – Oct 2
Edmonton AlbertaMay 6 – Jun 27Aug 6 – Sep 19
Halifax Nova ScotiaMay 8 – Jul 23Aug 8 – Oct 17
Anchorage AlaskaMay 10 – Jun 11Aug 23 – Sep 29
Winnipeg ManitobaMay 10 – Jul 7Jul 31 – Sep 22
Calgary AlbertaMay 12 – Jun 17Aug 15 – Sep 10
Jacksonville FloridaSep 21 – May 15Dec 3 – Sep 3
Los Angeles CaliforniaSep 25 – Jul 16Dec 10 – Nov 4
Sacramento CaliforniaDec 17 – May 5, Sep 29 – Oct 4Feb 3 – Mar 27, Apr 27 – Aug 24
New Orleans LouisianaOct 1 – May 12Dec 22 – Aug 31
Orlando FloridaOct 9 – May 1Dec 20 – Aug 20
Tampa FloridaOct 12 – May 3Dec 23 – Aug 22
Miami FloridaOct 15 – May 24Dec 24 – Sep 12
Honolulu HawaiiOct 28 – May 30Jan 6 – Sep 18
Phoenix ArizonaOct 29 – Mar 5Feb 4 – Jun 25
San Francisco CaliforniaDec 19 – Oct 23Apr 29 – Apr 13
Fresno CaliforniaDec 31 – Apr 9Apr 28 – Jul 31
Hobart TasmaniaAug 13 – Feb 10Dec 21 – Jun 7
Canberra Australian Capital TerritorySep 11 – Feb 8Dec 18 – May 3
Sydney New South WalesJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Adelaide South AustraliaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Brisbane QueenslandMar 5 – Dec 16May 14 – Apr 6
Perth Western AustraliaMar 6 – Dec 30May 16 – Apr 20
Auckland New ZealandJun 4 – May 4Jan 1 – Dec 31
Melbourne VictoriaJun 18 – Apr 10Oct 27 – Sep 29

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