When to Plant Potatoes
Planting Window
- Plant seed potatoes
- 2-4 weeks before last frost
| USDA Zone | Typical Window |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 and colder | April |
| Zone 6-7 | March |
| Zone 8 and up | Late winter, plus a possible fall crop |
Potatoes are planted on an almost opposite schedule from the nightshade transplants they're related to - seed potatoes (small whole or cut tubers with visible eyes) are frost-hardy enough that they typically go into the ground weeks before your last frost date, not after it.
Planting Seed Potatoes, Not Starting Seed
Potatoes aren't started from true seed the way tomatoes or peppers are - certified disease-free seed potatoes, cut into pieces with at least one or two eyes each and left to callus over for a day or two before planting, go directly into prepared soil. There's no indoor-starting phase at all in typical home garden practice.
Timing: 2-4 Weeks Before Last Frost
Seed potatoes are commonly planted about two to four weeks before your zone's average last frost date, once soil can be worked and isn't waterlogged - foliage that emerges before the last frost can be damaged by a hard freeze, but the tubers underground stay protected by soil, and gardeners generally just hill soil up over any frost-nipped foliage to protect regrowth rather than replanting.
Chitting: Pre-Sprouting Before Planting
Chitting - setting seed potatoes somewhere cool and bright for a couple of weeks before planting so they develop short, sturdy sprouts in advance - is a common technique, especially popular in the UK, for getting a jump on the season in cooler climates. It doesn't change the outdoor planting date itself, but it does mean the plant emerges from the ground faster once it's in, effectively shortening the wait after planting.
Hilling Protects Against Both Frost and Green Tubers
Mounding soil up around potato stems as they grow - hilling - serves two separate purposes worth keeping straight: it protects young foliage from a late frost early in the season, and later in the season it keeps developing tubers covered so they don't turn green from sun exposure, which makes them bitter and mildly toxic rather than just cosmetically off.
Early, Mid, and Late Season Varieties
Potato varieties are grouped into early, mid, and late season types, ranging from roughly 70 to over 120 days to maturity - early types are typically harvested as smaller, thinner-skinned "new potatoes" well before full maturity, while late-season storage varieties are left in the ground the longest and keep the best over winter.
Zone boundaries follow the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023 revision); frost windows reflect NOAA/NCEI climate normals. Both are typical historical ranges, reviewed annually - not a forecast or a guarantee for any single year. See Methodology & Sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if frost damages my potato foliage after I plant early?
The foliage itself can blacken and die back from a hard frost, but the seed potato and any tubers forming underground are generally insulated enough by the soil to survive, and the plant typically regrows new foliage from the same seed piece rather than needing to be replanted.
Can I plant potatoes from a grocery-store potato instead of buying certified seed potatoes?
It's possible but riskier - grocery potatoes are sometimes treated with a sprout inhibitor and aren't certified disease-free, so certified seed potatoes from a garden supplier are the more reliable choice for avoiding introducing soil-borne disease to a bed you'll replant potatoes in for years.
Is chitting seed potatoes worth the extra step?
In cooler, shorter-season climates it can genuinely help by shaving a week or more off the time between planting and visible emergence, though in longer, milder growing seasons the benefit is smaller and plenty of gardeners skip it without much practical downside.