Skip to content
Grow In Backyard
Vegetables

Can You Plant Potatoes in the Fall? Only in Zone 8 and Warmer

A fall potato crop works where the ground stays workable and frost is late. In zone 7 or colder it rots before it sprouts. How to tell which you are.

By Zakaria 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Chitted seed potatoes in an egg tray, each showing short purple-green sprouts at the crown
Photo: Kangarooth, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On this page

In zone 8 and warmer, yes. In zone 7 and colder, a fall-planted seed potato sits in cold wet ground and rots. The real test is not the zone number — it is whether you have ten to twelve frost-free weeks left.

Whether your garden qualifies

Fall planting by zone
ZoneFall potatoes?Why
3–6NoGround cold and wet long before tubers form
7MarginalPossible in a mild year, usually not worth it
8–9YesThe standard fall-planting range
10+Yes, and often preferredSummer is too hot to grow them at all

The zone is shorthand. Count the frost-free weeks you have left — under ten, do not bother.

The window is narrow at both ends

Too early fails as reliably as too late

Above about 80°F, a seed piece rots in the ground rather than sprouting. Below about 45°F, it sits and does nothing until it rots anyway.

So the window is real on both sides: count back twelve weeks from first expected frost and plant then, which is usually mid-August to mid-September.

Planted too late, a plant that gets frosted at six inches has put nothing into the ground yet. There is simply nothing to dig.

Use early varieties, and certified seed

  • Early and second-early types, maturing in 70 to 90 days. A main crop wanting 110 to 135 will not finish
  • Certified seed potatoes, not supermarket ones. Supermarket potatoes are usually treated to suppress sprouting, and that is the commonest reason a fall planting does nothing at all
  • Freshly harvested seed is dormant and needs that dormancy broken before it will sprout

Leaving them in the ground

In mild areas the soil is your store, and you dig as you need them. Two things end that:

  • Wet soil, which rots the tubers
  • Hard frost reaching down to them, which turns them sweet and mushy

A thick straw mulch buys several degrees and is usually the difference. Where the ground freezes properly, lift and store instead.

What to expect

Somewhat less than a spring crop. Tubers bulk under shortening days and falling temperatures rather than rising ones, so they size up slowly.

What you get in exchange:

  • A second harvest in one season
  • Cleaner tubers — the main pest pressure has passed by then
  • Warm soil at planting instead of cold

Common questions

Can you plant potatoes in the fall?

In zone 8 and warmer, yes — plant in late summer or early autumn for a crop before the ground gets cold, and it works well. In zone 7 and colder it does not, because a seed potato needs soil above about 45°F to sprout and will sit in cold wet ground until it rots instead. The dividing question is not really the zone number but whether you have ten to twelve frost-free weeks left after planting.

When should fall potatoes be planted?

Count back about twelve weeks from your first expected frost and plant then, which in most of zone 8 to 10 falls between mid-August and mid-September. Earlier than that and the seed pieces sit in soil still too hot, above 80°F, where they rot rather than sprout. Later and the plants do not get the bulking period they need. The window is narrower than the spring one in both directions.

Can you leave potatoes in the ground over winter?

In mild areas with well-drained soil, yes — the soil acts as storage and you dig as you need them, which is how a lot of people in zone 8 and warmer handle a fall crop. It fails on two things: wet soil, which rots them, and hard frost reaching the tubers, which turns them sweet and mushy. A thick straw mulch buys several degrees. Anywhere the ground freezes properly, lift and store instead.

Which potatoes are best for fall planting?

Early and second-early varieties, because they mature in 70 to 90 days rather than the 110 to 135 a main crop wants, and the fall window will not stretch that far. Use certified seed potatoes rather than supermarket ones, which are usually treated to suppress sprouting and are the commonest reason a fall planting does nothing at all. Freshly harvested seed also needs its dormancy broken.

Do fall-planted potatoes yield as much as spring ones?

Usually somewhat less. The plants get shorter days and falling temperatures during the bulking phase rather than rising ones, so tubers size up more slowly and the crop is typically smaller. What you gain is a second harvest in a season, generally cleaner tubers because the main pest pressure has passed, and soil that is warm at planting rather than cold.

What happens if you plant potatoes too late in the fall?

They either fail to emerge or emerge and get frosted before tubers form. A potato plant killed by frost at six inches tall has put nothing into the ground yet, so there is nothing to dig. If you have already missed the window, the better move is to hold the seed potatoes somewhere cool and dark and plant them in spring rather than gambling on a mild autumn.

Backyard Weekly

Know what to plant, week by week

Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.

Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.

Keep reading