I'd say April 20 is too late.

I'm in 5B/6A and the folks in my area always say to plant potatoes around St. Patrick's day. But every year is different, weather wise, so I assume that is to be taken with a grain of salt.

As soon as it dries out from yesterday's rain. I planted Red Norland and Yukon Gold potatoes on Mother's Day 2 years ago and had nice new potatoes in July (didn't leave them in longer due to drought that year).

I am on the edge of 6a right next to 5b. I like to green chit the potatoes a bit. I found that the potatoes themselves are less sprouted than usual and the weather here is behind the usual and I have not planted any yet, but may start tomorrow...Forget St. Patrick's Day. That is too early here. I asked Martin once why there was such a hurry to plant the potatoes. He supposed it was to get them done early enough to plant a late crop of something. If they had been up during the freeze we have had now, nothing much is gained.

Well, I don't want them so early as that means storing them longer in summer heat.

As far as moon planting goes...it is sooooo limiting. Why do you do that?

I haven't planted mine yet, don't feel bad.

Jay

I used to plant them about 2 to 3 weeks before LFD. Then after they sprout , if you get a late frost just cover them. I had to do early in GA, b'c you have to dig them out when it get hot and the ground temps stay over 70F at night. Potatoes shut off tuber growth as do some tomatoes with fruit setting. But if you have long cool season, you can plant late and keep them till the end of summer, or until the tops get woody and brown.

April 20 or May 17

Agree that both are late for planting in your zone but I'd sure opt for now rather than waiting until May. Next year shoot for mid to late March. By the moon that would have been March 21st.

Dave

I usually get mine in the ground sometime in late March or early April. This year is different. I'm waiting for the ground to dry out after all the rain we've had.

Madonna

It would be the rare year here that the soil would be nice and dryish in late March...let alone the frostings of the plants!

I don't know how your soil is, guys, but my was frozen hard 2 weeks ago, so Apr 20 is earliest I can do)
Let it be Apr 20 then!
Thanks everybody for your responses.

I'll be planting mine Sat April 19 because It will be My first chance since the frost left the ground. I wasn't ready this past weekend in time and only got my peas planted. Last year I was able to plant 2-1/2 weeks earlier. I had a mixed lot with some bought seed potato ,and some left from the previous year that were quite sprouted. All were German Butterball. The sprouted ones(Chitted ?) did come up earlier .Ironically though they were feasted on by 3 to 5 cut worms per hill. After beating back the cut worms they were gaining when a frost nipped them again. This year Ill break any sprouts and let mother nature bring them up as she see's fit! I think they were the only thing up for the cutworms to find, and the frost hit before the others came up.

We on the same scheduler, Keith, I also planted my peas past weekend and was able to plant potatoes earlier last spring.. This winter if very-very long... It feels endless. But good thing is, I see much less wire worms in the soil this year... I hope they froze out)

Remember that plant hardiness zones refer to minimum winter temperature, which may or may not correlate with your spring or summer climate.

Unlike many in the midwest plains, I don't have to worry much about "beating the heat". The temperatures here rarely exceed 90, and then not until July. This year, I don't see being able to plant potatoes until mid May. But they will do fine. I usually like to get everything out by Memorial day, but sometime this even goes by. YRMV.

The hottest, (most uncomfortable), I've ever been in my world travels was in July in Eau Claire, WI, which is about 90 miles east of Minneapolis. 95 plus with 80 dew point (that's tropical). Near Hudson's Bay, it will hit 100 in summer, right before it dives to 30.

So, let you soil dry before trying to till it, consult your average last frost date, don't give up until you've had a few years to get some experience, and accept that some years broccolli will do better than okra.

I'll get off my soap box now, and add a disclaimer: this touch pad I use leads to a lot of typos that can be very difficult to correct even with preview. Sorry in advance.

I ordered my potatoes 10 days ago and just received them today. Probably a good thing or I would have been tempted to plant them last Saturday when temperatures were in the high 60s. We got snow Monday.

Guys, I just want to clarify my post. The key word in it was "This year". The winter in our place was unusually cold and long. So under zone 5 I mean just geographic location, not an average climate norm. So I just wanted opinion of the people living in the same condition as me, not the rules for zone 5 - they can be easily found online. Right now it is 24F behind the window and it makes me grouchy) Thanks everybody for your responses.

That depends. Zone 5 (5b, 5a, what have you) Covers a vast expanse. For example, I'm at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and was re-classed to zone 5b this year. This is why I don't like the whole "zone" thing, I'm classified with people anywhere from Ohio, to Costal Maine and I assure you, none of our climates are ANYTHING alike.

For example, my ground has been thaw since late February whereas a poster above said their was frozen up until two weeks ago. We get snow more often then I like most springs here, but, usually it's preceded by a week of 60-70 degrees and it melts within 24 hours followed by another week of 70's. As long as I keep things protected overnight, I can plant out fairly early on, it doesn't sound like that is the case with people east of me.

It really depends on where you are in in zone 5 because that, to me, is not a good enough indication of conditions, and the answers or going to be very different depending on whether your growing at a high altitude in the mountains or in the muggy Midwest.

FWIW, my potatoes have been in the ground for about a week now.

My bad, ZachS) Agree, that zone 5 is not a good indicator. I am in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ground usually soft here in the beginning of March... This year, it got frozen so deep, that top layer became soft only three weeks ago(about half shovel deep... )But below it for another half shovel deep it was frozen hard. This is why whole schedule of this year is a big question mark...

I am just north of Concord, NH, which is a couple of weeks north of you seasonally. When I left home a week ago, snow had only been off the ground a couple of days, and the soil was still frozen. I think it will be mid-May this year before the ground will have had a chance to dry out enough for planting since there was snow again yesterday. Would you be willing to not plant by the lunar calendar this year and split the difference, planting around May Day?

I chit my potatoes since I think they are less likely to rotif the soil is cold, and I may give the potato bed a spunbond row cover this spring to help things warm up a bit faster.

A good argument for also including your location in the zone box rather than just the zone number.

Dave

Not too awfully far from me. Did you get the rain and snow the other day? Still squishy here.

I list my zone as 6a, but I am zone 5 according to the Gardenweb calculator. I'm right on the edge and have a microclimate that is warmer than most of zone 5. That said, I have found that starting around April 1, when the forsythia start to bloom, works for me. I know neighbors who plant on St Patricks day, but that seems risky. It usually takes two weeks for sprouts to emerge, and the potatoes are safe from temperatures down to 20 for short spells when covered with soil, but they can freeze when they are above ground. This year, when everything seems to be almost two weeks behind our usual, I still chose to plant on April 1. Then, with little warning, we had an inch of snow and a low of 22 on Wednesday. My potatoes under three inches of soil had not emerged at two weeks of age. In anticipation of frost, I covered the soil where the potatoes grow with another 2-3 inches of soil. If the sprouts freeze, the potato plant can be set back at least two weeks.

My rush to plant as early as possible, risking a freeze, is not to make room for another vegetable later. I do it because it is likely to get very hot here in early July, and tubers stop bulking when that happens. I want them to be big by that time, and that takes at least two to three months.

I'm in upstate N.Y Saratoga county ,how can I edit that to my info?

You did! ;-)

Ok, I think I figured it out
Keith

Plant potatoes when the dandelions do that first big bloom. That is the right soil temp.
Good luck!

Thank you everybody! I didn't know about dandelions - i usually use birch leave size(penny size) and just broken oak buds as a sign. But dandelions are much simple to watch) They are right in my neighbor yard)

I finished my six rows today (Sunday April 20th.), approx. 200 hills. I don't remember the soil ever being as dry as it is. Maybe because I'm a week later than normal.
Keith

I just remembered that when I was a kid we always planted them on Good Friday. I haven't grown them for many years.

Thanks for heads up. I had completely forgotten that they go in earl, but I'll be throwing some in the ground this weekend.

This post was edited by Creek-side on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 22:10