skip to main content

Vegetable Gardening Four Season Vegetable Gardening edible garden

Random potato plants popping up

last year

last modified: last year

I moved in to a new house a year ago and I've just noticed there are small potato plants popping up in random places around the garden. I know there used to be a veg patch years ago but these potato plants are all over. I've dug one up to check it is actually a potato plant and yes... it's got tiny potatoes coming off it! They are in garden borders and in with flowers so my questions are: Are all potatoes edible? Can I grow these and harvest them for eating? Can I dig them up now and repot into large containers/open ground to continue growing or will this disturb them too much? How do I know when to harvest them without knowing what type of potato they are? Basically - what do I do now?! TIA

Featured Answer

robert567

last year

Small potatoes left in the soil can easily grow into new plants, and yes you can eat them anytime if they are indeed "common" potatoes. Fresh potatoes are good to eat, even though may be small. I wouldn't bother trying to transplant them at this point, easier to start anew.

Where are you climate wise that you are getting them in October? Do you get freezes?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
last modified: last year
If the previous occupants had a compost heap and used their compost around the garden that is another possible source of potato plants. If you get freezes they will not survive.
Related Discussions
last year's potatoes popping up
Q
Comments (2)
yep volunteers are always a winner, you didn't have to buy them or plant them. Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page
...See More
veg garden layout,straight rows or random plantings?t
Q
Comments (16)
Possibly worth bringing up this post again - I have two raised garden beds and intermix plants, with an eye not to put competetive plants or plant enemies close to each other. I find the plants are bigger, healthier and support each other, providing shaded soil and leaves, and planting closely provides weed suppression. Given that I'm in a hot dry climate, it makes sense. Plant further apart when you need to catch every ray. I find that I have fewer pests when I plant like nature and less like a clinical trial. It It's no good for commercial or large scale, but feeds hubby and I to repletion. Herbs, flowers and veg, all intermixed. When something goes or is harvested, I feed that area and put compost and/or manure there and plant in something else that would likely follow if I were doing rotation. Rows just give the caterpillars and slugs a good 'Roman Road' to follow, munching all the way! Intermixing brings all the predatory species that clear up the pests right into the area that they're wanted instead of being somewhat close-ish. It works for me in my area!
...See More
I'm so excited! My first seedlings popped up!
Q
Comments (48)
Man, I can't believe all the stuff you guys do to germinate these babies. I like my method of just sticking them in the starter greenhouse and setting it in the breezeway. I guess if you don't have a cold room or area like that to put them, it is necessary to refrigerate them. I'm just so excited about them popping up in the starter cells without any fuss. I see new seedlings popping up all the time. I had one whole section of the cells that I was afraid weren't going to do anything, but when I got home for lunch today, another new baby had begun to emerge in that section, finally! I filled up two more of those 72-cell starters last weekend, and I can't wait to see what they produce. My biggest baby already has split and is branching out in two directions!! I'll have a tiny rose "bush" soon!! That one is from ELSIE MELTON. My best germinator so far tho, seems to be LAVANDE. There are 6-7 of them! I can't wait to see how different each one will be. This is so much fun!!
...See More
Tomato Plants popped up from last years rotted fruit
Q
Comments (24)
I've got volunteer periwinkles from about three years ago that grew before I turned the spot into a vegetable garden. Every year I see a couple new seedlings pop up. I also have a volunteer dill from last year's seed. It came up in the middle of the beet patch and I'm just letting it grow. My Swamp Milkweed that I planted last year dropped some seeds (I was careful to harvest pods before they burst open, but I still missed a few). I've got lots of milkweed volunteers coming up all over the place. So far, I haven't got a tomato volunteer yet. And on the subject of Santa grape tomatoes - if they still have them at our grocery store, I may have to try saving some seeds and growing them out sometime. Sounds interesting.
...See More
sebiv8
Original Author
last year
@robert567 I'm in the middle of the UK. Not had the first frost yet I don't think? Maybe start afresh next year
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
Right, if you're in the UK, potatoes will not grow any more this year nor crop in the winter. Sometimes the odd spud survives the winter in the ground and sprouts again the following year. But it's not a dependable way to get potatoes. If you want to grow them you'll need to start again with next year, preferably with certified seed potatoes.
robert567
last year
You can dig up the potato plants and see if there are any potatoes worth eating anytime.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
last modified: last year
OP says there are small potatoes. We’re likely to get a frost tonight, or at least very soon. The potatoes will not develop any further.

eta no frost, after all. It clouded over and rained instead.
Donald V Zone 6 north Ohio
last year
I have had potatoes growing in the ground a little after top was dead, but it is better to harvest before or within a couple days of a frost.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
OP describes the potatoes as ”tiny.” I doubt they’re worth harvesting and they won’t get any bigger.
robert567
last year
Whether worth bothering to eat or not, if you want the potatoes out of the flower beds, you should remove them now before the plants wither.

Related Stories

Wake Up Your Garden With Lime-Colored Plants

A sprinkle of bright lime foliage can invigorate darker green garden areas and enliven shady spots all around your landscape

GARDENING GUIDES Window Box Planting Ideas for 4 Seasons of Interest

By Lauren Dunec Hoang

Dress up your home’s windows with flowers, foliage and more for year-round curb appeal

FALL GARDENING 7 Reasons Not to Clean Up Your Fall Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Before you pluck and rake, consider wildlife, the health of your plants and your own right to relax

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: Brooklynites Take Up a Rural 1940s Farmhouse

By Rikki Snyder

A city-dwelling family plants new roots in upstate New York, remodeling their digs with cheerful, colorful touches

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Charm Up Your House With Windowboxes

By Becky Harris

Plant Some Living Color Right Outside Your Window

GARDENING GUIDES The Secret Formula for Grouping Plants in a Pot

By Margie Grace - Grace Design Associates

Designing a gorgeous container garden is easy once you know this simple rule of thumb for composition

GARDENING GUIDES What to Know About Starting Your First Native Plant Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Fall is an ideal time to plant a sustainable garden that supports wildlife and looks good too

LIFE Consider Avoiding These Plants to Help Keep Your Garden Fire-Safe

By Lauren Dunec Hoang

Plants that accumulate dead material, are high in oil or have low moisture content in leaves put some homes at risk

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Plants That Beat Butterfly Bush for the Wildlife Draw

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

It's invasive, a nonnative and a poor insect magnet. Check out these better alternatives to butterfly bush in the garden

HEALTHY HOME 12 Ways to Set Up Your Kitchen for Healthy Eating

By Becky Harris

Making smart food choices is easier when your kitchen is part of your support team

Sponsored

Peabody Landscape Group

8 Reviews

Franklin County's Reliable Landscape Design & Contracting

More Discussions

Veggie Tales - April 2024

55

Potato mold, disease or fungus?

15

Guess what caused this leaf damage?

8

3

More bite marks

1