When to Plant Potatoes
Potatoes are a half-hardy cool-season vegetable. They take light frosts but not a hard freeze.
Plant them out in the 3 weeks before the last spring frost. The first harvest comes about 90 to 120 days after planting.
Example dates
The same rules in dates for three climates, using typical frost dates. Enter your ZIP code above for the dates where you live.
| Task | Last frost Mar 15first Nov 15 | Last frost Apr 15first Oct 25 | Last frost May 15first Sep 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | Feb 22 – Mar 15 | Mar 25 – Apr 15 | Apr 24 – May 15 |
| Harvest | May 23 – Jun 20 | Jun 23 – Jul 21 | Jul 23 – Aug 20 |
Growing potatoes
Plant seed pieces cut side down and hill soil over the stems as they grow so tubers stay covered.
- Spacing: 12 in apart, in rows 30 in apart. In a raised bed, 1 per sq ft at square-foot spacing.
- Days to harvest: 90 to 120 from planting, then about 4 weeks of picking.
- Rotation: potatoes are in the tomato family. Plant them where nothing from that family grew in the last two years. See crop rotation.
- Traditional companions: broccoli, brussels sprouts, bush bean, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, marigold, mint, oregano, parsley, pole bean, sweet corn. See companion plants for potatoes.
- Usually kept apart from: cherry tomato, cucumber, pea (shelling/snap/snow), pumpkin, summer squash (zucchini/yellow), sunflower, tomato, turnip, winter squash.
Plan your beds with these dates
Draw your beds, tap squares to plant potatoes and everything else, and get every crop's dates for your ZIP code in one calendar. Free, in your browser.
Open the garden plannerQuestions
Can potatoes go in before the last frost?
Yes. Potatoes are half-hardy: plant them out in the 3 weeks before the last spring frost.
How long do potatoes take to grow?
About 90 to 120 days from planting to the first harvest, which then lasts about 4 weeks. Varieties differ: check the seed packet.
More planting dates
Sources
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (annual/seasonal, by station: freeze dates at 32 °F)
- Colorado State University Extension: Vegetable Planting Guide (CMG GardenNotes #720)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech: Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant (426-331 / SPES-673P, 2025)
- University of Maryland Extension: Vegetable Planting Calendar for central Maryland
- UNH Cooperative Extension: Growing Vegetables: When to Plant your Vegetable Garden (2016)
- NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter 16: Vegetable Gardening
- WSU Extension: Pacific Northwest Gardener's Handbook, Chapter 7: Vegetable Gardening
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach: Vegetable Planting and Harvesting Times (chart, central Iowa)
- Iowa State: Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden
- Utah State University Extension: Suggested Vegetable Planting Dates for Utah
- UC Master Gardener Program, UC ANR: Companion Planting Chart: Companion Planting for Edible Crops
- University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension, Kenosha County: Companion Plants for the Vegetable Garden (column, 2012)
- Oregon State University Extension Service: Herbs and Flowers in the Vegetable Garden
- Utah State University Extension, Utah 4-H: Creating Sustainable School and Home Gardens: Companion Planting (2025)
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County: The Art of Companion Planting (Master Gardener presentation, 2023)