So I know you can essentially grow potatoes in any hardiness zone because they can be planted and harvested in a very short period of time. But in what hardiness zone can the tubers survive underground in the winter and then resprout the following Spring? I can’t seem to find this information online.
They definitely survive our zone 6 winters and sprout back in the spring. I don’t know if it’s 100% that survive, but it’s a lot.
As far as surviving the winter, rot is probably as big a factor as cold.
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We have some coming out of the compost and blossoms are dropping. We’re in Zone 4b-5a (pick your sources.)
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I almost always have a few sprout where last years’ potatoes were.
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if you planted before hard frost and mulched well with straw, id bet most would grow back in spring. even here we get alot of small potatoes left in the fields unmulched
that start to grow again in early june. z4a.
I grew Superior potatoes one year. I am partial to Superior as I used them in a research plot years ago while in college. I thought I dug them all up only to have a plant come up the following year. It bore a nice crop of spuds. I took the smallest and put it back in the ground. The following year another plant plant! This went on for 3 years before I got nothing. I am in southern WI and despite that potato freezing in the ground it survived.
This spring in my onion patch an onion came up that I missed picking last year. From an onion set that never really got big. So far no seed setting on it and it is growing nicely. It too survived being froze all winter.
Plants amaze me as to how tough they can be.
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