I stuck a bag full of tiny potatoes in the basement (damp, cool) last fall. When I retrieved them this spring, they were shrively and had sprouted foot-long white sprouts, but I planted them and they grew. Can't speak to whether I'll get a decent harvest, though. You may not want to take the chance on your potatoes - I had nothing to lose as my potatoes last year had a lot of wireworm and flea beetle larvae damage and weren't edible without a lot of peeling. So the tiny potatoes weren't feasible to peel and eat, and into the basement they went. ~emmers

I got 30 pounds of potatoes from 5 plants in my bin - that's 6 pounds per plant. However, I got almost exactly the same amount per plant from the same kind of potatoes (Bintje) done by regular hilling method nearby. The main difference was that the 5 plants in the bin could fit in the same amount of garden space as did the 3 plants in a regular hilled row. In other words, there were more potatoes produced per square foot in the bin than in the regular hilled row. The bin was almost 3 feet high but most of the potatoes were found in the bottom foot (but a small handful were more than 18 inches from the bottom. I'm not ready to give up on the method completely but will probably try a modified hilled method; i.e. only about 18 inches high. My guess is that will maximize the benefit without the work of filling the bin up to 3 feet. If anyone can recommend a better variety of late potatoes than Bintje, I would be grateful! Bob

I just harvest my 'taters, too. The first batch was phenomenal - harvested just a couple weeks earlier from my old boxes. My latest harvest - UGH. HORRIBLE> all sorts of damage. Split taters, worm damage and it was in my NEW box. The soil just hasn't had a chance to work out the kinks yet. I was severely disappointed and really worried about the sweet potatoes in the same box. So I went searching, and pulled up the most beautiful sweets i've ever seen. LOL. Go figure. I guess the regular potatoes didn't like the extra water and it stressed them inviting the bugs, and the sweets are just fine. SO glad, I'd rather have sweets! Any way- point is. A gardens like a box of chocolates. Ya never know what 'yer gonna get. ;-) Barbie~

Can potatoes be planted late (now?) and harvested in the fall? I have never grown them, but you have my mouth watering. My philosophy is When in doubt, plant. I think you could still get some potatoes going. Last year I planted my entire crop in the third week of June because of the wet spring and got a fair crop - enough to last through most of last winter. I wonder where you will find seed potatoes, though. I guess you could always try using store-bought food potatoes... You could always check out farmers markets for some fresh new eating potatoes this year and plan on planting a crop next year. :)