When To Harvest Potato Plants: What I've Learned Before Digging Mine Up

My potato plants are currently taking over part of the garden.

They started as a handful of seed potatoes pushed into the soil a few months ago. Now I've got great big leafy plants and absolutely no idea what's happening underneath them.

Well, that's not entirely true.

I've spent far too much time reading gardening forums, watching YouTube videos and searching Google trying to work out one thing:

When do you actually harvest potato plants?

The annoying part is that potatoes don't give you many clues.

You can see when a courgette is ready.

You can see when onions are getting bigger.

You can pull a carrot and have a look.

So before I start digging mine up and potentially ruin months of growing, I thought I'd pull together everything I've learned about when to harvest potato plants.

The First Thing I Learned

Apparently there's no single harvest date.

Which wasn't the answer I wanted.

A lot depends on whether you're growing first earlies, second earlies or maincrop potatoes.

Some people are lifting potatoes in June.

Others are leaving them in the ground until September.

Helpful.

The Leaves Matter More Than The Calendar

The advice that kept coming up again and again was to watch the plant rather than the date on the packet.

Healthy green plants are usually still growing.

Yellowing plants are starting to slow down.

Once the foliage begins dying back, that's when things start getting interesting.

Several experienced growers said the biggest mistake beginners make is digging too early because they're curious.

I can definitely see myself doing that.

What About Potato Flowers?

This confused me.

Some gardeners harvest shortly after flowering.

Others completely ignore the flowers.

After a bit more digging, the answer seems to be that flowering can be a useful clue if you're growing new potatoes.

Flowers often mean potatoes are developing underground and can be checked.

That doesn't necessarily mean they're at full size yet.

Just that they're there.

Which is probably enough to tempt me to have a little look.

The Advice That Surprised Me Most

When the foliage dies back, many gardeners don't harvest immediately.

They wait.

Sometimes another two weeks.

Sometimes longer.

The idea is that the potato skins continue toughening underground.

That means better storage later and less chance of damaging them when lifting.

I hadn't heard that before.

So When Am I Planning To Harvest Mine?

At the moment, I'm waiting.

The plants are still looking healthy and green.

As tempting as it is to start digging around underneath them, everything I've read suggests they'll keep growing while the foliage is healthy.

And if there's one thing every gardener seems to agree on, it's that patience usually gets rewarded.

Which means I'll keep watering them, keep checking them and try very hard not to start digging before they're ready.

We'll see how long my patience lasts.