I planted potatoes for the first time this year. I didn't really plan to, I actually had a bag of spuds sprouting in the basement that I had forgotten about. The shoots from the eyes were all white because they had no light, but they were still a few inches high. Luckily it was spring time, and I cut up the potatoes and planted them. A little too close together though, as I am finding out since the plants look too crowded i thnk.

Anyway, I had no idea as to when the actual potato would be ready to harvest and dig up. Well, this is what I found.

There is a misconception that the potato is ready after the plant flowers. This is not true.

There are two stages of potatoes, "new" potatoes which are harvested while the tops are still green and growing actively and potatoes which
are harvested when the whole top turns brown and dies off - this is the main crop.

The harvest of new potatos is 3-4 weeks after flowering, when the lower leaves have started turning yellow. To harvest "new" potatoes and still leave the tops to grow on and give you the later main crop, you can just wiggle your hand down into the soil and feel around for any spuds which are big enough to eat - this is called bandicooting (after an Australian animal). This is not the main harvest, just a small harvest of some of the larger potatos.

The main crop of potatos is harvested when the leaves and stalks have turned brown, withered, and died. If you are in a wet climate it would be wise to harvest your crop before the plants die down, to make sure the spuds don't have a chance to rot in the damp ground.

So, basically, that is when potatos are ready. Hopefully it should save you some needless digging to check up on them.