Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 45 ecoregions — 45 climate-resilient through 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

12"

Habit

Bushy upright cool-season annual grown for underground tubers

Care tips

•

Plant seed potatoes 2-3 weeks before the last frost in full sun and fertile, well-drained sandy soil; acidic soil reduces scab.

•

Hill 6-8 inches of soil or straw over the base once plants reach about 12 inches — this keeps tubers covered so they do not green and develop toxic solanine.

•

Watch for Colorado potato beetles and flea beetles, and choose disease-resistant cultivars to limit fungal, bacterial, and viral losses.

Lifecycle

Planting

A cool-season crop grown as an annual. Plant cut "seed potatoes" 2-3 inches deep, 12 inches apart, in rows 2.5-3 feet apart, about 2-3 weeks before the last average spring frost. Potatoes need space and full sun with fertile, well-drained sandy soil; the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes acidic soil is best and reduces the likelihood of scab.

Transplanting

Not transplanted in the usual sense — the crop is started directly from seed-potato pieces planted in place rather than from started transplants.

Early growth

Keep moisture medium and even. When plants are about 12 inches tall, hill a 6-8 inch high mound of straw, soil, or compost over the base. Per the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder, hilling keeps developing tubers from sunlight exposure, which would turn them green and develop the mildly toxic compound solanine.

Maturity

Tubers swell underground on stolons through the season; the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes 2 pounds of seed potatoes can yield about 50 pounds of potatoes. Harvest as the foliage yellows and dies back. Over 100 varieties exist in a wide range of skin and flesh colors and sizes.

Propagation

Propagated vegetatively from "seed potatoes" — whole small tubers or cut pieces each bearing at least one eye — not from true botanical seed in garden practice.

Pollination

Self-fertile

Potato flowers are self-fertile, but pollination is essentially irrelevant to the garden crop: potatoes are grown for their underground tubers and propagated vegetatively from seed potatoes, not from the true botanical seed that flowers produce. Many cultivars flower only sparsely or drop their flowers, and the small green fruits that may follow are toxic and not harvested. The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describes the flowers as "not showy."

For people

Edible with preparation

The tuber is one of the world’s most important food staples, but only the tuber is edible and it should be cooked. The leaves, stems, flowers, and green fruits contain the toxic glycoalkaloid solanine and are not eaten. Per the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder, tubers exposed to sunlight turn green and develop solanine — green skin or sprouted "eyes" should be cut away or the tuber discarded. Hilling soil over the base during growth prevents this greening.

Edible parts

tuber

Toxic parts

leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, green or sprouted tubers

Native range

AHS heat range

1-6

Climate notes

•

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Solanum tuberosum for USDA zones 2 to 11 in full sun with medium water, grown as an annual vegetable; flowers are not showy and the plant reaches 1.0-1.5 feet tall and wide.

•

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describes potato as a cool-season vegetable that requires fertile, well-drained sandy soil (acidic soil is best and reduces scab); the broad USDA-zone span reflects annual culture timed to a cool growing window rather than year-round hardiness in any one zone.

•

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists rabbit tolerance, and flags Colorado potato beetles, flea beetles, wireworms, and leafhoppers as pests that can substantially reduce yields, plus multiple fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases — disease-resistant cultivars are recommended.

In the designer

Growth over time

5-7" tall · 5-7" spread

Sprouts emerge from seed pieces; vegetative growth begins.

Design roles: Edible

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Potato

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations