When to dig up potatoes- not from seed?

Question

I had some potatoes that developed a load of shoots, so I decided to bury them rather than bin them.

They grew into large plants quite quickly, but I have no idea when to dig them up again. What signs should I look out for?

I think they're probably Maris Pipers, but they could be King Edwards (it depends what I bought!)

Also, what happens if I don't dig them up at the right time? Will my harvest be ruined?

Answer 1

Wait for them to flower. After the purplish flowers die, you can start digging for baby potatoes. The longer you leave them alone after the flowers die, the bigger the potatoes get. If you leave them until fall and the leaves die, you will have the largest potatoes. Just dig before the ground completely freezes.

Answer 2

Your vines should get blooms on them. After this the vines start to decline and die off. Anytime the vines are starting to decline you can start digging your potatoes. As long as you are not going to have freezing weather you can just leave them in the ground. We usually just eat them all summer and fall by digging just what we need. Then before it freezes we pick a good warm day and dig all the potatoes. We leave them out all day to dry. Before the dew sets we pick them up in boxes and take them to a potato hole we have dug under our house. Years ago people kept them in cold sellers. They need to stay cold, but not freeze. If they get too warm they will sprout. I know of some people who did keep holes in their yards and keep pieces of plywood or something over it. We have had the best experience with digging a hold under the house. We keep a piece of plywood over it, to help keep the potatoes ground temperature. Either put them next to the dirt, or in pasteboard boxes, don't put them in or on plastic, they will rot.