Home / Guides / Harvest, Storage & Post-Harvest Timing
Harvest, Storage & Post-Harvest TimingPotato Harvest and Storage Calendar
Potatoes keep well when the skins are set, the tubers are handled gently and the storage space is cool, dark and not dry. Timing begins with the vines.
Key points
- Let vines die back and test skin set before digging potatoes for storage.
- Handle gently, keep tubers out of light, and cure before storing.
- Store dark, cool, ventilated and humid enough to avoid shriveling.
- Check regularly and keep potatoes away from apples.
- Record varieties and storage results so next year's plan improves.
When are potatoes ready to dig?
New potatoes can be taken early, once plants flower and tubers reach a useful size, but potatoes meant for storage should be left until the vines have died back. Dead vines mean the plant has stopped adding to the tubers, and the skins have begun to thicken and set.
Check skin set by rubbing a tuber with your thumb. If the skin slips off easily, it is not ready and will bruise and lose moisture in storage. Wait another week or so and test again, using your extension office's description of skin set for your type.
How does weather shape the calendar?
Do not count on a date. Planting time, variety maturity and weather all move the finish. Frost can kill vines early, and tubers in the ground may then need a short wait for skins to set. Heavy rain at harvest makes digging messy and can raise the risk of rot.
For example, if a frost kills your vines in the first part of fall where you farm, plan to dig after a short wait for skin set, on a dry day with workable soil. Check your area's typical dates with your state extension, and use your own frost record.
- Watch vines and skin set
- Choose a dry day with cool soil
- Keep harvest crews small and careful
- Have shaded space ready for curing
How do you dig and handle potatoes?
Dig with a fork or machine set to avoid cutting tubers, starting a little away from the row. Lift gently, let loose soil dry and fall away and avoid washing potatoes that you intend to store. Tubers that are cut, bruised or green should be set aside for early use.
Do not leave tubers in sun. Light turns skins green and can produce compounds that make potatoes bitter and unsafe to eat in quantity. Move them into shade or cover at once.
A worked example: if you dig a row on a damp morning, spread the tubers in a shaded spot and let the surface soil dry before you brush them off. Packing wet potatoes into crates is a quick way to start rot.
What does curing do?
Curing is a short rest in conditions that are cool and humid, out of the light, so that small wounds heal and skins toughen. Your extension guide describes the right temperature and time range for your type, so check it rather than guessing.
After curing, brush off soil, sort carefully and move good tubers to their storage place. Remove any that show rot or disease, as one bad tuber can start a problem.
What are the best storage conditions?
Aim for a dark, cool, well-ventilated and moderately humid space. Too warm and tubers sprout or shrivel. Too cold and starches convert to sugar, which affects flavor and cooking. Too dry and they wrinkle. Too wet and they rot.
Keep potatoes away from apples and other ripening fruit, since ethylene can affect them. Use crates or bins that let air circulate, and avoid piling potatoes high.
If you have only one space, put potatoes at the cool end and keep light off them with a cover or dark container. A thermometer in the space tells you whether it stays in the range your extension guide recommends.
How often should you check stored potatoes?
Look through stored potatoes every week or two. Pull out soft or sprouting tubers, and note any wet spots. Sprouts mean the space is too warm or that the potatoes are coming to the end of their dormancy.
Use the thin-skinned and damaged ones first and keep the best for late winter. If you are not sure whether a potato is safe, do not eat it. Ask your county extension office.
Check the stored tubers more often if the weather swings, since a warm spell can bring on sprouting. Remove sprouts you find, and use those potatoes soon.
What should you record?
Write down the date of harvest, the weather, the variety and what you saw in storage. Over a few seasons the notes show you which types keep best in your space, and when to plan to use them.
Save seed potatoes only from healthy plants, or buy certified seed. Ask your extension office about disease risk in your area.
Sources and further reading
Last reviewed: November 2026. Educational information, ranges only. Confirm timing with your county extension office.