Thank you. I was under the impression that I could plant slightly later in April because the potatoes wouldn't be ready to be harvested until the fall anyways. How long does it take for Kennebecs to be ready for harvest? I thought you waited until fall for the plant tops to die off/brown, then harvest two weeks after this. Is that thinking not correct?

Thanks again for your help!

You are correct up until harvest date. We use to grow Kennebecs in Central Virginia (7a) when I was a kid. Planted around St. Patrick's Day and harvested around the 4th of July. Here in Middle Georgia(8a) I plant early February , harvest in June. Southeastern Virginia ( Tidewater) should in between (7b)

Here in Missouri I planted Kennebec on March 16 and harvested June 30. They could have gone a week or 2 longer because the skins were not quite fully cured yet and there was still a little life left in the plants but the soil was dry and I was getting ready to leave town for a week. Probably a good thing I went ahead because we got a deluge the day before I returned and I still wouldn't have been able to harvest yet.

Kennebec is listed as a mid season potato which means they should take roughly 110 days from sowing the seed tubers to harvest. Based on your late planting date that would put harvest around the end of July. Potatoes grow and produce best in the cooler soils of spring so it's best to get them in early. 30 days prior to your average last frost date is commonly recommended.

I certainly wouldn't wait until fall to harvest as you risk rotting and pest damage to the tubers. They will also eventually start to sprout again.

Thank you both so much. Do you think it's possible that the plants are reaching their end and thus beginning to die off? Or would you think this is still a disease issue. I'm planning on trying to harvest these at the end of July after hearing your comments. Thanks again for all of your help! This site is a great resource

It is possible. Terminal die off usually starts with yellowing of the leaves and is pretty fast. Planted in April, your kennebecs should be reaching that time in their life.

Thanks again. I'm going to cut back watering and plan on harvesting at the end of July. Fingers crossed for a successful harvest.

I'd like to plant another round of potatoes or sweet potatoes in another raised bed of mine that I previously used for beets. Living in Southeastern VA, zone 8a, when would be the ideal time to plant these for a late fall/early winter harvest?

Hoping to use some of the Kennebec potatoes to re-seed and maybe purchase some other seed potato starts online. Do you have any that you would recommend for my area?

IMO it's a little too late for sweet potatoes now. Early to mid June is probably about the right time for planting sweets to give them the 100+ warm days they need to grow to maturity.

I've grown fall potatoes once and they didn't do very well for me and weren't worth the effort. Using your own seed potatoes from a spring planting doesn't work well because they need at least 6 weeks to break dormancy before they will sprout. That would be far too late to get a crop before frost. If you can find seed tubers online now I would order them ASAP and get them planted. As I stated earlier, potatoes prefer to grow in the cooler soil of spring. I'd mulch them well to try to keep the soil as cool as possible and also keep them moist.

ETA - I would go with an early fast growing variety like Yukon Gold which mature in about 90 days.