If the plants are growing so well, I can't think that the potatoes wouldn't be OK to eat.

i've had peels sprout in compost and what I've discovered is some verities don't produce well in Texas. Instead of Russets we ordinarily use I buy small red ones in late Winter and cultivate peels for new potatoes. What I mean by cultivate is placing peels in half barrels with 6-8" compost then hill with unfinished compost as vines grow. These barrels receive more attention to moisture than other bins/piles. Compost is later used for plants other than tomatoes which might be infected by something from potatoes. I would compare growing potatoes in Tx to okra in Northern states.

Thanks All, so far so good, once the plants die back I'll return to let yawl know how the harvest went. I did water them today with some soluble fert just in case they needed a boost.

Yes, every year I have "volunteers" from the small potatoes I missed when I dug them the last year. IF they are not somewhere inconvenient I let them grow and harvest them in the fall with the rest of my potatoes and they are always fine.

I do not buy seed potatoes, each year I dig potatoes and store them for the winter. The next spring I have the small ones that have sprouted and I plant them. They have been fine for the past decade or so.

Annie

Well this was a bust so live and learn. The potato tops were far past blooming and were on the wane so I dug out the potatoes yesterday. I would post a pic but there wouldn't be much to show other than a dozen marble - golf ball sized potatoes. But the compost pile which was never turned (~9 months old) was completely digested and resulted in pure granulated compost, perfect toppings for the upcoming planting of the fall garden.

I get volunteers in the compost pile but haven't the nerve trying to let them mature because of pathogens. I continuously add all organic slop to one end of the pile included culled potatoes so the end is to fresh to take the risk, but they sure grow amazingly good because the compost is so fresh.

I end up with a breeding area for potato bugs so I need to turn the fresh end to cover the vines. I work hard keeping potato bugs in check and don't need volunteer bugs on volunteer plants 500 feet from the house. On the other hand my neighbor 700 feet away loves potato bugs and seems to grow more of them then he does potatoes. Grrr......

I was looking forward to finding out, with the ones that were growing great in my compost pile......until the animals found them. :(