A cool-season crop with one tight second window
Prefer spring unless the late crop clearly fits
UGA describes Irish potatoes as a crop most often planted in early spring. The August chart window is real, but it leaves much less room for sourcing, sprouting and weather delays.
Main crop
January 15 – March 1
Middle Georgia chart window and the simpler home-garden choice.Late crop
August 1 – August 15
Middle Georgia chart window; verify seed-tuber availability and remaining season before committing.Do not copy an August date northward
The regional shift can erase a narrow window
The UGA calendar moves North Georgia fall work earlier and South Georgia fall work later, but it does not publish exact county potato dates.
North Georgia
Spring generally starts 1–3 weeks later; fall closes about 2 weeks earlier.
Because the Middle Georgia late window lasts only 15 days, get a local answer before adapting it.Middle Georgia
January 15–March 1 or August 1–15.
Use the August option only when certified seed tubers and a suitable site are ready.South Georgia
Spring can start 2–3 weeks earlier and fall can run about 2 weeks later.
Keep the shift relative; UGA does not give one exact South Georgia potato date here.The planting material matters first
Check the tuber and the bed before the date
A correct date cannot compensate for suppressed grocery potatoes or a wet, compacted bed.
- The tubers are certified seed stock rather than potatoes from a grocery store.
- Each cut seed piece has at least two eyes and no dark internal ring or discoloration.
- Cut surfaces have dried and healed for one day before planting.
- The bed is loose and well drained; a raised bed is preferable where soil stays wet or compacted.
Prepare the seed potato
Cut, heal, plant eyes up, then hill
Buy certified tubers
Choose thin-skinned Irish potato types suited to Georgia instead of thick russet grocery potatoes.
Cut pieces with two eyes
Expose as little cut surface as practical and discard pieces with internal discoloration.
Let pieces heal for one day
If planting is delayed, UGA allows short storage at 55–60°F.
Plant 4–5 inches deep, eyes up
Begin pulling soil around the sprouts once they reach about 6 inches high.
Two windows, unequal confidence
The August crop needs more checks than the spring crop
The chart supports both periods, while the crop guide describes early spring as Georgia’s usual home-garden timing.
Before the spring window
Prepare the bed and seed stock
Do not plant into wet soil merely to gain calendar time.Spring window
The normal Georgia path
Plant certified seed pieces after the bed, cut surfaces and drainage pass.August 1–15
A supported but narrow option
Use it only with ready seed stock and enough local season for the chosen cultivar.After August 15
Get a local exception or wait
The general regional shift is not evidence for extending the crop everywhere.Crop boundary
Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes use different planting material
This page is for Irish potatoes planted from seed tubers. Sweet potatoes are warm-season plants started from slips and have their own schedule.