Potatoes growing but no shoots/foilage!!!

[slsmithy]

Hi there,
I'm new to the forum and i'm looking for some advice about my potatoes. I planted them in pots on my patio in mid Sept, they still have no foilage growing on them but when i dug down and checked them there are loads of little potates growing! My mum had planted some the same time and half of hers have got leaves growing and half havent, but they all have little potatoes growing in the soil too.

Is it normal to have potatoes growing without any foilage???
thanks Sarah

[Two_Sheds]

Potatoes are tender. You can't grow them outside when it's cold.

The tubers in the ground will sit there until spring unless the slugs get them, but you won't get any leaves growing unless they are kept a bit warmer. In a greenhouse, for example.

[Flummery]

If you want Christmas potatoes you really need to get them in in August. When the frosts come (like now, for example!) it's best to move them to a greenhouse or even a shed. They won't grow much more outside.

[slsmithy]

Oh dear looks like i'm too late then?
So what are all the little potatoes growing - can we eat them???
I do have a garage, but there are no windows can i put them in there, would that do anything, would they still grow in there?
sarah

[Flummery]

I'd do what Two Sheds suggests - leave them till spring. They should be ok in the garage - they won't need light till they start to grow - probably March/April. Keep checking and if you can, wrap the pots in bubble wrap. I think they'll be too small to be worth eating now. I plant in Feb in my un-heated greenhouse and bubble-wrap the pots - I get loads of foliage in April and May and I eat them from mid-May.

[Two_Sheds]

I always miss a few spuds when I'm digging them up in the summer ... these stay in the ground (foliage dies off) and surprise me with an early crop the next spring. We don't get much in the way of frost here, and the soil is very free draining.