Potato Mine

The Potato Mine is a single-use explosive plant. They're inexpensive, but take approximately 15 seconds (about the time it takes a regular zombie to walk three spaces) to arm themselves before surfacing from the ground. After that, they will detonate the first time a zombie enters their square. It may kill several zombies if they are stacked.

Suburban Almanac Entry
Potato Mine

Potato Mines pack a powerful punch, but they need a while to arm themselves. You should plant them ahead of zombies. They will explode on contact.

Damage: massive

Range: all zombies in a small area

Usage: single use, delayed activation

Some folks say Potato Mine is lazy, that he leaves everything to the last minute. Potato Mine says nothing. He's too busy thinking about his investment strategy.

Cost: 25

Recharge: slow

Strategy
Because of how cheap they are, they can be very effective early in levels. After that, the long arming delay makes them difficult to use, try putting them at least 3 squares before the zombie. This is enough for a zombie that travels at the same speed as the normal zombie.

Placing a Potato Mine behind a defensive plant (Wall-nut, Tall-nut, or Pumpkin) can maximize its effectiveness; when the zombies break the wall, assuming there are no faster zombies such as the Jack-in-the-Box Zombie and Flag Zombie, they will all be within the explosion range of the Potato mine when the first one reaches it. They can also be planted behind Wall-nuts or Pumpkins to catch any Pole Vaulting zombies that try to vault over them. Similarly, they can be planted to make a Pole Vaulter jump early, in addition to catching later zombies.


 * Note: If they are planted inside Pumpkins, some zombies can trigger them without eating the Pumpkin as they jump over the Pumpkin.

Potato Mines are also effective against Digger Zombies. When they try to dig under an active Potato Mine, it will explode. If the Potato Mine isn't ready yet, the Digger Zombie will eat the Potato Mine while it is still underground.

Surprisingly, Potato Mines actually can be used against Gargantuars, but you probably won't end up doing so. It is extremely effective against Zombie Bobsled Teams, killing the bobsled along with all four zombies if armed and planted next to the ice.

In ZomBotany and ZomBotany 2, Potato Mines can't be hit by peas, even when armed.


 * Note: Potato Mines can't be planted on Lily Pads, since there's no room "inside" or under the Lily Pad.

An effective strategy in early survival levels could be to use Potato Mines to save money, saving the money you could be spending on pea-shooters to instead invest into sunflowers or other plants. Eventually, there will be too much to handle for just the mines and eventually they may be worked out. However, during the begining slow waves they can prove to be useful, saving 75 sun instead of planting a pea-shooter early on.

Achievements
The Potato Mine is the source for the Spudow! achievement. Kill a zombie with a Potato Mine to receive the achievement.

Trivia

 * If an unarmed Potato Mine is smashed by a Gargantuar, Squash Zombie, Zomboni or Catapult Zombie, a flattened version with the red light steady of an armed Potato Mine appears instead.
 * Potato Mines can only be taken by Bungee Zombies while arming; as a Bungee Zombie will die in the explosion if it encounters an armed Potato Mine.
 * On the Xbox Live Arcade version's loading screen, the Potato Mine's red light will flash when the game is done loading.Potatoexplosion.PNG
 * The Potato Mine is the only plant that shows half of its body above ground.
 * In the Online Version, instead of getting a Potato Mine on level 1-5, you get a Squash.
 * In the Zen Garden, the Potato Mine is slightly too large for the Flower Pot.
 * When the potato mine explodes, The word "SPUDOW!! " will appear.
 * The word seems to shake heavily.