Potato Mine

The Potato Mine is a single-use explosive plant. While it's one of the cheaper plants, it takes approximately 15 seconds (about the time it takes a regular zombie or any other slow zombie to walk three spaces, or half the time it takes to recharge and use it again) to arm themselves before surfacing from the ground. After that, it will detonate the first time a zombie enters their square. It may kill several zombies, if they are perfectly stacked. It takes two Potato Mines to kill a Gargantuar like any other instant kill. It is unlocked after beating level 1-5.

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 on the lane

Usage: single use, delayed activation

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

Cost: 25

Recharge: slow

Strategies
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. Always put them at least three squares in front of a zombie or more. This is enough for a zombie that travels at the same speed as the normal zombie. Plant it farther back for faster zombie types, (Football Zombie, Flag Zombie and Ladder Zombie, to name a few) or just to be safe.



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, Football 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 Vaulting Zombie jump early, in addition to catching later zombies. You can also plant a Potato Mine in front of a grave so that when the zombie comes up the Potato Mine kills it. This is a good strategy in Whack a Zombie.

Note: If they are planted inside Pumpkin, some zombies can trigger them without eating the Pumpkin, because their hitboxes are larger than normal (example: If a Football Zombie approaches a Potato Mine when it is armed and is inside a Pumpkin, it can trigger it, without even eating the Pumpkin).

Note: Potato Mines can't be planted on Lily Pads, but can be planted on the ground or a Flower Pot, as seen in the Zen Garden. 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 is not ready yet, the Digger Zombie will eat the Potato Mine while it is still underground. In levels with Digger Zombies, plant Potato Mines in the back-most column to take them out without hassle.

Surprisingly, Potato Mines actually can be used against Gargantuars, except it takes two Potato Mines to kill a Gargantuar, or any two instant kills to kill it. 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. But if they are planted in Flower Pots they can be hit by peas, even if they are armed or not.

An effective strategy in early Survival levels, or in the Day levels, could be to use Potato Mines to save sun. Saving the sun spent by Peashooters allows you to invest sun in Sunflowers or other plants. It is best to plant them on the furthest column to maximize the time for the zombie to reach the mine. This is more effective with a rake. Eventually, there will simply be too many Zombies to handle for just the Potato Mines, however, given their slow recharge. However you can use Squash or Imitater Potato Mine when Potato Mine is not available.

Achievements
The Potato Mine is the source for the SPUDOW! achievement, and is earned by killing a zombie with a Potato Mine. A zombie stepping on a Potato Mine in I, Zombie will also count.

Trivia

 * The Potato Mine is one of the three plants which change shape without interaction with zombies. The other two are the Sun-shroom and the Imitater.
 * In the DS version, the Imitater Potato Mine will bleep, but very faint and white.
 * Potato Mines can only be taken by Bungee Zombies while unarmed, as a Bungee Zombie will die in the explosion if it encounters an armed Potato Mine. A glitch in DS I, Zombie levels shows you can steal an armed Potato Mine and it only shows half of his body.
 * It is actually possible to steal a Potato Mine arming at the instant Bungee Zombies stealing plants, but it is extremely difficult.
 * On the Console version's loading screen, the Potato Mine's red light will flash when the game is done loading.
 * In the Online Version, instead of getting a Potato Mine on level 1-5, they get a Squash.
 * Probably because the player gets to play Vasebreaker in the Online Version, and Squashes are used more than Potato Mines in Vasebreaker.
 * When the Potato Mine explodes, the word "SPUDOW!!", a portmanteau of spud and "pow!", will appear along with some french fries and mashed potato explosion.
 * The Potato Mine's red light will flash faster as the zombie gets nearer, like a sensor.
 * The Zen Garden Potato Mine will not have a flashing red light normally, but if held by a Gardening Glove or inside a Wheel Barrow, the red light will be permanently on. The red light will also be on when you're about to plant a Potato Mine but hasn't planted it yet. (Only applies for the PC version). Another time the Potato Mine will have the red light permanently on is when the Potato Mine is flattened.
 * George Fan stated that Potato Mine was a spoof of Swiss Family Robinson, where the family sets traps for the enemies.
 * The Potato Mine is the only plant that can be eaten from underground by a Digger Zombie, but only when unarmed.
 * An Imitater Potato Mine, even though it is gray, will have its color restored to the original upon explosion.
 * It is strange how it arms itself, as when it is armed, all it does is come out of the ground a little.
 * The Potato Mine is the only plant that doesn't show it's whole body.
 * The Potato Mine (when unarmed) is one of the three explosives that can be eaten by zombies, the other two being the Ice-shroom and the Doom-shroom.
 * A Potato Mine is more effective than the Garden Rake in three ways:PotatoMineSeed.png
 * When a Garden Rake is used, the second zombie almost immediately comes out after the Rake is activated. If a Potato Mine is used and planted in one of the three left-most columns, it will allow more time to plant Sunflowers/Sun-shrooms, as the second zombie will appear after the first zombie reaches the fourth column from the left.
 * A Garden Rake costs money to use, but the Potato Mine is free and will be recharged about the same time the first zombie appears.
 * In Survival Mode, the Garden Rake will only be used once: before the first wave. This includes if you buy it right before starting the first wave. A Potato Mine has unlimited uses during the course of a level, even though it must recharge each time.


 * Since about half of an armed Potato Mine is still underground, it is odd it doesn't destroy the Flower Pot it's in if used on a roof level.
 * This may be due to the fact that since it doesn't destroy the square it's in when planted in the ground, it wouldn't make sense for it to destroy a Flower Pot.
 * In the DS version, right when a zombie reaches the Potato Mine, the zombie's eating animation's frame is shown right before the Potato Mine explodes.
 * In I, Zombie, the cardboard Potato Mine does not flash it's red light.
 * If a Potato Mine arms itself when a Zombie is eating it, sometimes, the Potato Mine may get eaten instead of the Zombie getting blown up.
 * Potato Mine is the only explosive instant kill plant that doesn't burn zombies into ashes.
 * The Potato Mine in Plants vs. Zombies has two teeth, but in Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time, it has one tooth only.