Potato Mine


 * For the primal version, see Primal Potato Mine.
 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, see Potato Mine (PvZ: GW).

Potato Mine is an explosive plant, and the third plant unlocked in both main Plants vs. Zombies games. After being planted, Potato Mine will take 15 seconds (about the time it takes a regular Zombie or any other slow zombie to walk three spaces) to arm itself before surfacing, during which it is vulnerable to attack. After that, it will explode in a 2x1 area when an enemy comes into contact with it, dealing 90 damage to all affected zombies and leaving behind a comic-esque "SPUDOW!" speech bubble.

Origins
Potato Mine is based on the real life potato, the starchy, tuberous root portion of the plant Solanum tuberosum. Its name is a combination of "potato" and "land mine," an explosive device concealed under or on the ground designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks. It was inspired by the film Swiss Family Robinson, as George Fan felt it was satisifying to watch a zombie step on the mine so as to be defeated and covered in mashed potatoes.

Potato Mine's word on the speech bubble when it explodes, "SPUDOW!!", is a portmanteau of "spud" and "pow." Its costume is a reference to its sneaky nature.

Plants vs. Zombies
Potato Mine is unlocked after the player beats Level 1-5. It takes 15 seconds to arm itself, and cannot be planted on a Lily Pad. Killing a zombie with a Potato Mine will net the player the SPUDOW! achievement.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Potato Mine is unlocked after the player beats Player's House - Day 3. The time it takes to arm itself is the same as in the first game. It cannot be planted on planks in Pirate Seas, or on Lily Pads on water in Big Wave Beach. The SPUDOW! achievement also makes a return.

Plants vs. Zombies
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

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sun cost: 25

DAMAGE: Massive AREA: Tile RECHARGE: Sluggish

Potato Mines explode on contact, but they take time to arm. Plant them ahead of zombies.

Usage: single use, delayed activation Range: contact

Believe it or not, SPUDOW! did not happen overnight. Having been forced to try out new catchphrases and focus testing as many variations as possible (Tubular? Really?), Potato Mine weeded out the competition to stick with what he knows best.

Chinese version
植物特征：褐色植物、武器家族、矮个子

土豆地雷是个兢兢业业工作的好同志，在热火朝天的工作气氛他很享受. 什么？他只是个小个子？你没见过他的身体吧？想见么？

In English:

Plant feature: brown plant, weapon family, short

Potato Mine is a good, hardworking comrade, he enjoys the hot working atmosphere. I'm sorry? He's just a little guy? You have not seen his body, right? Want to see it?

Plant Food effect
When given Plant Food, Potato Mine will instantly arm itself if not done already, and launches two more armed Potato Mines into available tiles.

Costumed
When costumed and fed with Plant Food, Potato Mine will launch three additional Potato Mines instead of two.

Level upgrades
Note: Potato Mine cannot be upgraded to level 4.

In Adventure Mode
Attacks target once every 3 turns.

Strategies
Because of its low cost and early availability, Potato Mine can be effective in the early part of the level for neutralizing the first few zombies, especially if the enemies in question are Conehead or Buckethead Zombies, who will pose serious difficulty against more conventional offensive plants. However, its arming period greatly hampers its usefulness in the long run, as the massive amount of threats will give Potato Mine little time to arm itself.

Potato Mine should be planted at least three squares or more in front of zombies with Basic speed in order to explode right when the threat approaches it. Defensive plant such as Wall-nut, Tall-nut, or Pumpkin can buy Potato Mine additional time for arming, as well as gather more zombies to increase Potato Mine's efficiency.

Plants vs. Zombies
Potato Mine can also be planted behind Wall-nuts or Pumpkins to catch any Pole Vaulting Zombies that try to vault through. Similarly, they can be planted to make a Pole Vaulting Zombie jump early, in addition to catching later zombies. An armed Potato Mine can also catch a subsurface Digger Zombie and instantly kill it, preventing it from rising up and attack other plants.

Potato Mines can also be used against Gargantuars, but it should be remembered that two Potato Mines will be required to kill one since it can absorb up to 150 damage. Potato Mine is highly effective against the Zombie Bobsled Teams, capable of killing the bobsled along with all four zombies if armed and planted right next to the ice.

If Potato Mine is planted inside a Pumpkin, only a few zombies with unusually large hitboxes can trigger it without eating the Pumpkin first, such as Football Zombie. Therefore, it is generally a bad idea to put Potato Mine inside a Pumpkin.

In ZomBotany and ZomBotany 2, Potato Mines cannot 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.

Achievements
The Potato Mine is the source for the SPUDOW! achievement, and is earned by killing a zombie with a Potato Mine. This achievement appears in both Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2. In Plants vs. Zombies, a zombie stepping on a Potato Mine in I, Zombie will also count. This will likely be one of the first achievements the player earns if not the first.

General

 * Potato Mine in Plants vs. Zombies has two teeth, but in Plants vs. Zombies 2, it only has a single tooth.
 * Potato Mine, Primal Potato Mine, Imitater, Sweet Potato, and Hot Potato are all based on potatoes.
 * Potato Mine's appearance resembles a mole, as they both are found underground, and both have visible front teeth sticking out.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * In the Nintendo DS version, Imitater Potato Mine's light will blink.
 * 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 I, Zombie levels in the Nintendo DS version of the game shows that one can steal an armed Potato Mine and it only shows half of his body.
 * In the online version of the game, instead of getting the Potato Mine on Level 1-5, the player gets Squash.
 * 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 the player is about to plant a Potato Mine but has not planted it yet. This only applies in the PC version of the game.
 * George Fan stated that Potato Mine was a spoof of Swiss Family Robinson, in which the family sets traps for the enemies.
 * Potato Mine is the only plant that can be eaten from underground by a Digger Zombie, but only when unarmed.
 * In the Nintendo DS version of the game, right when a zombie reaches the Potato Mine, the zombie's eating animation's frame is shown right before the Potato Mine explodes.
 * If an unarmed Potato Mine is squashed, an image of a squashed armed Potato Mine instead of a flattened version of an antenna will be shown.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * In Last Stand and Save Our Seeds levels, Potato Mine will not arm until the player triggers the onslaught. The arm timer still counts however, so any Potato Mine that was planted more than 15 seconds before starting the level will be immediately armed afterwards.
 * Potato Mine's mask costume looks like the one similar to Leonardo's from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 * In Potato Mine's almanac entry, one catchphrase was "tubular," also referencing TMNT.
 * If not armed, Explorer Zombie and Mecha-Football Zombie will walk past the Potato Mine.
 * Potato Mine is the only plant obtained in the Player's House that does not have costumes depending on the season.
 * It is also the only Player's House plant that has a normal costume, as well as a store-brought one.
 * There are four ways a Potato Mine can activate other than a zombie directly making contact with it:
 * Using Plant Food on a Spikerock or Spikeweed will push all zombies to it and will make any armed Potato Mine they pass detonate.
 * Using Plant Food on an Infi-nut will make a shield, but armed Potato Mines behind it will still explode when a zombie starts eating the shield, even though it's not near enough to activate it.
 * Using Blover to blow away thrown Imps and Prospector Zombies will activate any Potato Mines they pass while being blown from the lawn. This occurs with other instants as well, like Iceberg Lettuce and Squash.
 * Using Plant Food on a Chomper will activate Potato Mines as zombies fly past them.
 * Unarmed Potato Mines can dodge projectiles fired back from Jester Zombies, but armed Potato Mines will take damage.
 * If the player feeds Plant Food on it and the spawned ones landed on Dave's mold colonies, they will not lose the level, similar with Chili Bean. This is to prevent unfair defeats due to the random number generator placing a plant into forbidden tiles.
 * From the 3.3 update to the 3.5 update, it had the ability to blast tombstones, surfboards and ice blocks in a 3x3 radius around it when exploding. Although, this does not apply to zombies.
 * Hovewer, in the Chinese version it still exists.
 * In the 4.2 update, Potato Mine regained this ability to blash tombstones, surfboards and ice blocks in a 3x3 radius. This was removed again in the 4.3.1 update.
 * This glitch could inspire the Primal Potato Mine, which blasts anything in a 3x3 radius.
 * In the Chinese version, Potato Mine is one of the plants which does not have Level 4 Upgrade, the others being Spikeweed, Spikerock, Cherry Bomb, Jalapeno, Iceberg Lettuce and Loquat.
 * Potato Mine, Cactus, and Celery Stalker are the only plants that cannot be planted directly on Lily Pads in Big Wave Beach.
 * These plants can technically be planted on Lily Pads if planted on wet sand first and then Lily Pads afterwards.
 * Regardless of what stage it was in when defeated, Intensive Carrot will always revive the Potato Mine to its on-planting stage. The same thing happens to Pea Pod, Sun-shroom, and Strawburst.
 * If an Excavator Zombie shovels up an unactivated Potato Mine, when it lands behind the Excavator it will be armed. This could possibly be used against zombies behind the Excavator. This also applies to Primal Potato Mine.
 * This is most likely because they won't go back underground after being picked up.