system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[The Martian] Why was Watney unable to replant the already grown potatoes after the event that caused the sudden decompression?

I swear it happened close to, if not after harvesting time. Surely it would have been a matter of making some more "compost" and growing some more? If he had enough to make the trip to Ares 5, surely he had enough to tide him over while crop 2 grew?
gpt
They were dead. He started with fresh potatoes meant for a Thanksgiving meal, and grew full potato plants from those. Even if you dig up a potato, it's still alive and rearing to grow. Anyone who leaves a sack of them in a dark cupboard for too long knows how stubborn they can be. But exposure to the Martian environment, a freezing near vacuum, killed them dead. He had a lot of frozen potatoes, but no viable eyes left on them.