The modifying effects of applying the plant growth regulators (PGRs) benzylaminopurine (BAP), gibberellic acid (GA3) and BAP+GA3 on physiological age were studied. Two experiments with two cultivars, differing in rate of physiological ageing (medium-early Pampeana, medium-late Huinkul) and two storage systems were performed during 1988/89 and 1989/90 in two different potato areas of Argentina. In both seasons seed tubers stored in heaps reached an advanced physiological age at planting, compared with tubers from the cold store. Seed tubers of cv. Pampeana were older than those of Huinkul. compared with control crops, those sprayed with BAP maintained ground cover and photosynthesis for longer, and those sprayed with GA3 for a shorter period. Consequently tuber yield was decreased by GA3 in 1988/89, but in 1989/90 all crops treated with PGRs outyielded the control. BAP could overcome effects of advanced physiological age on crop senescence and tuber yield.