Who doesn’t love one or all of the following: chips, mash, roasties, new potatoes with butter, baked potatoes, potato salad? Potatoes are a staple in so many meals and nothing quite compares to the flavour of homegrown. With just a little space and some basic preparation, you can enjoy a generous harvest and the satisfaction of digging up your own crop fresh from the soil.
Most UK seed potatoes are grown in Scotland under strict conditions to avoid spreading disease. Supermarket potatoes are not guaranteed to be disease free and are often treated to prevent sprouting, so do not use them. Here at Tates of Sussex Garden Centres, we sell only certified stock.
There are four main types of potato you can grow: first earlies, second earlies, salad varieties and maincrops (depending on when they are planted and harvested).
If you have plenty of space, we recommend choosing both early and maincrop varieties. If your plot is small, then earlies take up less space and will provide new potatoes at a time when shop prices are high. They also help you avoid the destructive disease blight.
Chitting Potatoes
Once you have chosen your potatoes it is a good idea to chit them first. The ground is usually still too cold or wet to plant out, but you can get a head start by allowing their shoots to start developing. This helps the plants establish more quickly once planted and can lead to an earlier and more reliable harvest. It also allows you to select the strongest shoots and discard any tubers that fail to sprout. For best results, aim for short, sturdy, dark green or purple shoots rather than long, pale ones.
Place your potatoes in trays or egg boxes so that the sides with the most eyes are facing upwards. Leave them in a cool, bright position such as a windowsill until the shoots are about 2cm long. This takes up to 6 weeks. Do not keep them in the dark, as the shoots will become too long and fragile and are likely to snap off when planted.
Preparing the Site
Potatoes grow best in an open position in full sun on rich, well-drained soil. Avoid soil where potatoes have been grown in the previous two years to decrease the risk of disease. If possible, manure the area the previous autumn or add plenty of compost or potato fertiliser in spring.
Potatoes can also be successfully grown in large containers filled with multipurpose compost. Break up any large clods of soil and remove stones before planting to allow the tubers to develop freely.
Planting
Trench Method
Dig a trench one spit (spade’s depth) deep. Space tubers at 30cm intervals in rows 60cm apart for earlies, and 40cm intervals in rows 75cm apart for maincrops. Cover the tubers with soil.
When the stems emerge, carefully draw soil up and over the stems to produce a flat-topped ridge about 15cm high, or add a bag of compost to the top. This protects stems from frosts and encourages a larger crop. Repeat until you have a mound about 30cm high.
This also helps block light from reaching the developing tubers. Potatoes exposed to light become green, and green potatoes are poisonous, so do not eat them.
Single Holes
Dig individual holes for each seed potato in a line using the spacings above and earth up in the same way.
French Method
Use a raised bed and dig single holes, spacing the potatoes much closer together. Leave them without earthing up. The foliage grows densely and prevents the tubers from turning green. You should still get the same number of potatoes, although they may be smaller.
Container Method
Place three or four first early potatoes on top of 15cm of compost in the bottom of a large, deep container. Cover with another 15cm of compost. As new stems grow, continue adding compost until the container is full.
Ongoing Care
Water well during dry weather, especially when the plants are flowering. Applying a balanced liquid fertiliser every fortnight can increase yields.
If there is still a risk of frost when shoots begin to emerge, draw a little soil over them or cover them with horticultural fleece for protection.
Keep the area around your plants free from weeds, which compete for moisture and nutrients. Continue earthing up the plants as they grow to protect developing tubers from light and encourage a better crop.
Harvesting
For early potatoes, wait until the plants are flowering, then carefully dig into the ridge and check the size of the tubers. If they are ready, lift them carefully with a fork, taking care not to spear them.
If growing potatoes in containers, tip the contents onto a plastic sheet. The spent compost can be used as mulch on beds, borders or other containers.
Early potatoes do not store well, so harvest and eat them fresh. Lift only what you need, leaving the remainder in the ground to stay fresh for longer.
Top Tips & Problems
When harvesting, try not to leave any tubers behind, no matter how small, as they can regrow the following year and cause overcrowding or harbour pests and diseases.
Potato plants often produce tomato-like green fruits after flowering. Do not eat these because, like green potatoes, they are poisonous.
Slugs can damage tubers by making holes in them, particularly during damp weather. Keeping the area weed free and improving drainage can help reduce damage.
Eelworms can also become a problem, especially in newly cultivated ground. Practising crop rotation helps minimise their impact.
Potato blight is the most common problem during warm, wet summers. Early signs include rapidly spreading brown patches on the leaves and stems, often with white mould underneath the leaves in humid conditions.
Remove all affected top growth as soon as blight appears. This may still leave healthy potatoes beneath the soil. Do not compost infected material; dispose of it safely instead.
Earthing up provides some protection by keeping tubers well covered. Choosing blight-resistant varieties or growing early potatoes, which are usually harvested before blight develops, can also help.
Understanding the Different Types of Potatoes
First Early Varieties
First earlies are planted between March and April. They are often called new potatoes and are ready to harvest around 9–14 weeks after planting. They produce plenty of tasty, small potatoes.
Casablanca: A multi-purpose first early with smooth white skin, perfect for exhibition. Excellent for chipping, baking or boiling. Can crop after 2 months. AGM.
Maris Bard: High-yielding first early that bulks up quickly. Very reliable with good drought resistance.
Red Duke of York: Traditional red-skinned variety with yellow flesh. Excellent for roasting. AGM.
Rocket: Heavy cropping early variety. Does not store well, so best eaten fresh.
Sharpes Express: Heirloom variety with pear-shaped tubers, white floury flesh and smooth skin. Best boiled or steamed in their skins and eaten hot or cold. AGM.
Second Early Varieties
Second earlies are planted between March and April. They are ready around 14–17 weeks after planting. They produce higher yields and larger potatoes than first earlies and are ideal for boiling, salads and general use.
Acoustic: Excellent all-rounder with strong resistance to blight.
Kestrel: Attractive skins with purple eyes. Excellent for chips and roast potatoes with good disease resistance.
Maris Peer: Popular second early with excellent flavour. Ideal for salads and produces attractive purple flowers.
Nadine: Exceptionally high-yielding variety with bright white skins. Excellent for baking and chips. AGM.
Salad Varieties
Salad potatoes are planted between March and May and harvested between June and September. They are generally long and oval with a waxy texture that remains firm when cooked. Their flavour is often described as fine to gourmet. Salad potatoes can be first early, second early or maincrop varieties.
Charlotte: Attractive long potato with an unbeatable creamy flavour straight from the garden to the pan. AGM.
Jazzy: Second early or salad variety producing large numbers of small tubers in the ground or potato bags. Cream skin, light yellow flesh, waxy texture and excellent flavour. Perfect for salads, boiling or roasting. AGM.
Maincrop Varieties
Maincrop potatoes are planted between March and May and require the longest growing season. They are usually ready 17–20 weeks after planting, producing high yields of large potatoes that store well through winter.
Cara: Heavy-cropping variety with attractive skins and good blight resistance. Excellent for baking and long-term storage.
Desiree: The UK’s most popular red-skinned variety, producing large crops. Excellent for boiling with a delicious smooth texture. AGM.
Java: Red-skinned maincrop with excellent blight resistance and consistently high yields. Ideal for boiling, mashing, baking and roasting.
King Edward: Well-known favourite with attractive skins. Excellent for roast and baked potatoes, but also good boiled with a strong, aromatic flavour.
Maris Piper: Probably Britain’s best-known potato and one of the most versatile. Excellent for chips, mash, roast potatoes or boiling. Stores well. AGM.
Kerrs Pink: Popular maincrop variety, particularly in Ireland. Heavy crops of oval tubers with pink eyes. Excellent for winter storage and ideal for chips, roasting and mash.
AGM = Holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Continue your Gardening Journey
Need a little extra advice? Visit your local Tates of Sussex Garden Centre today, where our friendly knowledgeable, team will be happy to help you choose the right plants and offer expert guidance.
