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Dec 02, 2023

How To Grow Potatoes — Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Potatoes

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Growing potatoes is remarkably easy

Whether you're a garden newbie or long-term grower, one vegetable all gardeners agree is a must for their plot is the easy-to-grow potato. Whether you plant them on an allotment, raised bed or in a grow bag, these nutritious tubers are the backbone to the nation's dinner plate.

Wondering how to grow potatoes? If you like the idea of harvesting fresh spuds, here's a simple guide to growing your very own and what you need to know.

January is a great time to choose the potato variety you want to grow this year. Early potatoes have a waxy texture, which makes them good for boiling and eaten as salad potatoes. Varieties include: 'Charlotte', 'Rocket' and 'Swift'. Main cropping potatoes are ideal for roasting, baking and mashing due to their floury texture. As they're in the ground longer, they tend to be bigger. Varieties include: 'King Edward', 'Kestrel' and 'Cara'.

From January until late February, 'chitting' seed potatoes simply speeds up the ageing process, allowing the tuber to develop strong shoots. So, when it comes to planting out, these tubers will have a valuable head start and can cope with the early spring, cold soil conditions.

To chit tubers, stand them apart (egg boxes make ideal holders) with their eyes facing upwards, as this is where the shoots will emerge. Place somewhere cool, light and frost-free, such as a kitchen windowsill, porch or greenhouse. Restrict shoots to three or four, that way energy isn't wasted on weaker growth. Six weeks on, seed potato shoots will be couple of centimetres long and ready for planting.

Potatoes are broken into four planting times:

• The first potatoes are planted towards the end of February and are ready to harvest late June onwards.

• Second early potatoes are planted from mid-March and are ready to harvest early July onwards.

• Maincrop potatoes are planted from late March and are ready to harvest mid-August onwards.

• Second cropping potatoes, also known as Christmas potatoes, are planted in early August and are harvested in time for Christmas Day.

The growing area should be an open plot with well-drained soil under full sun. Prepare the ground by removing weeds and large stones. Turn over the soil and incorporate plenty of well-rotted organic matter. Then, dig straight trenches 10-15cm deep and 60cm apart. Plant seed potatoes along the trench at 30cm apart. Backfill and cover over the tubers. Finally, label and water the area.

If you're short of space, try growing chitted tubers in potato grow bags. Using a good compost, fill the base to the height of 10cm and place no more than four seed potatoes on the surface. Fill the container a third of the way up, burying the potatoes. Label, water and place the grow bag in a sunny sheltered spot. As foliage appears through the soil, cover over. Continue this process until you reach the top of the bag.

Heading into April, foliage will begin appearing, this is when to 'earth up' the young shoots. This is a simple process of mounding soil over the plants, which protects tubers growing near the soil surface from turning green and poisonous due to exposure to the sun.

Keep horticultural fleece handy, as frost and high winds can damage and blacken the emerging foliage, even killing the plant. For potatoes in bags, simply move them to a protected area of the garden.

Once we head into May, and the warmer weather arrives, check plants regularly for pests, and keep growing area weed free. Ensure plants are well-watered, especially during dry periods. Applying a potato potash feed can result in a larger harvest.

Second cropping potatoes will be keen to put on growth throughout September, so keep earthing them for a larger harvest. Potato plants may requiring fleecing as the garden heads into October and November. Again, move grow bags to a frost-free area until they're ready to be harvested in December.

Depending when you planted them, you could be harvesting potatoes from June onwards. Using a garden fork, ensure you don't pierce any potatoes by carefully lifting the plant. Remove all potatoes from plants, then carefully dig around the growing area for any remaining loose potatoes.

If potatoes are to be stored, lift them on a dry day and leave on the surface soil for a few hours, allowing their skins to cure. Hessian sacks are ideal to keep potatoes, as they allow air circulation, preventing potatoes from sweating which can lead to rot. Keep sacks stored in a cool, dark area and check on them regularly to ensure none have deteriorated.

Potato Blight – A common fungal disease that manifests during damp, warm summers. It causes foliage to brown and shrivel, leaving tubers to develop rot. If discovered, remove affected leaves. There is no cure for blight, but ensure plants have plenty of ventilation, and water at the plant base to reduce the onset of the disease.

Potato Scab – It creates scabs on the potato surface. It doesn't affect the taste of the vegetable, simply remove the outer skin. Keep plants well-watered, as the disease can increase in dry conditions.

Slugs – They eat both the foliage and create holes in growing tubers. Reduce numbers by inspecting plants early in the morning, at dusk, or after a rainfall, removing pests by hand. Surrounding the plant base with grit or crushed eggshells can discourage them.

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