W&W Garden · Crop guide
Potatoes.
One of the most satisfying crops you can grow.
Choose the right varieties, get them into the ground at the right time and a few unremarkable-looking seed potatoes can turn into kilos of food hidden beneath the soil.
Everything you need to know about growing potatoes in Britain — choosing varieties, chitting, planting, earthing up, watering, harvesting, storing and dealing with the problems that turn up along the way.
Before you plant
Start with the potato you actually want to grow.
First earlies, second earlies and maincrop potatoes don't simply give you different varieties to choose from — they crop at different times and suit different uses. Choose your type, buy proper seed potatoes and decide whether you'll chit them before planting.
Choosing varieties
Grow for your dinner plate.
There is no single best potato. Some varieties make brilliant new potatoes, some hold together beautifully in a salad and others are worth growing for proper crisp roasties. Start with what you actually want to eat.
Keep it simple. Grow one early variety for fresh summer potatoes and, if you have the room, one maincrop for later meals. You don't need six different bags of seed potatoes to discover what grows well for you.
Before planting
Do you need to chit potatoes?
Not necessarily. Chitting simply means allowing seed potatoes to develop shoots before planting. It is particularly popular with early varieties and, if you choose to do it, the aim is short, sturdy shoots rather than a tangle of pale growth.
An egg box or shallow tray works perfectly well. Put the end with the most eyes facing upwards.
Good natural light encourages stronger shoots rather than long, weak ones.
A bright, cool room or other protected position is better than somewhere hot.
Handle them carefully once shoots develop so they are not knocked off before planting.
Shoots appearing are not a deadline. Wait until the soil and weather are suitable for planting.
Long, pale shoots?
They have probably been kept somewhere too dark or too warm. Move the potatoes to a cooler, brighter position and handle the shoots carefully so they don't snap.
Where are you growing?
You don't need an allotment to grow potatoes.
Give them enough soil, water and room to develop and potatoes are remarkably adaptable. The best method is usually the one that suits the space you already have.
In the ground
The traditional option. Plant into prepared soil with enough room between plants for earthing up and harvesting later.
On the allotment
Potatoes can occupy a useful amount of ground and allow you to grow several varieties for different harvest times and uses.
In raised beds
A practical choice where you want good drainage, manageable soil and straightforward access when planting and harvesting.
In bags & containers
Useful for patios and smaller gardens. Choose a generously sized container and pay particular attention to watering.
What does “earthing up” actually mean?
As the shoots grow, draw soil up around the stems while leaving the upper leaves exposed. Repeat as the plants develop. This helps keep developing tubers covered and reduces the chance of potatoes being exposed to light and turning green.
The potato year
Ten months. One crop.
Potatoes have a wonderfully simple rhythm: choose them, prepare, plant, earth up, watch, harvest and store. Exact timings move with the weather, your part of Britain and the varieties you're growing, but this gives you the shape of the year.
Chit seed potatoes.
Prepare beds and growing areas.
Plant first earlies.
Plant maincrop potatoes.
Earth up developing plants.
Harvest first earlies.
Keep watch for blight.
Harvest second earlies.
Lift maincrop potatoes.
Sort and store the crop.
A date on a page can't see your soil or feel your weather. Use the calendar as a guide, then look at the conditions in front of you.
Trouble underground
What's wrong with my potatoes?
Not every mark means you've lost the crop. Some potato problems are largely cosmetic; others need dealing with quickly. Start with what you can actually see.
Scab affects the surface of the tuber and often looks worse than it is. Affected potatoes are generally still usable once the damaged skin is peeled away. Avoid adding lime before growing potatoes and keep developing tubers adequately watered in dry conditions.
Blight can spread quickly in warm, damp weather. Remove affected foliage promptly and don't compost infected material. If the crop is badly affected, removing the haulms can help protect tubers that are still sound underground.
Slugs can attack developing tubers underground, particularly in conditions that suit them. Harvest potatoes when they're ready rather than leaving mature tubers sitting in the soil unnecessarily.
Green potatoes belong in the compost, not on the plate.
Tubers turn green when they're exposed to light. Keep potatoes covered while they're growing and store harvested crops somewhere dark. Don't eat potatoes that have turned green.
The good bit
When can I dig them up?
Harvest time depends on what you've planted. Earlies are grown for those first tender new potatoes; maincrop varieties are usually left longer to produce larger tubers that can be stored.
Know when they're ready.
First and second earlies are normally harvested while the plants are still relatively fresh, depending on the variety and when they were planted.
Maincrop potatoes stay in the ground longer. As the plants finish their season, the foliage begins to yellow and die back.
Lift them without spearing dinner.
Work carefully from the outside of the plant with a garden fork, loosening the soil before lifting the crop. Tubers often spread farther from the stems than expected.
Search through the loosened soil afterwards — there is nearly always one more potato hiding underneath.
Store the sound ones.
Potatoes intended for storage should be dry and undamaged. Put aside anything cut, badly bruised or damaged and use suitable tubers promptly rather than storing them with the rest.
Keep stored potatoes somewhere cool, dark, dry and well ventilated, and check them periodically so one deteriorating potato doesn't spoil those around it.
Don't wash potatoes before storing them.
Let loose soil dry and brush it away gently. Washing introduces moisture and can reduce how well a crop keeps. Wash the potatoes when you're ready to use them instead.