In my bid to ‘up’ my vegetable growing game, I have opted for growing potatoes for Christmas this year. Yep, it’s that word again. I saw them in my local gardening centre and can honestly say I have never considered it before but I’m not sure why because I think I could have done it at any given time or home I lived in.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will know I marked the occasion with a video of me planting them. The variety is called Maris Peer.

This is how it looks today, I’m not sure whether I overfilled it, as I threw an extra seed potato in so as to use the whole pack. It certainly looks full doesn’t it?

The how’s, the why’s and the where’s…

So on my quest to make sure I knew what I was doing, I compiled the following from various sources across ‘t’interweb’ to check exactly what I was doing.

Hopefully there is some information here to help you if you also wish to do the unthinkable…grow your own potatoes! Some things just sound ridiculously way off your capabilities but I’m telling you now, it’s not. You can do this. Or maybe I’m talking to myself.

Potatoes are easy enough to grow but like any crop they’re vulnerable to a few diseases, such as blight which is a fungus that can cause foliage to collapse and the tubers to rot.

Always look for varieties that say they are resistant or tolerant to these diseases.  New varieties with improved disease resistance are constantly being developed, so it’s worth checking every growing season to see what’s available.

There are so many different varieties, I am sure you can find the potato to suit your needs.

You can plant potatoes in containers as early as February, provided you are able to keep the container frost free by keeping it in a garage or a (heated) greenhouse. You can keep planting potatoes right up until the end of July, as I found out, many garden centres have varieties that allow you to grow potatoes for Christmas.

Some potatoes (i.e. ‘Charlotte) can be grown as late season potatoes. Plant in July or early August for a mid-Winter crop.

Potatoes are divided into three groups.

First Earlies

First earlies are ready after approximately 100 days/12 weeks.  They are naturally smaller than the maincrop varieties.  You can plant them in rows, about a foot apart.  Make sure to put them in a sunny position, with shelter in a well-drained, fertile soil.

If you are not putting them into the garden and opt for a tub like I did, then make sure your container has a capacity of about 45 litres and a depth of 50cm.  You can use containers, potato bags, tubs or even old compost bags which makes them easy to put them where you like without taking up space in your beds.

I have read that they are less likely to be damaged by pests but do remember not to put them out until after the last ground frost.  Not always as easy as you think as we had a bad frost in May last year which wiped out many an unsuspecting plant that was not ready for it.  So make sure you are ready to throw a fleece over if you suspect a frost is coming.

Just remember to buy your seed potatoes from a reliable source and ‘chit’ your potatoes for an earlier crop.  Chitting simply means encouraging the seed potatoes to sprout before planting.

According to Gardener’s World, you can start chitting from late January in warmer parts of the country or in February in cooler areas, about six weeks before you intend to plant out the potatoes. “Each seed potato has a more rounded, blunt end that has a number of ‘eyes’. Stand the tubers with the blunt end uppermost in trays or old egg boxes, with plenty of natural light. The potatoes are ready to be planted out when the shoots are 1.5-2.5cm (0.5-1in) long.”

The oddest thing is when you see the new shoots coming up, you cover them over with more soil and this is called ‘earthing up’. I think I ‘earthed up’ two more times and hopefully this will give you a bigger bounty of potatoes.

Water a couple of times a week during dry spells and start harvesting when the first flowers open. Eat when fresh as they are not very good at being stored.

Second Earlies

Second earlies are ready after 115 days (if you’re anything like me, best write down the date when you first plant them, otherwise I wouldn’t have a clue!). Harvest second earlies from the end of June to the start of August. They are ready to lift about two weeks after the first earlies. 

These are called salad potatoes as they are ideal for using in salads, duh.  These are also perfect for eating as soon as you have lifted them but will keep in the ground for up to a month after their so called, ‘due date’.

Maincrop

Maincrop potatoes are ready after 130 days. They are possibly the most recognisable names in the potato world.  They are ready in August, when the foliage starts to die back.  Leave them for a couple of days for the sun to dry the skin as it is said, this helps them to store for longer. 

These potatoes should see you over the winter period if stored in a dark, frost free area. 

Time to get your ‘potato’ on!

I hope this helps if you are thinking of growing your own potatoes. Armed with this information I can tell you I am going to be growing my own potatoes next year as well. By making the decision now for next year I can begin to plan where everything will be and I can ‘chit’ my potato seeds in advance. Not sure if I have the space for a maincrop but definitely the earlies. If I can do it, I’m sure you can too.

I look forward to parading my potato haul on here in December.