Any gardener will be able to tell you how satisfying it is to be able to dig up and eat your own home grown veg. Potatoes are one of the most common vegetables to grow. They are easy to plant and take very little effort to look after. We take you through everything you need to know in this guide.
Growing Potatoes
In order to grow Potatoes I would suggest to follow the instructions below:
Unpack your seed potatoes immediately on delivery. Its not necessary to chit first early potatoes, though this would help speed up their growth. You should chit second earlies, and maincrop potatotes prior to planting. Stand them rose end up (the end with the most small eyes in the skin) in an egg box or shallow tray in a cool but frost-free, light and well-ventilated room so they can begin chitting (shooting). A temperature of 10°C (50°F) is ideal.
Leave for 3-4 weeks, and short dark shoots (chits) will emerge from the rose end. They will be ready to plant when these shoots are about 3cm (1in) long. Rub off the weaker shoots, leaving about 4 per tuber. If you leave all the shoots on, you will get more potatoes but they will be smaller. Take care not to damage the shoots when handling or planting.
Soil should be fertile and well-draining. For optimum harvests, particularly if the soil is heavy, dig in some well-rotted manure into the soil in the autumn/winter before planting. For lighter soils, just add some well-rotted manure or compost to the trench at the time of planting.
Planting can be done from the end of February. Early plantings will benefit from fleece protection.
Dig a trench about 10cm (4in) deep and add some of our Organic Potato Fertiliser to the soil. Place the tubers in the trench, rose end up, about 10cm (4in) deep, 30cm (12in) apart, with 60cm (24in) between rows. Alternatively, plant to the same depth and distance apart in a large container or growing bag. Cover with soil and water in.
As soon as growth appears, protect the young shoots from frost by drawing up soil around them or moving pots or bags into a more sheltered position, such as a cool greenhouse. When the stems reach 23cm (9in), draw up more soil around them to prevent the tubers near the surface from turning green.
Planting potatoes
On receipt of your seed potatoes, stand them in an egg box in a cool, light room, so they can begin shooting or “chitting” as it is known. Leave them for 3-4 weeks, and short dark shoots will emerge from the eyes. Take care not to damage these when handling or planting. Store your pots and fertiliser until you plant them.
To plant using our planting kits, put 10cm of good compost on the bottom of each pot, and place 5 tubers of each variety spaced out evenly on this compost. Add a further 10cm or so of compost to cover, and firm down, adding a sprinkling of potato fertiliser as well. If you are planting direct into garden soil, dig a trench about 20cm deep, and plant tubers in the bottom. In both cases, water in well.
After a month or so, the leaves will emerge from the top of the compost. Add sufficient compost to bury these leaves and a little more, and allow them to grow again. Repeat covering the leaves until the pots are full. Allow them to grow for a further 5-6 weeks. For potatoes grown in the ground, “earth up” by covering them as the leaves grow, building up into a ridge about 15cm above ground level. The more stem you cover with soil, the heavier the crop will be. Water all potatoes well in dry spells when they are in leaf, as this will have a major increase in crop yield – 2 or 3 times greater yield compared with low-watering.
When the leaves begin to die back, you can harvest. Simply empty the bucket out, and break open the rootball, and collect your delicious fresh crop or, if you’ve planted them in the ground – dig them up!
Patio Potato Growing Kit
There are so many potatoes to choose from that suit different gardens and different needs. We have selected the best of the best that will suit any garden and any need! Whether you want a quick cropper to turn into potato salad, or a longer cropping baked spud, they’re all just as easy to grow and look after and are guaranteed to give great results, and taste, with a complete patio potato growing kit.
The best thing is, you don’t even need a garden – you can grow in a bag or a pot on a patio, balcony or terrace. Make sure you pick a light, warm and sunny spot in your garden to plant them and that you have a good supply of potato fertiliser to ensure even greater yields.
On Receipt
On receipt of your seed potatoes, stand them in an egg box in a cool, light room, so they can begin shooting or “chitting” as it is known. ‘Chitting’ is simply the process of allowing your tubers to grow shoots on before planting them which will encourage faster growth and heavier yields.
Leave them for 3-4 weeks and wait for short, dark shoots to emerge. Take care not to damage these when handling or planting! Now you’re ready to get planting, just follow these easy steps below, whether planting into containers or straight into the ground.
How to plant the Patio Potato Growing Kit
Ever fancied growing potatoes but you don’t have the space? Peter, our Head Gardener, shows how you can grow your own crop with a space saving potato growing kit.
How to Plant and Grow Your Own Potatoes
Step 1: To plant using our planting kits, put 10cm of good compost on the bottom of each pot. Place 5 tubers of each variety spaced out evenly on this compost. then add 10cm or so of compost to cover and firm down, adding a sprinkling of potato fertiliser as well. If you are planting direct into garden soil, dig a trench about 20cm deep, and plant tubers in the bottom. In both cases, water in well.
Step 2: After a month or so, the leaves will emerge from the top of the compost. Add sufficient compost to bury these leaves and a little more, and allow them to grow again. Repeat covering the leaves until the pots are full. Allow them to grow for a further 5-6 weeks.
For potatoes grown in the ground, ‘earth up’ by covering them as the leaves grow, building up into a ridge about 15cm above ground level. The more stem you cover with soil, the heavier the crop will be.
Step 3: In dry spells, water all potatoes well when they are in leaf. This will have a major increase in crop yield – 2 or 3 times greater yield compared with low-watering.
When the leaves begin to die back, it’s time to harvest. Simply empty the bucket out, and break open the root ball and collect your delicious fresh crop. If you’ve planted them in the ground, just dig them up!
Early Season Potatoes
Early Season Potatoes – Swift
Early season potatoes are the perfect choice if you want to grow smaller new potatoes and don’t much space. This is because they can easily be grown in pots and containers.
Plant from late January up until the end of May for a harvest roughly 8-10 weeks later. Wait until the flowers open or buds drop, then the tubers will be ready to harvest.
An early such as our seed potato ‘Swift’ are fast growing (it’s all in the name!) and ‘Swift’ in particular has a magnificent flavour. A heavy yielder of good sized tubers, ‘Swift’ is one of the best potatoes for growing in patio pots and containers, but will do equally well in garden or allotment.
Maincrop Potatoes
Maincrop Potatoes – Desiree
Maincrop potatoes will produce larger potatoes than earlies that are perfect for roasting and baking.
They can be planted any time from January onwards until the end of May for crops about 16-20 weeks later. Depending on when you’ve planted them, they should be ready to harvest between July and October.
Maincrop varieties are perfect for growing in the ground as they have a bit more space, but are just as happy grown in pots and containers.
One of our most popular varieties, ‘Desiree’ is brilliant for growing your own. Simply delicious and highly versatile, ‘Desiree’ is a great all-round variety. These can be made into delicious chips, roasties, jackets or just boil them up and smother in butter! Heavy cropping and easy to grow, it’s not hard to see why ‘Desiree’ is so popular.
Salad Potatoes
Salad Potatoes – Charlotte
Known for their waxy flesh and unique nutty flavour, salad potatoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Their versatility and relatively quick cropping habit makes them ever so popular.
Plant from January until the end of May for harvesting from July to October.
‘Charlotte’ is probably the Number 1 new potato variety grown in UK gardens. It produces great yields of delicious, medium-sized tubers that are perfect in potato salads, hot or cold, or boiled dripping in melted butter. Easy to grow in containers or straight into the ground, ‘Charlotte’ has good resistance to to blight and scap, so you’ll get consistent crops of delicious spuds!
Main crop harvest
Our Patio Potato Kits are a cheap and fuss-free way to get reliable crops of fresh potatoes from your own garden, in the minimum of space. They include pots, fertilisers, and different varieties of seed potato. We also sell separate packs of seed potatoes.
Potatoes
There are so many potatoes to choose from that suit different gardens and different needs so we’ve selected the best of the best that will suit any garden and any need! Whether you want a quick cropper to turn into potato salad, or a longer cropping baked spud, they’re all just as easy to grow and look after and are guaranteed to give great results, and taste.
The best thing is, you don’t even need a garden – you can grow in a bag or a pot on a patio, balcony or terrace. Make sure you pick a light, warm and sunny spot in your garden to plant them and that you have a good supply of potato fertiliser to ensure even greater yields.
When your seed potatoes arrive, stand them up in an egg box in a cool, light room so they can begin shooting or ‘chitting’ as it is known. ‘Chitting’ is simply the process of allowing your tubers to grow shoots on before planting them which will encourage faster growth and heavier yields. Leave them for 3-4 weeks and wait for short, dark shoots to emerge – take care not to damage these when handling or planting!
Now that you’re ready to get planting, just follow the three easy steps below, whether planting into containers or straight into the ground.
Step 1
To plant using our planting kits, put 10cm of good compost on the bottom of each bag/pod/ pot, then place 5 tubers of each variety you want to grow, spaced out evenly on the top. Add a further 10cm or so of compost to cover and firm down, adding a sprinkling of potato fertiliser to encourage growth. If you are planting direct into the ground, dig a trench about 20cm deep and plant the tubers at the bottom. In both cases, water in well.
Step 2
After a month or so, leaves will emerge from the top of the compost. Add sufficient compost to bury these leaves and a little more, then leave them to grow again. Repeat this process until the container is full then allow them to grow for another 5-6 weeks. For potatoes grown in the ground, ‘earth up’ by covering them as the leaves grow, building up into a ridge about 15cm above ground level. The more stem you cover with soil, the heavier the crop will be.
Step 3
Water and feed all potatoes well in dry spells. Once your container is full, between June & September depending on the varieties you’ve planted, and usually once the plant begins to flower, you’re ready to harvest! Simply pull your plants out of the container to reveal your fresh, tasty potatoes.
Which Potato is right for you?
Early Season Potatoes – early season potatoes are the perfect choice if you want to grow smaller new potatoes and don’t much space. This is because they can easily be grown in pots and containers.
Maincrop Potatoes – these varieties are perfect for growing in the ground as they have a bit more space, but are just as happy grown in pots and containers.
Salad Potatoes – easy to grow in containers or straight into the ground, ‘Charlotte’ has good resistance to blight and scab, so you’ll get consistent crops of delicious spuds!
On Receipt
On receipt, stand seed potatoes in an egg box in a cool, light room so they can begin chitting (shooting). Leave for 3-4 weeks, and short dark shoots (chits) will emerge. Take care not to damage these when handling or planting.
To plant using our planting kits, put 10cm of good compost on the bottom of each pot, then place 5 tubers of each variety spaced out evenly on top. Add a further 10cm or so of compost to cover and firm down, adding a sprinkling of Potato Fertiliser. If you are planting direct into garden soil, dig a trench about 20cm deep, mix some Potato Fertiliser into the soil, then plant tubers in the bottom. In both cases, water in well.
After a month or so, leaves will emerge from the top of the compost. Add sufficient compost to bury these leaves and a little more, then leave them to grow again. Repeat this until the pots are full, then allow them to grow for a further 5-6 weeks. For potatoes grown in the ground, “earth up” by covering them as the leaves grow, building up into a ridge about 20cm above ground level. The more stem you cover with soil, the heavier the crop will be.
Water and feed all potatoes well when they are in leaf as this will have a major increase in crop yield.
Harvest maincrop varieties when the leaves die back and earlies after about 10 weeks. Simply empty the bucket out and collect your crops or, if you’ve planted them in the ground, just dig them up!