RHS Growing Guides
How to grow potatoes
Our detailed growing guide will help you with each step in successfully growing Potatoes.
Getting Started
Potatoes are a traditional veg plot staple, easy and fun to grow, producing plentiful crops in summer and autumn. Whether you’re new to growing potatoes or have been doing it for years, digging up your buried bounty is always a thrill.
If you grow a range of varieties, you can harvest potatoes through summer and into autumn
Potatoes are grown from specially prepared ‘seed potatoes’ (small tubers), usually planted in spring. With early varieties, the seed potatoes can be ‘chitted’ (encouraged to sprout) before planting, to produce an earlier crop. As the plants grow, soil can be gradually piled up around the stems, known as earthing up, to bury the developing tubers. If you don’t have room for a whole row of potatoes, you can grow just a few in a small bed, large container, or even a sack or a bag.
Potatoes are usually easy and reliable croppers, but they can be affected by several diseases, the most notorious being potato blight. However, this is less likely to affect early varieties and is less prevalent in dry summers.
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Choosing
With so many colours and flavours to tempt you, how can you resist growing potatoes?
- Early varieties (first or second earlies) – are ‘new potatoes’, small and delicious. They’re faster growing, ready to harvest in as little as 12 weeks. The plants take up less space, so are useful in smaller plots, and can be grown in containers. As they’re harvested by midsummer, they free up space for a later crop, such as courgettes or beans
- Maincrop varieties are in the ground a lot longer, through to late summer or early autumn. They produce a larger harvest and bigger individual potatoes, ideal for roasting and baking, and can be stored for use in winter
When choosing, look in particular for varieties with an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) – these performed well in trials, so should grow and crop reliably for you. See our list of AGM fruit and veg and our Recommended Varieties below. You can also see many crops, including potatoes, growing in the veg areas at all the RHS gardens, so do visit to see how they’re grown, compare the varieties and pick up useful tips.
What and where to buy
Potatoes should be grown from specially prepared ‘seed potatoes’ (small tubers) that are certified virus-free, to give you healthy, vigorous plants. You can buy seed potatoes in late winter and spring in garden centres and online. Mail-order suppliers offer the widest choice of varieties and most allow you to order in advance, as popular varieties may sell out. To grow a Christmas crop in a greenhouse, buy cold-stored tubers in summer.
Recommended Varieties
Preparing the Ground
Potatoes need an open, sunny growing site, not prone to late frosts, as the young shoots are susceptible to frost damage in April and May.
They like rich, fertile soil, so dig in plenty of organic matter, such as garden compost or well-rotted manure, before planting. If possible, do this the previous autumn or winter. Alternatively, you can apply a 10cm layer of garden
Planting
Before planting your seed potatoes, you can give them an early start by ‘chitting’ (sprouting) the tubers, so growth gets underway more quickly.
Chitting potatoes
If you don’t have the time or space to chit your early seed potatoes, they will still grow perfectly well, but will just take a few weeks longer to crop. There’s no real advantage to chitting maincrop varieties, as they grow over a much longer period.
Chit early varieties of seed potatoes in egg boxes or seed trays somewhere cool and bright
When to plant
Potatoes are mainly planted in spring, over several weeks, according to the type of variety:
- First earlies – plant around late March
- Second earlies – plant in early to mid-April
- Maincrops – plant in mid-April to early May
The timing also depends on where you are in the country – plant slightly later in colder regions and earlier in milder ones. There are also a couple of other planting options, to extend the cropping season:
- To grow an extra early crop – plant chitted seed potatoes of early varieties at the beginning of March, into large containers in a frost-free greenhouse. Keep them indoors in good light for a crop by about mid-May
- To grow a winter/Christmas crop – plant prepared (cold-stored) seed potatoes in July or early August, into a large container in a greenhouse or bright frost-free location. Keeping them indoors also protects them from blight
Planting in the ground
- Earlies – plant 30cm (1ft) apart, in rows 60cm (2ft) apart
- Maincrops – plant 37cm (15in) apart, in rows 75cm (30in) apart
Try to grow potatoes in a different area of your veg plot each year. Practicing crop rotation helps to avoid build-ups of diseases and other problems in the soil.
If you're a no-dig gardener, you can shallow-plant the seed potatoes, then add a deep layer of organic matter on top. The crop is then easy to harvest by simply pulling the potatoes out of the mulch.
Planting in containers
If you don’t have space in the ground, you can grow potatoes in large containers, where they’ll produce a decent crop. Early varieties are the most suitable, as the plants are smaller and mature more quickly. Choose a container at least 30cm (12in) wide and deep, and half-fill with 15cm (6in) of peat-free multi-purpose compost. Plant one seed potato per 30cm (12in) of pot diameter, setting them just below the surface. Once shoots start to appear, add more
Plant one seed potato in a 30cm pot, position it in full sun and keep it well watered
Plant Care
Earthing up potatoes
Potato plants are traditionally ‘earthed up’, which means mounding up soil around the stems as they grow. This protects the shoots from frost damage in late spring and ensures the developing potatoes aren’t exposed to light, which turns them green and inedible. It’s a simple process – once the shoots are about 23cm (9in) tall, draw soil up around them to form a ridge along the row, leaving just the top 10cm (4in) of the plants visible. As the stems grow taller, repeat the process several times, a few weeks apart. The final height of the ridge should be 20–30cm (8–12in). But if you are unable to earth up, or don’t have time, you should still get a good crop.
Follow a similar process for potatoes in containers. From half-full at planting time, gradually add more potting
Use a hoe to pile earth up around the potato plants along the row
Watering
To ensure a good crop, water potato plants in dry weather. Potatoes in containers need regular watering throughout the growing season, especially if kept in a greenhouse. Even during wet weather it may be necessary to water outdoor containers, as the leaves can act like an umbrella over the compost, preventing rainwater soaking down.
Feeding
Potato plants growing in the ground don’t generally need feeding, but on poor soil, maincrop potatoes benefit from a nitrogen-rich organic fertiliser around the time of the second earthing up. See the Preparing the Ground section for information on adding
Potatoes grown in containers will need feeding, so either mix an organic general-purpose fertiliser into the
Weeding
Weed regularly for the first month or two after planting, so the young plants don’t have to compete for light, water and nutrients. Once potato plants are growing strongly and have plenty of leaves, weeding isn’t usually necessary as they will generally shade out any competition. Repeated
Protecting from frost
Frost can damage young potato plants, so if freezing temperatures are forecast after shoots have appeared, protect them with a cloche or some hessian or straw overnight, or cover with soil or garden compost. With plants in containers, keep them in a frost-free place such as a greenhouse until there’s no longer any risk of frost outdoors.
Harvesting
Use a fork to lift potatoes from underground, then finish harvesting by hand
Early potatoes and maincrop potatoes mature at different times over the summer. Harvest times can also vary across the UK and from year to year, depending on the weather. But as a general guide:
- First early varieties should be ready to lift in June and July
- Second earlies in July and August
- Maincrop varieties from late August through to October
Start lifting maincrops in late summer for immediate use. If they are healthy, you can leave them in the ground until mid-autumn to bulk up.
Dig up potatoes carefully, inserting your fork at least 30cm (1ft) away from the base of the plant to avoid spearing the tubers. Discard any potatoes that are green, as they’re potentially poisonous. If you only want a few potatoes at a time, try digging down carefully beside a plant with a trowel – you should be able to remove a few individual potatoes without disturbing the plant’s roots, so it can continue growing.
Potatoes grown in containers are really easy to harvest, without the risk of accidentally damaging them – gently tip out the contents and simply pick out your potatoes by hand.
Early potatoes are best used as soon as possible after harvesting. Maincrops can either be used fresh or stored for several months and eaten gradually when needed through the winter. If you want to store maincrop potatoes, delay harvesting until the leaves turn yellow, then cut off and remove all the top growth. Wait for 10 days, then dig up the tubers and leave them in the sun for a few hours to dry, then brush off the soil.
Storing
Maincrop potatoes usually store successfully for several months. Only store undamaged potatoes – ensure they are dry and brush off any soil before storing. Keep them in a dry, cool, frost-free place, such as a garage, in paper or hessian sacks or on slatted trays in the dark (to prevent sprouting). Check them every few weeks for signs of rotting. Aim to finish them before early spring, as they’ll start to sprout and shrivel.
Problems
Potatoes are easy to grow and usually produce a large, reliable crop. However, they can be affected by several diseases or be eaten by various soil-dwelling creatures such as slugs, which particularly like to tunnel into maincrop tubers during damp autumn weather. Blight can be a wide-spread problem in some summers, depending on the weather, but you can still usually harvest and eat the crop if you act quickly, although the potatoes won’t be suitable for storing.
To avoid the build-up of problems in the soil, grow potatoes in a new position each year – see our guide to crop rotation. Some potato varieties are also less susceptible to certain diseases. See Common problems below for more advice on tackling the main growing issues.
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