How to grow potatoes

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.

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.

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 compost or well-rotted manure after planting the potatoes – ideal for a no-dig veg plot. Adding organic matter will feed your soil, but you can also apply an organic-based, general-purpose fertiliser to the ground, to increase yields where needed.

Before planting your seed potatoes, you can give them an early start by ‘chitting’ (sprouting) the tubers, so growth gets underway more quickly.

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.

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.

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.