Potato Foremost - 2kg

• First earlies: plant from late March; usually harvest in June and July. A good choice for new potatoes and containers.
• Second earlies: plant in early to mid-April; usually harvest in July and August.
• Maincrop: plant from mid-April to early May; usually harvest from late August to October. Many varieties are suitable for storing.

Chitting means encouraging seed potatoes to sprout before planting.

Stand them in trays or egg boxes with the rose end – the end with the most eyes – facing upwards. Keep them somewhere cool, bright and frost-free.

Chitting is useful for first and second earlies, but is optional. Maincrop varieties can be planted without chitting.

1. Prepare the soil. Choose a sunny position and improve the soil with garden compost or well-rotted manure.
2. Plant with shoots upwards. Set seed potatoes around 15cm deep. Space earlies 30cm apart in rows 60cm apart, and maincrops around 40cm apart in rows 75cm apart.
3. Earth up as they grow. Draw soil around the stems in stages, leaving the upper leaves visible. Keep developing tubers covered to prevent them turning green.
4. Water during dry spells. Water the soil around the plants, rather than the foliage, and keep the bed free of weeds.
5. Feed if needed. Use a suitable potato or vegetable fertiliser, following the instructions on the packaging.

1. Choose a roomy container. Use a large, deep pot or potato growing bag with drainage holes, positioned in a sunny spot.
2. Add compost and plant. Start with a layer of peat-free multipurpose compost. Space the seed potatoes well apart, shoots upwards, and cover with compost. Avoid overcrowding.
3. Top up gradually. Add compost around the stems as they grow, leaving the upper leaves exposed. Continue until the compost sits just below the rim.
4. Check moisture regularly. Keep the compost evenly moist without waterlogging. Containers can dry out quickly, particularly in warm weather.
5. Feed and protect. Once the compost’s initial nutrients are used up, feed according to the fertiliser instructions. Protect shoots with fleece or move containers into a bright, frost-free position when frost threatens.

Early potatoes: gently uncover a few tubers to check their size. Lift when they are large enough to use and enjoy them fresh.

Maincrop potatoes: allow the tubers to bulk up. For storage, wait until the foliage yellows, remove the top growth and leave the potatoes in the soil for around two weeks before lifting.

Choose a dry day and lift carefully with a fork, keeping it away from the base of the plant to avoid damaging the potatoes. For containers, tip out the compost and collect the tubers by hand.

Allow potatoes to dry before storing. Keep only sound, undamaged tubers in paper or hessian sacks in a cool, dark, dry and frost-free place. Check regularly and remove any that show signs of rot.

For a later harvest, use specially prepared, cold-stored seed potatoes sold for summer planting. Plant in containers during July or early August, following the variety’s instructions. These potatoes do not need chitting.

Move containers into a bright, frost-free greenhouse before autumn frosts. Often called Christmas potatoes, their harvest depends on planting time and growing conditions; a Christmas crop is not guaranteed.

• Short on space? Early varieties are a practical choice for smaller plots and containers.
• Rotate your crops. Avoid growing potatoes in the same patch each year.
• Watch for wireworm. Ground recently converted from grass can be more vulnerable. Early varieties lifted promptly may suffer less damage.
• Keep tubers covered. Do not eat green potatoes.
• Watch for blight. Check plants regularly, particularly during warm, damp weather.

Useful terms

• Chitting: encouraging short shoots to develop before planting.
• Earthing up: drawing soil or compost around growing stems to keep developing potatoes covered.
• Eye: a bud on the potato from which a shoot can grow.
• Rose end: the end of a seed potato with the most eyes.
• Tuber: the swollen underground stem that forms the potato you harvest.