Planting Potatoes

Planting the potatoes officially starts the growing season off for me, even though I’ve been sowing seeds for a few weeks now! There’s something so special about finally getting out on the allotment and putting something straight into the ground, and potatoes are one of the most important crops for me. It’s the one vegetable we eat the most of and even though we don’t have enough space to grow enough to last the year, you simply can’t beat homegrown.

The two varieties which I’ve chosen to grow this year are salad potatoes, International Kidney and Charlotte. The potato bed measures roughly 2.3 metres wide by 3 metres deep and there is enough room for 2 rows of each variety with 9 seed potatoes in each row.

Step One: Buying your seed potatoes

There’s one place in particular where we like to buy our seed potatoes from, the nursery is called Gilbert’s and it’s a beautiful little independent centre in Sherfield English. We not only love the fact that it’s independent but we love the fact you can buy the seed potatoes individually! That way we can buy the exact amount we need, pick out the best looking seeds and also grab a bargain at the same time. I would recommend buying your seed potatoes from a reputable source, and it’s best to research the groups and varieties before buying as there is a lot to choose from.

Step Two: Chitting

Why do it you say? It is believed that by chitting your potatoes you will get a head start, an earlier harvest and a much higher yield of potatoes. By not chitting them before planting may cause some potatoes not to grow, others may produce 6 or more long, white shoots which will in turn create a much lower yield. On the other hand farmers don’t bother chitting their potatoes, so it’s entirely up to you!
Timing is crucial, it takes roughly around 4-6 weeks for your potatoes to chit and produce strong, short green shoots. We usually plant our potatoes on Good Friday once the last frost date has passed, therefore our chitting process will start around the end of February when we head off to the local garden centre to pick our chosen varieties.

To chit your potatoes simply place them in a container with their eyes facing upwards, the eyes on a potato are where sprouts will start growing. Any container will do, old seed trays and paper egg boxes in particular are very handy. Place the containers in a light, cool but frost free place but not in direct sunlight. However, not enough light and the spouts will be long, spindly and white. You really want your chitting potatoes to have short, stubby sprouts about 2cm long which are deep green, almost purple in colour. If your potatoes start producing long, white sprouts, simply rub them off and place the container somewhere else, they will produce more healthy sprouts no time at all.

Before planting out, rub off all but three or four of the sprouts on each potato. Otherwise you’ll have a large harvest, but with very small potatoes, I learnt my lesson last year!

Step Three: Planting

You can plant your different groups of potatoes out at the same time, it all comes down to the harvesting times. First early potatoes should be ready to lift in June and July, second earlies in July and August, maincrops from late August through October.

Dig a trench roughly about 6 inches deep, I use a very handy tool called a Chillington Ridge hoe which is perfect for making trenches, drills and for ridging up potatoes! This year I decided to put a little more effort into my potato growing so I filled the bottom of the trench with well rotted manure but you can also use grass strimmings, ash and sulphate of potash too. The potatoes are then placed about 1 foot apart at the bottom of the trench with the sprouts facing upwards and then the soil is simply filled back over the trench. Each trench is spaced 2 foot apart, allowing room to ridge the potatoes up once they start bursting through the soil.