I love chips, my girlfriend loves mash, so we grow lots of potatoes each year.
Anyone can grow potatoes, and you start by either buying some seed potatoes, online or
in a shop, or by placing some shop bought potatoes into an egg box, like so.
This is called chitting.
You’ll be planting them about 30cm apart, so keep this in mind when deciding how many
potatoes you need to chit.
Place this in a dry light location.
I chit my potatoes at the start of March, and over the next few weeks, you’ll see
the sprouts starting to grow around the potato.
About a month after putting these out to chit, they should be ready to go in the ground.
This is my raised deep root planter.
Over the winter I grow leeks in here, but in the summer I grow potatoes.
You can also plant into large pots, filled with compost.
Give your growing area a good water, this will ensure the potatoes have the moisture
they need to start growing.
Depending on your skill level, a cat may come along and give the area a quick check over.
Lay your potatoes in the growing area, to get an idea of where you’re going to be
planting them.
Potatoes are thirsty plants, so I’d recommend planting fewer, further apart, if you’re
unsure.
I’ve got a hay mulch on top of the soil in this planter, to suppress weeds and to
keep the soil below from drying out too quick.
You don’t need to do this, but I’ve found it effective.
To plant your potatoes, move a handful of the mulch...
Dig a hole with a trowel, around double the depth of the potato you’re planting....
Drop the potato into the hole...
Cover it back up with soil and press down...
And place the mulch back on top...
Easy right?
I’ll show you it again.
Mulch...
Hole.... potato... cover... press down and mulch.
The good thing about growing potatoes, and why they’re a great choice if you’re new
to growing your own food, is... because they grow so quickly, and they cover the soil with
their foliage, you rarely need to worry about weeds.
One thing to look out for though is watering, especially if you’re using a planter like
this.
The soil will dry out quickly and you need to keep on top of checking it often... probably
daily in the summer.
The shoots will take a couple of weeks to show, so in the meantime, keep them free of
any weeds and just be patient.
About 3 weeks after planting, the shoots will start to show.
I told you they grow quick.
Four weeks after planting, the leaves are open and the plants are starting to take in
energy.
Over the next month they will double in size each week until the foliage has completely
filled their available space.
8 weeks after planting, and we’re at the start of June now.
The sun is shining and the energy is now going into growing lots of roots.
Check the soil moisture each day, on really sunny days and water if needed.
An easy way to see if it needs a water is to stick your finger down into the soil.
If it comes out dry and clean, it needs a good water.
It’s now the start of July, about 12 weeks after planting.
You may have some dead or damaged foliage, which can easily be removed.
You can either cut or pull it away from the plant to keep it tidy, to allow more light
in and to increase airflow about the leaves.
Now you have two options when you get to July.
You can harvest them when the flowers show for early potatoes, or you can wait until
the foliage goes yellow for your maincrop potatoes... which will be larger.
Now I need to be honest here.
I was an idiot and after 20 weeks of recording this growing diary, I harvested the potatoes
and forgot to record it.
However, luckily...
I did record last years, so the following footage is from then.
Harvesting takes a little time but its not difficult.
Give yourself plenty of space and pop some gloves on.
Start by pulling up all of the foliage.
If potatoes come up with the foliage, then collect them up and place them in a bowl of
a tray.
You may find these brown shrivelled potatoes as you go.
These are the potatoes you planted, so don’t collect these as they can’t be eaten.
Now once you’ve removed the foliage, you now need to collect up the potatoes in the
soil.
If you’re growing in the ground instead of a pot or a planter, you’ll want to push
a gardening fork into the ground and lever up the potatoes, being careful not to damage
or stab them.
If you’ve grown them in a planter like me, dig a deep trench at one end with your hands
collecting any potatoes you spot.
You’ll be surprised how deep you can find them.
Then move that trench along the planter, until you’ve uncovered them all.
If you find any tiny potatoes, make sure you remove them too, as they will try to grow
if left in place.
I think I planted 12 potatoes here in the end, and they were all ones I had rolling
around in the cupboard anyway.
These were earlies, and you can expect larger potatoes if you leave them until the foliage
dies back.
It really depends on what size of potato you want.
You don’t need to wash these, just brush off any soil and then store them in a dark
cool place... where they will last a few months.
I usually chit some more potatoes in June, and can squeeze in a second harvest later
in the year.
I hope this gave you the confidence to grow your own potatoes.
This is just one... and very simple method, but there are more involved ways of growing
potatoes, where you’ll get a larger harvests.
If you learned anything or have any tips for growing potatoes, please leave them in the
comments so we can all learn together.
Thank you to my patrons for their support and here are a couple of other videos which
you may be interested in.
As always, thank you for your time, and happy growing.