Fancy growing your own potatoes this year? Well, February – March is the recommended time to start preparing and chitting your potatoes ready for planting. For those who don’t know what chitting is don’t worry! All will be explained in our handy guide below. Potatoes are a lovely crop to grow as they require very little care, and are great vegetables for first-time gardeners! Not only that, they’re a household favourite as they’re hugely versatile and a stable cooking ingredient.

First Time Growing

Potatoes are classified as being either ‘earlies’ or ‘maincrops’. Early varieties are ready to harvest much sooner than maincrops and are what we call ‘new potatoes, they’re usually ready to harvest in June/July’. Maincrop varieties are typically bulkier and give a bigger harvest. They can usually also be stored much longer. Maincrops are typically harvested in late summer or autumn. You can also get ‘second earlies’ which are in between the both (the clue is in the name).

Preparation Before Planting

It’s recommended with earlies, and also with maincrops, to ‘chit’ the seed potatoes before you plant them.

What even is Chitting?

Before growing potatoes, we recommend you buy seed potatoes from your local garden centre ‘chit’ them first. The process of chitting allows seed potatoes to grow sprouts before they’re planted, giving them a head start and reducing the amount of time you’ll have to wait before they are fully grown. This process is not essential but it is highly recommended by gardening experts

When should I chit my potatoes?

Seed potatoes should be chitted more or less 6 weeks before you plan to plant them – so, for many, that will mean chitting in February ready for planting in March/April.

How to Chit potatoes?

It’s a lot easier than it sounds! It also requires very little equipment and resources. All you need is 3 simple things: Light, a bit of heat and some old trays or egg boxes! Place your spuds in some sort of container with the ‘bud’ or ‘spout’  facing upwards, and place it in a sunny spot such as a window seal or a greenhouse. This will allow the sprout to grow and form a deeper root.

Potato chitting method using egg boxes

Planting

Usually, 6 weeks after chitting seed potatoes once your sprouts have formed, you should be ready to plant. Potato plants need 'earthing up’ this refers to protecting early shoots from frost and ensures new tubers aren’t exposed to light, which can make them green and poisonous. 

It’s important to keep your potatoes well watered in dry weather – particularly once the tubers are swollen, as usually underground parts of a stem or root are used to store food by the plant. They also form buds that can produce new plants. Maincrop potatoes really benefit from a nitrogen-rich fertiliser around the time of the second earthing up.

Planting Times

Planting time varies and depends on the type of potato you’re growing:

First earlies – around late March

Second earlies – early to mid-April

Maincrops – mid-to-late April

Planting your potatoes in a sunny spot will keep them happy and healthy. Make sure you avoid late frosts, as this foliage is susceptible to damage from early spring's chilly temperatures! When it comes to the process of planting the traditional method includes digging a narrow trench 12cm (5in) deep and leaving a  30cm (1ft) space between the tubers (potatoes).

Some gardeners choose to grow potatoes under black polythene sheets to protect them from frost. The tubers are planted through slits in the polythene. The advantages of this method are that there is no need to earth up, and new potatoes form just below the surface, which means no or very little digging is required

Harvesting

Generally, the times below give an insight as to when potatoes are ready to Harvest, but you can check on your potatoes near the harvesting season if you take care and avoid damaging the roots. First, early potatoes are fully formed when they’re the size of chicken eggs. When it comes to maincrops It's time to dig up your big homegrown potatoes when the buds drop or the foliage begins to fade. But generally speaking, it should be obvious when your spuds are ready!

Potato harvesting

First early potatoes - should be ready to harvest in June and July

Second earlies - should be ready to harvest in July and August

Maincrops - Should be ready to harvest from late August through to October