Easiest Veg to Grow- How to Grow Potatoes

If you're new to growing and a little nervous to get started, potatoes are a great way to delve in!

Potato plants are difficult to kill, can be grown in a variety of different containers or in a vegetable bed and potatoes keep really well. What's not to love?

What You Will Need

To grow potatoes, you will need some seed potatoes, a container of some sort or space in a veg bed and some compost. As well as sunlight and water of course!

Potatoes can go straight into the ground but if you don't have a veg bed, or even a garden, you can grow them in containers. Buckets with drainage holes work but I like the bags that you get from shops like Wilko. They're inexpensive, easy to move and can be folded and put away when the growing season is over.

Potatoes do like several hours of sunshine a day (I can relate!) so make sure you have a suitable space to position them.

Which Potatoes to Grow

There are lots of options of seed potatoes to choose from. These will fall into one of the following categories:

Early

Maincrop

Late

Salad Potatoes

The names of these categories refer to the planting and harvesting time of the potatoes. Early potatoes are planted earlier in the growing season and harvested earlier, maincrops are next and then later crops. Salad potatoes can usually be planted with the early or maincrops.

So after deciding when you want to grow/ harvest potatoes, you might want to think about which variety of potato you'd like to try. I usually go for a versatile variety such as Russet which are suitable for baking, mashing, frying and roasting.

Working on a Budget?

Did you know, you can grow supermarket potatoes? Have you ever left potatoes in the cupboard until they've started sprouting white stalks? When a potato begins to sprout, it's trying to grow. I have popped sprouted (or chitted) potatoes into pots and covered with compost many times to get a practically free crop of potatoes.

It's a great tip if you're starting out and are nervous as to whether growing is for you!

When to Plant Potatoes?

Potatoes can usually be planted from early spring to summer. Many people choose to succession grow potatoes so they get more than one crop. Potato plants can't cope with frost, so if they are planted early, be sure to take them into a garage or shed if frost is due. Do check the variety that you buy to see when it would like to be grown to get the best results!

When are potatoes ready to harvest?

Potatoes grow vines grow up to about a metre tall. They will continue to grow through the summer and are ready to harvest when the vines have died down.

How to store potatoes?

Some people like to leave their potatoes in the ground/ in their containers until they are ready to use them. They keep really well this way and take up less pantry space. If you would like to dig up and store your potatoes, ensure they are in a cool, dark place with good airflow.

Do you have any tips on growing potatoes for beginners? If so, do share in the comments below!