The most rewarding crop for beginners. Here's how to grow a great tubful of potatoes almost anywhere.
Created by jflgardens.co.uk
Potatoes are the most satisfying crop you can grow – dig down and there's your food, hidden. They grow well in the ground, in bags on a patio and in containers, and nothing quite beats the taste of a freshly dug new potato.
About six weeks before you plant, set your seed potatoes in a cool, light place (like a windowsill) to sprout – this 'chitting' gives them a head start. Early varieties planted mid-spring crop sooner; maincrops go in a little later and store best.
Plant seed potatoes about a hand's depth in the ground or in a growing bag with plenty of compost. As the shoots grow, cover them with more soil or compost – 'earthing up' – so the developing tubers stay underground and out of the light, which turns them green and poisonous.
Potatoes need consistent moisture, especially from flowering onwards when the tubers swell. In the ground, the rains often help; in bags and containers, you must water regularly – they dry out quickly. Keep the compost damp, not sodden.
For new potatoes, you can start gently lifting from a plant a little at a time, a couple of weeks after it flowers. Harvest maincrops fully once the foliage naturally dies back, dry them, and store in paper sacks in a cool, dark place for months.
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