UK plant library · vegetable

Potato

Solanum tuberosum · Solanaceae

Staple crop, easy in the ground or containers, from earlies to maincrop

Photo: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sun: Full sun
Soil: Fertile, well-drained, deeply dug
Soil pH: Acid to slightly acid, about pH 4.8-6.5. Acid soil reduces common scab
Water: Water regularly, especially when tubers form
Hardiness: Tender foliage is damaged by frost. Plant tubers after hard frosts and earth up or protect shoots
Height and spread: 60-90cm tall

Guv's tipChit your seed potatoes from late winter, then earth up the stems as they grow. It helps protect the tubers from blight, too.

Through the year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Sow or plant

Harvest

Timings are for the UK as a whole. Northern and exposed gardens often run a couple of weeks later.

When to plant

Chit from late winter. Plant first earlies from mid/late Mar, maincrops late Apr-early May. Cold-stored seed potatoes Jul-early Aug under cover for a Christmas crop

Harvest or flowering

First earlies Jun-Jul, second earlies Jul-Aug, maincrop Aug-Oct

Pruning

None; earth up stems

Making more plants

Certified seed tubers, chitted before planting

Watch out for

Pest

Slugs and snails

Look for: Irregular holes in leaves, slime trails, seedlings eaten

What to do: Hand-pick at night, barriers, beer traps, encourage predators; ferric phosphate pellets sparingly

Pest

Wireworms

Look for: Narrow holes and tunnels in tubers

What to do: Lift crops promptly; problem worst on land recently grass

Disease

Potato blight

Phytophthora infestans

Look for: Brown leaf lesions with white fungal growth, foliage collapse, tuber rot

What to do: Grow resistant cultivars, cut off foliage when infected, earth up to protect tubers

Disease

Plant viruses

Various

Look for: Mottling, streaking, stunting

What to do: Destroy affected plants, control vectors

Always read and follow the label on any treatment, and check it is approved for use where you live.

Safety and spread

Pets and people: Green tubers, leaves, stems and fruits contain solanine and other alkaloids and are poisonous. Not on the ASPCA list

Weed risk: None known. Potato cyst nematode and ring rot are notifiable, regulated pests

Checked against two or more reputable gardening sources. How we check our facts

Growing somewhere else? See this plant for the USA.

Keep it by the back door

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