Growing Potatoes

Potatoes are hugely versatile and are a staple ingredient of many meals in one form or another — boiled, mashed, chipped, roasted or baked. Freshly dug and lightly boiled with mint, cooled and eaten with salads, or mashed with mustard, they just can't be beaten. Growing potatoes is also one of the most rewarding things you can do in an edible garden. There's something special about growing these delicious tubers, from planting the first seed potatoes to unearthing your own creation from the soil like buried treasure. So if you’ve never tried growing them before, make this the year you do.

Types of Potato

Before you plant, you need to decide what type of growing potato you need. There are two main types of potato: maincrops and earlies. Maincrop varieties are usually bulkier and give a bigger harvest, and many can be stored for winter use. Maincrops are typically harvested in late Summer or Autumn.

Early varieties are ready from early to midsummer and are further divided into first earlies and second earlies. First, early varieties are first to crop, while second earlies follow on a few weeks later. Early potatoes tend to be smaller than maincrop types, but they have arguably the best flavour and often have a smoother, waxier texture that makes them perfect in salads. They’re also sublime when served steaming hot and finished with a drizzle of olive oil. All-rounders like Desiree potatoes are ideal for mashing, steaming, boiling and roasting alongside other seasonal homegrown vegetables.

Check variety descriptions for potatoes suited to different uses, whether baked, boiled, sautéed or cut up into wedges — or even a combination of these. Some varieties offer good resistance to common diseases, including blight, which can ruin a crop in warm, wet summers. Or grow first earlies, which are usually harvested before the main blight risk.

Mr Fothergill's range of seed potatoes includes popular varieties such as Desiree, Pontiac, Dutch Cream, Coliban, Pontiac, Sebago, Kipfler, Nicola, and Ruby Lou, as well as a number of unique varieties. Our growing potato selector tells you what each variety is best used for.

How do you grow potatoes?

Potatoes are not grown from seed but rather "seed potatoes", also sometimes sold simply as ‘tubers’. Seed potatoes are not the same as shop bought potatoes. Certified seed potatoes are grown in controlled conditions to ensure they are true to type and free from disease. They are also renowned for vigorous growth and greater yield than their shop-bought counterparts.

You may have seen old potatoes grow shoots out of their "eyes” — this is how new potatoes form. You can either plant seed potatoes whole or cut them up into pieces with at least two eyes per piece. Make sure you air dry cut potatoes for a day before planting.

In regions where spring is a little slower to arrive, it’s worth sprouting or ‘chitting’ your seed potatoes. Do this up to six weeks before planting to give your crop a head start. Lay them out in a single layer, so the ends with most eyes — that’s the dimples where the shoots will sprout from — face upwards. Place them into trays or old egg cartons to hold the potatoes steady. Keep them in a cool, bright place to grow thick, sturdy shoots.

Potatoes can be planted in traditional trenches or individual planting holes

What kind of soil do potatoes grow best in?

Potatoes love rich, moist soil that’s been gradually improved with organic matter such as well-rotted compost or manure. Avoid poorly draining soil to prevent tubers from rotting. A sunny spot on the plot will encourage the strong growth you’re after. They also grow well in pots or in specially made potato bags, making growing potatoes and harvesting them easier.

Plant seed potatoes into dug trenches or individual planting holes. Plant your tubers around 15cm deep, and space them 30cm apart along the row. Additional rows of early varieties should be spaced at least 45cm apart, while maincrops need a minimum of 75cm left between rows.

Tips on how to grow potatoes in Australia

Potatoes do not handle frost well and require 60-90 days of frost-free weather to be successful. This is why they are planted in most of Australia after the season's last frost. Based on data from your nearest weather station, you can use our Garden Planner to check the best times to plant in your area. The Planner is also an excellent resource for browsing various descriptions and, of course, to lay potatoes on your plan, so you’ll know exactly how many seed potatoes you’ll need to fill your area.

How potatoes grow

Shoots should poke above ground within about two to three weeks. They’ll tolerate very light frosts but are best covered over with row cover if something colder is forecast.

Once they reach 15cm tall, begin earthing up your potatoes. Earthing up mounds the soil along the row to encourage more tubers to grow and to reduce the risk of light exposure, which turns the potatoes green. Use a hoe to draw up the surrounding soil around the shoots, leaving the very tops exposed. Earth up in stages like this each time the foliage reaches a similar height above soil level, and continue till the mounds are either 30cm tall or the foliage above has closed over.

Clear your space of weeds as they appear to remove the competition for fast-growing potatoes. Potatoes need ample moisture for all their growth, so ensure to keep watering them in dry weather to enable tubers to grow to their full potential, free of any cracks or hollows.

Harvesting Potatoes

Now comes the fun part. You can harvest tubers small as ‘new’ potatoes as soon as the plants begin to flower a couple of months after planting. Continue harvesting early varieties in stages from this point on, leaving the remaining plants to continue growing until needed. This staggered approach to harvesting allows you to enjoy potatoes at their freshest and tastiest.

Maincrop potatoes are usually harvested towards the end of Summer or in early Autumn once the foliage has died back. Leave the tubers underground for a further two weeks, and on a dry day, lift them with a fork, taking care not to pierce any of the tubers. Brush off excess soil, let the potatoes air dry for a few hours, then store in a cool but frost-free place.

Mr Fothergill's stocks a range of seed potatoes as part of its Summer Produce range. Stock is available at leading Garden retailers nationwide from late April till September (contact your local store for stock availability), with limited stock available online from June through to September.