Autumn & Christmas potatoes
potato collection
Harvest a generous crop from autumn to mid-winter, by planting these specially selected, cold-treated seed potatoes in late July and August. Kept dormant in a temperature-controlled environment, they can be planted (without chitting) into a well prepared bed or potato planting bag. Approximately twelve weeks later they will be ready to start lifting.
How to care for Autumn and Christmas potatoes:
As soon as your seed potatoes arrive, unpack them and if you've time, start chitting by placing them in a single layer in a light, cool, frost-free spot. Begin this around six weeks before planting. While not essential, chitting will help get your potatoes off to a good start, and subsequently they'll produce an earlier harvest. There’s also no need to chit autumn or Christmas potatoes, as these are planted in summer.
First early and second early seed potatoes can be planted outdoors under fleece protection, while maincrops should wait until the risk of frost has eased, usually from mid-April. Autumn and Christmas potatoes are planted straight into trenches or potato bags from late July.
Dig a trench 8-13cm (3-5in) deep and add a balanced fertiliser before planting the tubers 30cm (12in) apart with the shoots facing upwards (if present), then cover lightly with soil. If using potato bags, plant into general-purpose compost with at least 20cm (8in) beneath the tubers.
When shoots reach about 20cm (8in) tall, earth up soil or compost around the stems to cover the lower two-thirds of the plant. Keep plants well watered as this boosts yield and helps prevent scab.
Planting and harvest times depend on the type:
First earlies: Plant mid-March to April and lift 10-12 weeks later (June to early July).
Second earlies: Plant early to mid-April and lift after 13-14 weeks (mid-July to August).
Maincrop: Plant from mid-April and harvest after 15-20 weeks (late August to October).
Autumn/Christmas: Plant from late July and lift from 12 weeks, protecting plants from frost.
First early and second early seed potatoes can be planted outdoors under fleece protection, while maincrops should wait until the risk of frost has eased, usually from mid-April. Autumn and Christmas potatoes are planted straight into trenches or potato bags from late July.
Dig a trench 8-13cm (3-5in) deep and add a balanced fertiliser before planting the tubers 30cm (12in) apart with the shoots facing upwards (if present), then cover lightly with soil. If using potato bags, plant into general-purpose compost with at least 20cm (8in) beneath the tubers.
When shoots reach about 20cm (8in) tall, earth up soil or compost around the stems to cover the lower two-thirds of the plant. Keep plants well watered as this boosts yield and helps prevent scab.
Planting and harvest times depend on the type:
First earlies: Plant mid-March to April and lift 10-12 weeks later (June to early July).
Second earlies: Plant early to mid-April and lift after 13-14 weeks (mid-July to August).
Maincrop: Plant from mid-April and harvest after 15-20 weeks (late August to October).
Autumn/Christmas: Plant from late July and lift from 12 weeks, protecting plants from frost.
What's included:
In each taster collection you will receive 5 tubers each of the following:
- 'Maris Peer': Smaller than average potatoes with a subtle flavour, are ideal for boiling, steaming or roasting whole. They have a light skin, creamy flesh, and a good overall uniformity, while also showing a good resistance to powdery scab and skin spot.
- 'Charlotte': Popular and high-yielding, these pear-shaped salad potatoes have a waxy flesh that maintains a good flavour when eaten hot or cold. Reliable and easy to grow in a wide range of soils, they have some resistance to scab and a good resistance to blight.
- 'Pentland Javelin': This is a good early maincrop potato which produces a high number of tubers per plant. It has good resistance to common scab, powdery scab, spraing, mild mosaic virus, slugs and bruising. A firm favourite which has creamy-white flesh that rarely discolours on cooking and is perfect for roasting and general kitchen use.
Eventual height:
0.6m
Eventual spread:
0.45m
Position:
Full sun
Rate of growth:
Fast-growing
Soil:
Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil, or peat-free general purpose compost
Hardiness:
Frost tender
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Humans/Pets: Seed potatoes and plants - Harmful if eaten
15 × seed potatoes | 5 of each
£9.99
£0.67 each
available to order from summer
Unavailable
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