New/early potatoes

Planting Early Potatoes

Earlies or new potatoes are quick off the mark and are ready 80 - 100 days after planting. In Ireland, if you have a polytunnel or greenhouse then you can plant them in December or January and have very early potatoes on the table in April and May - depending on the weather.

Chitting Potatoes

Chitting is basically another word for sprouting. By getting the potato to sprout you have started off the growing process so that the plants will have a head start when you put them in the soil.  In theory you will then get your potatoes a bit earlier.

Potatoes will start chitting when exposed to light and gentle heat, so place seed somewhere warm and light. A temperature of around 8C-10C is fine.   Avoid locations that might get frost. Place the seed potatoes in a single layer with a large amount of eyes facing up. If you’ve only got a small amount of seed potatoes, recycling old egg boxes for this purpose is ideal. For larger amounts, use seed trays or wooden boxes. 

Once your seed potatoes have got 2-3 good sized ‘chits’ or sprouts on them (between 0.5cm - 2cm), it’s time to plant.  The sprouts should be small, knobbly, and green/purple in colour. If you end up with long, white coloured sprouts, it means there’s not enough light.

Healthy 'chit ' a on Potato

Soil Preparation

Potatoes should be grown in deep, fertile soil that is well drained and contains plenty of organic matter.  Potatoes need potash so dig in plenty of well rotted manure, compost and seaweed or approved organic potash fertilizer. Do not add lime - potatoes dislike lime and its presence in the soil appears to encourage scab.

Planting Early Potatoes

For very early earlies you will need to plant in a polytunnel or glasshouse. Dig trenches 8/12cms deep, putting the soil to one side. Place the potatoes in the trench with the shoots pointing upwards, cover with soil. Don't plant too deep as it is colder for the young plants. Plant Earlies 25 - 30cm apart in rows 40-50cm apart. You can also plant in large pots/containers or even rolled down compost sacks (make sure to put holes in first). These should be filled with good quality potting compost and a small amount of general purpose organic feed - such as Topmix.

Potatoes in a polytunnel

General Care

  • When the shoots appear, use a draw/ridging hoe to pile up the soil over them (earthing up). The shoots should be just buried and a small ridge created on either side. This should be done about three times, or until the haulm (foliage) is too big to cover. Earthing up protects the tubers from frost and reduces the number of green potatoes.  It also helps get rid of weeds.  If using containers then top up with soil or compost as the shoots appear.
  • Potatoes are sensitive to frost. So if frost is forecast you should either apply a little heat to your tunnel to keep it above zero, or cover your young plants with crop cover.
  • Make sure to irrigate the plants as they grow.
  • To increase yield you can give the established plants a potash rich liquid feed every two weeks - liquid seaweed or Vinasse are very suitable for this and would be much appreciated.

Harvesting

The wait is finally over! When the plants are about 80 days old – and quite big – have careful look underneath to inspect you bounty. Start harvesting when you are happy with what you see. Earlies are best straight from the ground so only harvest what you need for dinner.