Last chance for Christmas potatoes

If you fancy pulling up your own new potatoes this Christmas, then you had better getting planting now.

Fresh new potatoes from your own plot are a rewarding addition to any festive family feast.

But August is the last month to get your second cropping potatoes in the ground in time for Christmas dinner, so time is running out.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to getting it right, just in time for Christmas.

How to grow your spuds in time for Christmas

The process for planting out your second crop is much the same as with first crop potatoes. However, there are a few crucial pointers to bear in mind when it comes to timing, different potato varieties and avoiding the potential problems that Autumnal weather can bring.

Timing

As with so much in the garden, timing is crucial. August is the ideal month for planting out your Christmas spuds, any later and your chances of success dramatically dwindle.

Make sure you get your seed potatoes by at least the first half of August, so you can chit them in time for planting before the end of the month. If you get them late, skip the chitting phase and just plant them out straight away.

Christmas potato varieties

A lot of early and second early varieties will be fine for late growing but there are a few standout choices amongst many growers. The popular choice is Carlingford, which many growers find quite suitable for the job and quite easy to grow.

Other varieties of note include Charlotte and Maris Peer. If you can get hold of some of these that’s great, but don’t worry too much if you can’t. As it’s better to have any homegrown spuds for Christmas dinner than none at all.

Second crop seed potatoes aren’t any different to the ordinary types you get at other times of the year. They have simply been stored very carefully over the summer months in climate controlled conditions so they are ready for late planting.

In fact, if you were to take care of your own tubers from spring you could use those instead. If you don’t have any left in the chitting tray this year, bear it mind for next. The trick is to keep them cool and out of direct sunlight.

Planting out your Christmas spuds

There’s not much difference in how you plant out your second crop to how you did your first. The main thing to consider is water. The soil will be nice and warm this time of year, but water might be a bit of an issue. So make sure you give them a good soaking from time to time, and they’ll get off to a really good start.

If you can, try to avoid planting them in the same spot that you planted your first crop. As the spuds you’ve already enjoyed, will have used a lot of the nutrients in that patch of soil.

However, If you really are pushed for space, you can use the same area but you will need to use some fertiliser as well. There are many types of potato fertiliser you can get for the job. If you’re growing organically, your best bet is to simply put plenty of comfrey liquid feed in the water when you give them a good soak.

Alternatively, get some bags, fill them with compost and feed and plant your potatoes in those instead. Growing in bags also means that if a frost strikes, you can always pick up the bags and put them in a greenhouse or other frost free environment to save them from the cold.

Potential potato pitfalls

The two main problems to look out for when growing late crop potatoes are both from the weather associated with the last half of the year.

The humid or wet conditions of late summer and early Autumn can often encourage blight, sometimes all the way up to November, but definitely up until September. Blight spores float about in the air and find their way on to plant leaves by rain and damp conditions.

If you can protect your potatoes with a fleece barrier you might be able to stop the spores from meeting the plants and therefore save them from blight.

As soon as you get into late Autumn the other impediment may well be frost, which will kill off the foliage (also known as the ‘haulm’), restricting the amount of energy getting to the tubers.

Again, fleece is a useful option for protecting your spuds but when a proper frost hits you may have to double up on the amount you use. So be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast and have plenty of fleece at hand.

Just in time for Christmas dinner

All these pointers are merely guidelines so make friends with other growers in your part of the world. They may have a few tricks up their sleeves for growing in your particular area.

The main thing to do now is to get some seed potatoes and plant them out before the end of August. Get that done and the rest will follow, just in time for an extra special Christmas dinner.