New Potatoes Charlotte
Potatoes sound like an unusual plant to grow on a patio, but they actually do very well in containers.
We're only suggesting you sow 3 potatoes per grow bed but they will produce over a dozen delicious waxy new potatoes per plant.
Time from seed to plate: 12 weeks
Sowing Calendar
Sow
It's best to encourage your potatoes to produce new shoots before you put them in the ground. Do this by standing up your potatoes in an egg carton. Stand them on the end with the most 'eyes' pointing upwards. Put them in a cool, dry and bright place for a about 4 weeks, and new shoots will emerge. The process is called 'Chitting'. (If you haven't got time, or can't be bothered, just bung them in your soil un-chitted - they'll still grow very well!)
Growing method: Grow bed
Grow
Once March arrives it's time to plant them out. You only want to leave the four biggest shoots on each potato, so rub the others off.
Fill a grow bed with multipurpose compost and make three evenly holes about 15cm deep with a trowel or your hand, and place a potato in each one. Follow the spacing plan, ensuring you leave at least 30cm between each spud. Fill in the compost and water well.
Despite being big plants, potato stems are very vulnerable to slugs, so keep your eyes peeled and reach for the slug pellets if you need to.
Harvest
You can start harvesting in June/July when your plants begin to flower. Dig up the whole plant with a fork.
Carry on digging them up as you need them. Once they're all gone, use the bed to grow fast growing salad leaves like rocket, mizuna or mustard.