When should I sow potato?

In a typical UK garden, plant out mid-March to late April, and harvest early June to late October. Later in Scotland, the north and frost pockets; earlier in the south-west and near the coast.

How far apart should I plant potato?

30 cm apart in the row, with rows 60 cm apart. In a square foot garden, that's 1 per square.

What grows well with potato?

Broad bean, French bean, French marigold. Keep it away from tomato, squash, cucumber, courgette.

Potato

Solanum tuberosum

In a typical UK garden, plant out mid-March to late April, and harvest early June to late October.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Frost dates

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Plant out: mid-March to late April
Harvest: early June to late October

Spacing: 30 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
Square foot: 1 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth: 12 cm
Ready in: 70 to 140 days from sowing
Grows to: 60 cm
Hardiness: Half hardy: survives light frost, to about −2 °C
Sun: Full sun
Crops for: About 3 weeks

Growing tip

Earth up the stems as they grow so the tubers stay covered and never turn green.

Neighbours

Grows well with

Keep apart from

Nightshades are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

Guides

How to grow

Growing potatoes in bags, from planting to tipping out

Plant two or three seed potatoes in a 40 litre (10 gallon) bag from about five weeks before your last frost. Cover the shoots with compost as they grow until the bag is full, water often, and tip the bag out about ten weeks later for new potatoes.

When to plant

Planting potatoes in the UK, from first earlies to maincrop

Plant potatoes from mid-March to late April. First earlies go in first, from mid to late March, second earlies in early April, and maincrop in mid to late April. Chit the seed potatoes for a few weeks beforehand.

When to plant

Zone 5 potatoes go in from late March, ahead of the last frost

In USDA zone 5, plant seed potatoes from late March to early May, once the soil can be worked and has started to warm. The last frost is around April 30, but the shoots take a few weeks to come up. Dig new potatoes from mid-June and storage potatoes until mid-October.

More nightshades

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For potato, we used:

Grow potato with VegLog

Add potato to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.