Develop Your Private New Potatoes for Christmas

It may seem uncommon to start talking about Christmas in July. Nonetheless summer season season throughout the Northern Hemisphere is when gardeners wish to start fascinated by the colder months to return.

This month or subsequent, you is perhaps sowing quite a lot of leafy greens and further to see you through winter and into spring. And that’s moreover the time to plant some potatoes in pots in order to benefit from some new potatoes over the festive season.

The place to Develop New Potatoes for Winter

With a view to develop potatoes to reap at Christmas time, you will seemingly need an undercover rising area in most temperate climates. In case you’ve a greenhouse or polytunnel, you must have the flexibility to develop new potatoes in containers as long as you make it possible for these keep frost-free until you harvest them in December.

Container rising is generally best besides your area is frost-free in winter. Since containers can merely be positioned and moved undercover when the first frosts arrive.

I benefit from large reclaimed buckets by which to develop my Christmas cropping potatoes, though chances are you’ll use quite a lot of containers, along with large pots, barrels, sacks, or develop baggage of some selection.

When deciding how large containers must be, a tricky rule is that you will need 10 liters 9roughly 2.5 gallons) of space for each potato tuber you plant. So in a 50-liter (10-gallon) container, you can plant 5 seed potatoes.

To fill your containers, any peat-free potting mix is perhaps excellent.

I benefit from a handmade combination of:

• 1/3 loamy soil
• 1/3 handmade compost
• 1/3 leaf mould

Which Potatoes to Develop

Any first early or second early potatoes (first and second earlies consult with potatoes which is perhaps harvested early throughout the season) are good for rising to eat as new potatoes. I identical to the varieties Maris Peer and Charlotte personally, though there are numerous that you just might attempt.

When to Plant Potatoes for a Trip Harvest

New potatoes—first earlies or second earlies—are usually planted in spring and harvested in June or July. Nonetheless as long as you can maintain them frost-free, you can plant potatoes in summer season season for a harvest throughout the festive interval in mid-winter.

I uncover that the place I keep in Scotland, the most effective time to plant potatoes for Christmas is in late July in my polytunnel. Those who keep farther south or in hotter areas usually uncover an August planting time is best.

When precisely you must plant your potatoes will rely upon the place you reside and the date of your first frost.

The way in which to Plant Potato Tubers

To plant your potatoes, first, fill the container to a depth of spherical 15 centimeters (6 inches) with the rising medium. I moreover like in order so as to add a layer of comfrey leaves onto which I set the potato tubers, with their shoots/eyes upwards. Cowl the tubers with one different 15 centimeters or so of your rising medium.

A great deal of space must nonetheless be throughout the container in order to “earth up” your potatoes as a result of the vegetation develop.

Caring for Christmas Potatoes

Potatoes are usually simple to develop, nevertheless you will wish to observe the following pointers to ensure success.

1. As a result of the vegetation develop, they must be earthed up a couple of cases, merely as you will when rising potatoes throughout the flooring. To try this, merely mound up the soil throughout the stem.
2. Water always, notably all through dry spells, remembering that vegetation in pots need additional frequent watering than these rising throughout the flooring.
3. To supply vegetation a carry, it is also attainable to have in mind feeding with an pure liquid plant feed 2-3 cases over late summer season season and early autumn. I prefer to make use of compost tea or a seaweed liquid feed for the purpose.
4. Inside the late autumn, take away lifeless foliage after the vegetation die once more. Nonetheless go away tubers throughout the container until you must harvest them. Merely look out for rodents, squirrels, or totally different pests that will try and get to your tubers sooner than you do.
5. When you wish to harvest, you can merely attain into the container to retrieve specific individual new potatoes numerous at a time. Or you can tip out all the of the container to retrieve the entire tubers from inside.

Whereas you may also have saved maincrop potatoes ready to your Christmas dinner, there’s one thing specific about having latest, new potatoes ready for the festivities. So when you’ll be able to maintain containers of potatoes frost-free, why not attempt rising some potatoes for Christmas cropping this yr?