How to grow Potato (Maris Piper)

Solanum tuberosum

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

The classic floury maincrop potato for chips, roasts and mash, and for storing through winter.

At a glance: Sow early April to early May, harvest from late August.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Early March – early May · 6 weeks before the last spring frost
Chit Seed Potatoes (optional)
Stand seed potatoes eye-end up in trays somewhere light and cool for 4–6 weeks before planting.
Early April – early May · 7 days before the last spring frost
Plant Seed potatoes
Plant seed potatoes 40 cm, rows 75 cm apart apart in rows.
14–28 days after “Plant Seed potatoes” · Late April – early May
Look for Shoots
Green shoots should be showing. Keep weeds down — these crops hate competition.
14–21 days after “Look for Shoots” · Early May – mid May
Earth Up
Draw soil around the stems when shoots are 20 cm tall; repeat twice more as they grow.
45–60 days after “Earth Up” · Mid June – early July
Watch for Blight
In warm, wet weather check for brown patches on leaves. If blight appears, cut all foliage off and bin it, then lift 2 weeks later.
135–160 days after “Plant Seed potatoes” · Late August – mid September
Harvest
Cut down foliage when it yellows, wait 2 weeks for skins to set, then lift on a dry day.
7–21 days after “Harvest” · Late August – mid September
Dry and Store
Dry, then store unwashed in paper or hessian sacks in a dark, frost-free place.