PlantSowGrow
How to grow Potato (Pink Fir Apple)
Solanum tuberosum
A knobbly, pink-skinned heritage salad potato with a waxy texture and nutty flavour — a gourmet favourite.
At a glance: Sow early April to early May, harvest from late August.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Potato (Pink Fir Apple): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water in dry spells, especially as crops swell
- Soil
- Firm, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 75 cm apart
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- A general fertiliser before planting
- Harvest
- About 140 days from sowing
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 3–9
Step by step
- Early March – late April · 6 weeks before the last spring frost
Chit Seed Potatoes (optional)
Stand seed potatoes 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 up around the stems when 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.
- 140–170 days after “Plant Seed potatoes” · Late August – late September
Harvest
Lift when the foliage dies back.
- 7–21 days after “Harvest” · Early September – mid September
Dry and Store
Dry, then store in paper sacks somewhere dark and cool.
