First early seed potatoes are planted between February and April and normally harvested in June and July, prior to other varieties. They produce smaller potatoes that can be used new, boiled, steamed or sauteed. 

First and second early potaotes are expensive in the shops and taste better when just been harvested, so many people grow these. They also take up less room and are less prone to potato blight, as they are generally harvested before the disease has taken hold.

Go to the First Early Potato List

Second early potatoes take 14-16 weeks to mature. As with first earlies, plant them 30cm apart, in rows 60cm apart, 12cm deep.

Plant: March (with frost protection)
Harvest: July and August

Go to the Second Early Potato List

Go to the Maincrop Potato List

Ambo

Belmonda

Carolus

Desiree

Fortyfold

Foxton

Golden Wonder

Hunter

International Kidney

Kerr's Pink

King Edward

Maris Piper

Mr Little's Yetholm Gypsy

Orla

Paru

Picasso

Pink Gypsy

Purple Majesty

Record

Red Emmalie

Remaka

Robinta

Romano

Rooster

Sárpo Axona

Sárpo Blue Danube

Sárpo Gwyn

Sárpo Kifli

Sárpo Mira

Sárpo Shona

Sárpo Una

Setanta

Vales Sovereign

Valor

Violetta

Go To The Heritage Variety List

Arran Victory

Belle de Fonternay

British Queen

Dunbar Rover

Highland Burgundy Red

Peachbloom

Pink Fir Apple

Red King Edward

Salad Blue

Shetland Black

Trixie

Witchhill

How to grow your spuds

Early, second early, maincrop  - what‘s all that about then?

There are dozens of different potato varieties, usually described as early, second early and maincrop potatoes. These names indicate when they crop, and how closely and when they can be planted. Concentrate on earlies if you’re short of space, and remember earlies are less likely to have pest problems as they’re lifted earlier in the year. Maincrops take the most space in the garden, but they tend to be the best varieties for storage.

Chitting 

Chitting means encouraging seed potatoes to sprout before planting. Start from late January or early February, about six weeks before planting. Each potato has a more rounded, blunt end that has a number of ‘eyes’. Stand the tubers with the blunt end uppermost in trays or old egg boxes, somewhere cool with plenty of natural light. Potatoes are ready to plant when shoots are 1.5-2.5cm (0.5-1in) long. Leaving two or three chits will tend to give you fewer, larger spuds. Leaving them all will tend to give you a greater number of smaller ones.

Planting 

Plant when the soil has warmed up, usually from mid-March or early April. The earlier you plant the more likely you are to have to cover the leaves overnight to protect from frost. See table for planting distances. Handle chitted tubers carefully, so as not to break the shoots. Cover the potatoes lightly with soil. As soon as shoots appear, earth up plants by covering with a ridge of soil so the shoots are just buried and the leaves poking out. Keep earthing up throughout the season.

Harvesting

Potatoes will be ready for lifting from June until September, depending on varieties and growing conditions. Earlies can be lifted as soon as they’re ready, when above-ground growth is still green, and usually as soon as the flowers open. Second and maincrops can be left until September. Two weeks before you lift, cut the tops off at ground level. This gives the skins time to toughen up, making them less prone to damage from lifting and better for storing.

Find the best potatoes the different cooking methods and then search for more information on each potato in our potato variety lists:

• Boiling
• Baking
• Roasting
• Chipping
• Mashing
• Salads