Potato 'Charlotte' (Second Cropping) Growing Kit

This Potato Growing Kit is great for first time growers looking to start home growing without taking up too much space. This kit contains potato tubers & 45 Litre Potato Growing Bags perfect for the patio.

Potato 'Charlotte' is a very popular variety producing pear shaped, yellow skinned, waxy tubers and creamy yellow flesh of first class flavour, eaten either hot or cold. This variety holds an RHS AGM and is frequently found in the supermarket. An excellent choice for producing out of season potatoes as a second crop. Height and spread: 60cm (24").

Second cropping potatoes are perfect for producing delicious new potatoes in autumn and right up to Christmas! These tubers are held back by growers under cold conditions until late summer so that you can plant them later in the season. They need to be kept frost free, so they make excellent crops for growing in bags in the greenhouse or in sheltered veggie plots.

Experience the joy of cultivating your own potatoes effortlessly with our Potato Grow Sacks, designed specifically for limited spaces and patio gardens. These sturdy sacks offer sufficient room for your potatoes to flourish, enhancing your gardening journey and allowing you to savour the taste of freshly harvested, home-grown potatoes. For optimal results in our 45-litre container, plant three seed potatoes at equal intervals and fill the container with compost until it reaches two-thirds full. As the plants grow, continue to add compost until the container is within 2.5 cm of the top, ensuring regular watering and the application of potato fertiliser. Early and second early potatoes can be harvested once the plants have finished flowering, while maincrop potatoes are ready when the foliage has completely died back. Simply tip the container over to collect your new tubers.

Please note potato bag design may vary.

Growing Information

Planting Potatoes are easy! They will yield a worthwhile crop under a wide range of conditions. Traditional winter digging incorporating well-rotted farmyard manure and trenching in more manure or fertiliser in spring undoubtedly produces the best crop but is very hard work! Why not try for reasonable yields with less effort? Loams and light soils don’t need digging. Natural organic manures or composts can be placed in contact with the seed potatoes in a shallow trench. High potash chemical fertiliser can be placed on the surface after the tubers have been buried using a trowel or a bulb planter. A potato fertiliser can be raked into the soil during seed bed preparations. Plant early varieties 7–10cm (3–4") deep, 30cm (12") apart, and about 45cm (18") between rows. Second earlies generally need a little more space while main crop varieties are traditionally planted 37cm (15") apart with 67cm (27") between rows. Large varieties like King Edward benefit from even more room, up to 45cm (18") apart. Lightly fork between the rows to loosen the soil. If planting salads and you like a lot of smaller potatoes then plant closer together, only 25cm (10") apart. For high yielding maincrop potatoes a wider drill of approximately 75cm (30") will ensure minimal exposure to light and consequential greening.

Growing - Earth up the rows 2 or 3 times using a rake or draw hoe before the foliage gets too extensive. This provides enough soil cover to prevent tuber greening and is very effective in controlling weeds. Water well in long dry spells this is especially important when the tubers are swelling. If you water 10 days after emergence when the tubers are forming you minimise the risk of blight. It is important not to over water.

Harvesting - Earlies are ready 9–12 weeks from planting. Open flowers, if present, indicate that the first tubers are present underneath. Main crops take 14 weeks or more to mature. After natural die-back (or the removal of the foliage if blight has taken hold) leave the potatoes for 2–3 weeks in the ground to set firm skin ready for storage. As soon as skin is set lift the crop because the underground slugs are usually at their most active at the end of the season. The best test for size is to scrape away some soil. Start using when small for the delicious early potato flavour. Kids love small potatoes!