Potato Minituber 'Congo'

Plant maincrop potatoes from March. Prior to planting, ‘chit’ the seed potatoes by setting them out in a cool, bright position (10C/ 50F) to allow them to sprout.

When growing maincrop potatoes in the ground avoid planting in soil where potatoes have grown for two years in succession to reduce the risk of disease. Prepare the planting area in a sheltered position in full sun on moist well drained soil. Dig in plenty of well rotted manure. Plant potatoes in rows at a spacing of 45cm (18"). Rows should be set out 75cm (2’, 6") apart. Place the seed potatoes into 10cm (4") deep trenches and backfill the soil to refill the trenches. When shoots reach 20cm (8"), mound up soil around the shoots leaving just a few cm showing. Repeat this process after a further 3 weeks.

Where space is limited, try growing potatoes in potato bags on the patio. Fill the potato bags by one third with good quality compost mixed with some well rotted manure. Space 3 seed potatoes in each bag on top of the compost. Fill the bags by another third and place 2 more seed potatoes on top of the compost. Finally cover them with more compost until the bags are full. Place the bags in a sunny position and water regularly to keep the compost moist.

Weed between rows and keep potato plants well watered throughout the growing season. If the risk of frost threatens, draw some soil up around the stems to protect them, or move potato bags to a frost free position in a shed or greenhouse. Maincrop varieties can be harvested approximately 20 weeks from planting when the foliage begins to turn yellow and die back.

Seeds and garden supplies will normally be delivered within the time period stated against each product as detailed above. Plants, bulbs, corms, tubers, shrubs, trees, potatoes etc are delivered at the appropriate time for planting and will be stated on the product page or in your order acknowledgement page and email.

Orders for packets of seed incur a P&P charge of £1.95.
Orders which include any other products will incur a P&P charge of £4.95.
Where an order includes both packets of seeds and other products a maximum P&P charge of £6.90 will apply - regardless of the number of items ordered.

Please see our Delivery / P&P page for further details and details of any surcharges that may apply to certain destinations.

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   Great novelty

   By M Osmond 14-06-2011

   These purple potatoes keep their colour when cooked, and you can easily pick out the occasional spoiled/bad-tasting one as they have much browner flesh. The ones we've grown so far have been quite small when harvested - long and thin. Even the plants have purple tinged stems with pretty little white flowers, so it's very easy to spot if they have escaped to other parts of the garden.