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Growing potatoes for winter harvest was once something only for a few determined gardeners. Nowadays however it is a very common practice.
The first point to understand is that potatoes have a long dormancy period which means using your own home grown potatoes which have been harvested in the summer is unlikely to work well. There are two solutions to this problem.
The first is to buy seed potatoes in July or August grown by the potato merchants. These seed potatoes will be the same as those sold for spring planting but they have will have been stored by the potato merchants in very carefully controlled conditions at exactly the correct humidity and temperature. This is likely to be, by far, the best solution.
You can try to store some seed potatoes bought in spring and use those for planting in July / August. Your chances of success however are lower than the solution given above. It is very difficult for the amateur gardener to get the conditions exactly correct for six months or so storage.
The varieties of potatoes available from the potato merchants for sowing in July / August will be more restricted compared to the varieties available in spring. The potato merchants will restrict them to those varieties which are suitable for a July / August sowing.
Varieties for July / August sowing which are commonly available and we recommend include, Charlotte, Jazzy and Nicola.
The above three recommended varieties are all second early varieties and we have good reason for this rather than recommending any first early varieties. The key reasons are that when sowing seed potatoes in July / August you will be surprised by how quickly they grow.
This is because at sowing time the soil temperature will be at a much higher temperature compared to a spring sowing. The seed potatoes appreciate this and grow very quickly.
This is good news but if you are attempting to grow potatoes for an early winter harvest then first early potatoes will grow too quickly and once they are at maturity they need to be harvested and eaten in a short period of time.
Second early potatoes however take slightly longer to mature and will store in the ground longer compared to first early varieties. If you want to be eating your own home grown spuds at Christmas, second earlies give you the best chance.
As for when is the best time to sow potatoes for an early winter harvest any time between July and August is fine. At this time of year, and the next few months when your potatoes are maturing, weather conditions are the all important factor rather than where you live.
Certainly for your first attempts at growing potatoes for Christmas harvest we would strongly recommend you grow them in containers.
Chitting of your potatoes will not be required, the warmer soil will set them into growth very quickly. All other aspects are exactly the same as for normal spring sown potatoes.
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