April - what to do?

[nooby]

So you can just plant potatoes from the supermarket? I want to grow just enough spuds for Christmas and new years dinner, can anyone recommend the best variety for this and when to plant?

[Creemteez]

Hi Nooby,
Gardening experts don't really recommend using supermarket potatoes as seed potatoes as they could harbour virus's. That said I've read on here of plenty of people who have used them with no probs.
I would stick to buying some proper seed potatoes as it's your first time.
Don't worry about chitting them, just get them in the ground. Iff you are doing them in bags or tyres, you'll need a decent amount (4 inch depth)of good soil or compost or well rotted hose muck (or preferably a mix of all three!) to sit them on. Make sure the majority of the eyes (thats the bits the shoots and roots will come from) are pointing upwards, then just cover them with soil, compst, whatever to another four inches or so.
When the leaves start poking through cover them with more soil etc. Keep doing this till the bags are ful or you have a.decent stack of tyres. Water copiously in dry weather and maybe invest in some potato fertilizer - though I've never used it, and still get a very good crop!
As to variety, it depends on what you like and what's available as the season is getting on a bit. A good all rounder like Maris Peer or Rooster. I love Pentland Javelin as they are great when dug young as new potatoes, but if left till they die back, mature beautifully into really useful spuds that roast, mash and bake like a dream, AND make the best chips I've had in a long time
Two lots of tyres containing three seed potatoes and dealt with as I've described should give you an ample crop for Christmas and the new year. Good luck!

[Gurberly]

.... though if you are aiming for Christmas I would plant in about August, thats what I did for Charlottes anyway

For summer harvesting we are trying International Kidney in bags and trugs - planted a few weeks ago.

[Creemteez]

Planting in August will only work if you have somewhere frost free to put them when the weather changes - and will only give you " new" potatoes. - which is fine if that's what you want.
potatoes planted now and harvested in July or August will store in thick paper sacks until well into he new year - and be good roasters. Depends what you want.

[SlugLobber]

The local Wyevales (or what used tobe wyevales!) still has seed potatoes, round here, so I reckon you can still buy them.

For Christmas spuds, the year I did them I container planted in August and just fleeced them up on colder days.