If you’re hoping to grow your own potatoes for the first time this year, now is the perfect time to start working out where to buy seed potatoes.
It’s that time of the year already – January gives us the green light to start chitting early seed potatoes, so you can start stocking up on the best varieties right now. In fact, if you start growing potatoes, you’ll enjoy even earlier harvests.
To help you pin down the best places to buy seed potatoes, I’ve thrown together a list of my favourite retailers. Below, you’ll find five of my go-to online stockists and variety recommendations for tasty spuds later in the year.
1. Crocus
Crocus offers a huge range of plants, bulbs and vegetable seeds, but its selection of seed potatoes is just as impressive.
Whether you go for the classic Potato ‘Maris Piper’, which produces spuds with cream-white flesh, or the blue-skinned Potato ‘Blue Danube’, which has good resistance to several viruses, there are so many varieties to choose from. You can even grow potatoes in grow bags if you’re short on ground planting space.
If you’re unsure which type to start with (the options can be overwhelming!), the Baby New Potato Collection gives you the chance to experiment with several varieties at once.
2. B&Q
B&Q has a brilliant range of seed potatoes, too, from a range of reputable plant suppliers like Carbeth Plants and Marshalls Garden.
Browse seed potato mixes like this one from Carbeth Plants, which includes nine different varieties – so, again, you can experiment with multiple varieties at once and handpick your favourites.
You can also buy a Marshalls Garden Seed Potato Grow Kit, which includes Potato ‘Jazzy’, three grow sacks and fertiliser, to get you started.
3. Dobies
Dobies’ seed potato range is laid out really intuitively – there’s a section for first early seed potatoes, second earlies, maincrop seed potatoes and late season seed potatoes to help you figure out what varieties you can plant when.
Potato ‘Maris Bard’ has one of the highest ratings for first early seed potatoes, and you can start chitting them this month. It’s a good choice if you’re hoping to grow potatoes in containers on a patio or balcony.
4. Suttons
Suttons sells a huge variety of seed potatoes. With over 50 varieties to choose from, we're really spoilt for choice.
Potato 'Arran Pilot' is one of the most popular varieties on the site, and it's perfect for boiling or salads. You can also save 10% on ‘Desiree’ seed potatoes right now (those are the signature red potatoes you might have spotted at the market).
For drought-tolerant vegetables and brilliant disease resistance, go for maincrop Potato 'Cara'.
5. Thompson & Morgan
The seed potato range at Thompson & Morgan is organised into planting time sections, too. It's one of my go-to retailers for fruit trees, but its spud collection is just as strong.
The Potato ‘Favourites Collection’ includes classic varieties like Potato 'Charlotte' and Potato 'Maris Piper', and it's a great starting point for anyone who's new to growing potatoes.
Potato growing kit
These potato grow bags have a window flap so you can check on your potatoes and other root vegetables.
This potato growing kit includes three heavy duty pots, three potato varieties and some organic potato fertiliser.
An affordable pair of potato grow bags, perfect for growing spuds on a patio.
Knowing where to buy seed potatoes from is the first step towards growing delicious spuds.
