Crop timing
When to plant potatoes in the UK
The short answer, on 25 October
Not for a normal crop this year. Vercro's catalogue plants potatoes out from March to May. If you are lifting potatoes now, see what can follow them.
Potatoes are planted in spring in three waves: first earlies, second earlies and maincrop. The tubers are safe underground; it is the new shoots that frost can kill, so the date is really about when leaves will show.
The potato year at a glance
Vercro's catalogue holds a single potato row: plant out March to May, harvest June to October. The split into earlies and maincrop here follows the RHS guidance, because one row cannot show it. Month edges are approximate.
| Window | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chit (sprout) indoorsJanuary to March | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| First earlies: plantMarch to April | January: no | February: no | March: yes | April: yes | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Maincrop: plantApril to May | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Earlies: liftJune to August | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Maincrop: liftAugust to October | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: no | December: no |
Growing time in the catalogue: 70 to 120 days from sowing. Family: Solanaceae.
Your dates
Add your postcode for your area's usual frost dates, and what they mean for potato.
Want every crop at once, or a greenhouse? Open the full sowing tool.
How late frosts run across the UK
Why “later in colder areas” matters: average days of air frost in March, April and May at Met Office stations, 1996 to 2025. Potato shoots that appear in a frosty April need covering or earthing up.
| Station | Mar | Apr | May |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camborne87 m above sea level | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heathrow25 m above sea level | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Oxford63 m above sea level | 3.9 | 1.7 | 0.1 |
| Sutton Bonington48 m above sea level | 5.9 | 3.4 | 0.8 |
| Durham102 m above sea level | 6.4 | 3.3 | 0.8 |
| Leuchars10 m above sea level | 7.8 | 3.7 | 0.8 |
What changes the answer
Earlies or maincrop
Earlies go in first and are lifted young in summer. Maincrop goes in last, grows longest and is the crop for storing.Where you are
The RHS says plant slightly later in colder areas. The table above shows how much more frost inland and northern stations see in April.Soil temperature
Cold, wet soil slows everything. There is no gain from planting into a waterlogged bed a week early.Covering shoots
The RHS advises protecting young shoots in April and May with fleece, a cloche or by earthing up. That is what makes an early planting safe.
Where the sources differ
Vercro's catalogue and published advice, side by side
Broadly agree. Vercro's catalogue has one potato row, planted March to May, so it can't show the RHS order of first earlies, second earlies and maincrop. It also lists a January to March window that is really chitting, not planting; the free tools treat it that way and this page does too.
Common timing mistakes
Planting everything at once
Earlies and maincrop have different jobs. Planting them together gives you neither new potatoes early nor good keepers late.Forgetting the shoots
The tuber survives frost below ground; the leaves don’t. Keep fleece handy for any shoots up before mid May.Last year’s potato bed
Potato cyst nematode eggs can survive up to ten years in soil. See potato rotation.Leaving tubers behind
Any potato left in the ground can come up next year and carry blight over. Lift every one.
How Vercro handles this in a real garden
Vercro records each potato planting against its bed with the date it went in. Today shows the jobs that matter each morning, using your postcode's forecast and how far along each crop is.
The bed keeps a record that potatoes grew there. When you plan that bed again, Vercro checks the family history and can name a free bed where potatoes and tomatoes haven't grown.
Frequently asked questions
Keep going
Where this comes from
Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.
- Potatoes: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Potato cyst nematodes, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Potato and tomato blight, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Historic station data (monthly air frost days, 1996 to 2025), Met Office, Open Government Licence v3.0. Read 19 September 2026.
Know which bed the potatoes were in
Add your beds and plantings. Vercro keeps the bed’s history, so you are not guessing where the potatoes went two years ago.