Potato Desiree our ultimate potato for creating your own wonderful fluffy mash potato. Desiree will provide you with a strong reliable cropper year after year. Its wonderful red flesh also makes it a great potato to boil and serve straight away. Probably why Desiree continues to be one of the UK’s favourite potatoes.

The kit contains:

• 1kg pack seed potatoes (approx. 12-15 tubers)
• 75g potato fertiliser
• 3 x Potato Grow Sack (50L)

How-to:

Once you receive your kit, it is best to start to 'chit' your seed potatoes as quickly as possible. This is a proccess that accelerates the growing process even before they are planted in the soil.

• Select a top and bottom of each seed potato by checking for 'eyes' or dimples in the skin where the shoots will emerge from. The one with the most eyes can be the top.
  
• Place these in a container that holds the potato upright with the top facing upwards - an old egg box is perfect for this - then simply place these in a cool, bright place and wait!
  
• The shoots will start to grow slowly; you need them to be approx. 2-3cm long and with a purpleish hue to them before they are ready to plant. This should be approx. 4-6 weeks.
  
• Now prepare your grow bag by adding suitable compost into the bottom, mixing in some of the fertilser and filling approx. 1/3 of the way up.
  
• Plant your tubers in the soil by pushing them into the soil surface with the new shoots facing upwards. Cover with more soil so the tubers are not visible. Plant 3-4 tubers only per bag. More tubers lead to a greater yield but with smaller potatoes, while fewer tubers result in fewer potatoes that are larger in size.
  
• Water the soil thoroughly. Once the shoots start to emerge wait until they are approx. 10cm high and add more soil until the shoots are almost covered again.
  

How you will receive your plants:

Selected by our team of experts and sent from our nursery, you will receive seed potatoes in early January in a breathable net bag that can be recycled as for plastic bags. This keeps the potatoes together in a pack that is nice and airy – perfect to keep them healthy while in transit.

Can’t plant straight away?

Ideally, you should aim to start chitting your potatoes (see below) within a week of receiving them, but if this is not possible, store them in a cool, dark place until you are ready to use them.

Planting tips and hints:

To protect your potatoes from frost damage, cover them with a horticultural fleece when temperatures start to plummet at night. If your planters aren't too heavy, bring them indoors on cold nights and return them outdoors during the day.

These potatoes are happiest when planted in full sun.

Harvest first early potatoes in June or July, second earlies in July-August and maincrop potatoes from late August-October once their leaves have yellowed.

Click here to view our full Potato Growing Guide.