Seed Potato 'Pink Fir Apple'

Potatoes are a rewarding crop for any garden, producing generous harvests from just a few seed tubers. ‘Pink Fir Apple’ is a late maincrop variety, so give it plenty of time to develop its distinctive long, knobbly tubers for harvesting towards the end of the season.

Chitting Seed Potatoes

To give your potatoes a good start, chit the tubers before planting. Place them in trays or egg boxes with the ‘rose end’ – where most of the eyes are found – facing upwards. Keep them somewhere cool, bright and frost-free, ideally around 7–10°C, until short, sturdy shoots have developed.

Avoid warm, dark conditions, which encourage long, weak shoots. Chitting is particularly useful for early potatoes, but can also give maincrop varieties a useful head start. If you haven't had time to chit your seed potatoes, they can still be planted successfully.

Where to Plant

Choose an open, sunny position with fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil. Prepare the ground by incorporating plenty of well-rotted garden compost or manure, ideally during autumn or winter.

Avoid growing potatoes in ground where potatoes or other members of the same plant family have recently been grown. Rotating crops helps reduce the build-up of soil-borne pests and diseases.

Planting Out

Plant ‘Pink Fir Apple’ from around April, once the soil has started to warm and conditions are suitable. Dig trenches or individual planting holes around 10–15cm deep and position the seed potatoes with their shoots facing upwards.

As a maincrop potato, space the tubers around 40cm apart, with approximately 75cm between rows. Cover with soil and gently firm the surface.

Care and Maintenance

When the shoots reach around 15–20cm tall, begin earthing up by drawing soil around the stems, leaving the upper leaves exposed. Continue as the plants grow, building up a ridge around the stems.

Earthing up helps protect young growth from late frosts and prevents developing potatoes from being exposed to light, which can cause them to turn green.

Keep plants well watered during prolonged dry spells, particularly as the tubers are developing. Water thoroughly rather than little and often, and keep the area free from weeds.

A specialist potato fertiliser can be applied according to the manufacturer's instructions if your soil needs additional nutrients.

Watch for Potato Blight

‘Pink Fir Apple’ can be susceptible to potato blight, particularly later in the growing season. Look out for rapidly spreading brown patches on the foliage during warm, humid weather.

If blight is confirmed, remove affected foliage promptly and dispose of it rather than adding it to your compost heap. This can help reduce the risk of infection reaching the developing tubers.

‘Pink Fir Apple’ can also be grown in large containers or potato grow bags, making it possible to enjoy a homegrown crop even if you don't have a traditional vegetable plot.

Choosing Your Container

Choose a large, deep container with plenty of drainage holes and position it in a sunny spot. Don't overcrowd the container – giving each plant enough room for its roots and developing tubers is more important than fitting in as many seed potatoes as possible.

Planting

Add around 15cm of good-quality peat-free compost to the bottom of the container. Position the seed potatoes with their shoots facing upwards and cover with another 10–15cm of compost before watering gently.

Earthing Up

As the shoots grow, gradually add more compost around the stems, always leaving the upper leaves exposed. Continue until the compost is close to the top of the container, leaving enough space for watering.

Watering and Feeding

Potatoes grown in containers can dry out more quickly than those in the ground, so check the compost regularly. Water thoroughly when needed, making sure excess water can drain freely.

Once plants are growing strongly, a suitable potato fertiliser can be used according to the manufacturer's instructions to support continued growth and tuber development.

When to Harvest

‘Pink Fir Apple’ is a late maincrop potato, generally ready to harvest from September into October, depending on planting time, location and growing conditions.

Yellowing and dying foliage is a useful indication that the crop is approaching maturity. If you're lifting potatoes for storage, allowing the skins to firm before harvesting will help them keep better.

How to Harvest

Choose a dry day and carefully loosen the soil with a garden fork, starting away from the centre of the plant and working inwards.

Take particular care when lifting ‘Pink Fir Apple’. Its characteristically long, knobbly tubers can be easier to damage than more rounded potatoes.

Preparing for Storage

Allow freshly lifted potatoes to dry before storing, keeping them out of strong sunlight. Gently brush away loose soil rather than washing them, and set aside any damaged tubers to use first.

Storing Your Potatoes

Store sound, mature potatoes somewhere cool, dark, frost-free and well ventilated. Paper or hessian sacks are useful because they exclude light while still allowing some air circulation.

Check your stored potatoes regularly and remove any that begin to soften, rot or sprout. Never eat potatoes that have turned green.

Flavour

‘Pink Fir Apple’ is a heritage favourite prized for its rich, nutty flavour. Beneath the distinctive pink skin is firm, waxy yellow flesh that holds its shape well when cooked.

Best Enjoyed

Its waxy texture makes ‘Pink Fir Apple’ particularly good for boiling and steaming and an excellent choice for potato salads. The tubers can also be roasted, where their naturally irregular shape provides plenty of edges to crisp up.

From Plot to Kitchen

Try the freshly lifted potatoes simply boiled and served with butter and herbs, add them to warm or cold salads, or roast them alongside seasonal vegetables.

Top Tip

Don't struggle to peel those wonderfully knobbly tubers. Give them a good scrub and cook them with their thin skins on – it's easier and makes the most of the character that makes ‘Pink Fir Apple’ so distinctive.

What to Expect When They Arrive

Our seed potatoes are specially grown tubers intended for planting rather than eating. They are carefully selected and graded before being supplied ready for you to grow at home.

Seed potatoes naturally vary in size and shape, and this can be particularly noticeable with heritage varieties. ‘Pink Fir Apple’ naturally produces characteristically long, irregular tubers, so don't expect every seed potato in your pack to look identical.

Seed Potato Sizes

Seed potatoes are generally graded within a specified size range to provide suitable tubers for planting. Smaller and larger seed potatoes can both grow successfully, provided the tubers are healthy and planted in suitable conditions.

The eventual harvest isn't determined by the size of an individual seed potato alone. Variety, soil, spacing, watering, nutrition, weather and general growing conditions all play a part.

When Your Potatoes Arrive

Remove your seed potatoes from their delivery packaging when they arrive. If you're not ready to plant, keep them somewhere cool, bright, dry and frost-free with good air circulation.

Avoid keeping them somewhere warm and dark, as this encourages long, pale shoots that are easily damaged.

Ready for Planting

If your seed potatoes have already started to develop short, sturdy shoots, that's perfectly normal. Handle them carefully to avoid knocking the shoots off and plant them once soil and weather conditions are suitable.