Our potato experiments are now well over halfway through the growing season, and so far we're delighted with how they're progressing. Although each grow bag contains a different planting treatment, the plants are all looking remarkably healthy, making it an exciting time to see how the experiments develop over the next few weeks.

Healthy Plants All Round

The first thing we've noticed is just how healthy the plants are looking. The foliage is lush and green, with only a slight difference in height between some of the grow bags. At this stage it's far too early to say whether those taller plants will produce a bigger harvest, but it's certainly interesting to compare them side by side.

The Flowers Have Arrived 🌸

Several of the plants have now started to flower, while others are still producing buds.  Potato flowers vary from variety to variety, ranging from crisp white to soft pinks and rich purples, and they're one of the prettiest stages of the potato plant's life.

Our Gatsby plants are particularly eye-catching, producing beautiful pink flowers that really stand out amongst the foliage.

Did you know that potato flowers were once considered so beautiful that they were used in bridal bouquets? During the Victorian era, when potatoes became fashionable ornamental plants as well as food crops, their delicate blooms were sometimes included in wedding flowers and worn by royalty.

One of the fascinating things about potatoes is that they don't actually need to flower or be pollinated to produce a crop. The potatoes you harvest are clones of the original seed tuber, so every new tuber is genetically the same as its "mother" potato. This makes potatoes quite unusual compared with many garden crops, which rely on flowers, pollination and seeds to reproduce.

Some potato varieties produce masses of flowers, some only a handful, and others may not flower at all in a given year. A plant with lots of blooms won't necessarily produce a bigger harvest than one without any flowers, so don't worry if your potatoes never bloom. The important work of producing tubers underground carries on regardless.

🌱 What About Potato Seeds?

If flowers are pollinated, they may develop into little green, tomato-like fruits called potato berries. These aren't edible, and although they contain true potato seeds, those seeds are genetically different from the parent plant. That's why gardeners grow potatoes from seed tubers rather than berries if they want to produce the same variety year after year.

The tiny seeds inside potato berries are mainly of interest to potato breeders. To develop new varieties, breeders make carefully controlled crosses, knowing exactly which variety has been crossed with which. Seeds from berries in the garden have usually been pollinated by chance, so their parentage is unknown and the resulting plants are unpredictable. We carry out a little potato breeding ourselves, making controlled crosses and growing on the seedlings to see if one might become the next great variety.  Read about our breeding here.  

They're an interesting part of the potato's life cycle, but remember they're not edible, and you can't plant them to grow the same potato variety. Unlike seed potatoes, the seeds inside each berry are genetically unique.

(Note the picture of the potato berry is not from this year)

Plenty of Pollinators 🐝🦋

One of the nicest surprises has been the number of insects visiting the flowers. We've seen bees busily collecting pollen, along with hoverflies and butterflies making regular appearances around the plants. Hoverflies are particularly welcome visitors, as many species help control aphids by laying eggs that hatch into aphid-eating larvae.

It's always encouraging to see a healthy mix of wildlife in the growing area.

Keeping a Close Eye on Problems

No growing season is completely trouble-free, and we've noticed a little nibbling from the local beasties. Fortunately, the damage has been very minor and certainly nothing to worry about.

Perhaps even more importantly, there are currently no signs of blight. We'll continue checking the foliage regularly, especially if the weather becomes warm and humid, as early detection is always the best defence.

Watering Through the Summer

With the recent warm weather, all of the grow bags are being watered daily. Containers dry out much more quickly than plants growing in the ground, and keeping the compost evenly moist helps the developing tubers grow steadily. Sudden swings between very dry and very wet conditions can affect both the size and quality of the crop, so consistency is key.

What's Happening Underground? 🥔

Although we can't see the potatoes yet, this is the stage where they're busy swelling underground. Every healthy leaf is acting like a little solar panel, producing energy for the growing tubers. The temptation to have a quick look is strong, but for now we're leaving the bags undisturbed and letting the plants get on with their work.

Around a Month to Go...

If all goes to plan, we should be lifting the bags in around a month's time. That's when the real excitement begins! Will the chitted potatoes outperform the unchitted ones? Does planting two or four tubers in a grow bag make a noticeable difference? Will a range of size of seed potatoes produce a worse crop than similar sized ones? And what effect will cutting the tubers, rubbing off all but one shoot, or planting scabbed seed potatoes have on the final harvest?

We can't wait to find out.

As always, we'll share the results—good or bad. That's the whole point of these experiments: to discover what really happens and help gardeners make informed decisions based on real growing conditions.

Who do you think will come out on top? We'd love to hear your predictions before harvest day!

I hope you'll continue following our experiments over the coming weeks. The plants are looking fantastic, but the biggest question still lies beneath the compost... what will we find when harvest day finally arrives?