How to Grow New Potatoes for Christmas Dinner (in a Bucket)

Can you really grow new potatoes for Christmas dinner? Yes — if you plant them THIS WEEK in a bucket.

I did it last year on my little allotment here in Tonbridge and we had buttery new potatoes on 23rd December for about 60p worth of seed. It’s one of my favourite cheap gardening ideas because you don’t need an allotment, you don’t need a greenhouse, and the supermarkets charge £3 for 500g of the same thing at Christmas.

If you’ve read my how to grow potatoes in a bucket with kids post, it’s the same method, just timed differently.

The window for Christmas potatoes is very small: 25th August to 5th September. If you are reading this on 28th August, you are right in time.

What you need (cheap version):

• 1 old bucket or compost bag, 10 litre minimum, with holes in the bottom

• 3 seed potatoes — Charlotte or Maris Peer are best for Christmas, they are second croppers NOTE; No seed potatoes? no problem, use 2 or 3 from some bought at the shop.

• Old multi-purpose compost, you can reuse it from summer pots

• A frost-free spot for late October onwards — greenhouse, cold frame, sunny porch, or even a shed window

How to do it:

1. Don’t worry about chitting for Christmas potatoes, you don’t have time. Just plant them straight.

2. Put 10cm of compost in the bottom of the bucket. Place 2-3 seed potatoes on top, sprouts up. Cover with another 15cm of compost. Water well.

3. Keep it outside in full sun through September. Water when the top feels dry. When the leaves are 15cm tall, top up with more compost (same as the kids bucket method).

4. When the first frost is forecast (usually late October in Kent), move the bucket under cover. I put mine in my little plastic greenhouse. A porch or cold frame works too. You just need to keep it above 2-3 degrees.

5. Keep watering a little, just damp, not wet.

After about 90-100 days, your leaves will start to yellow. That’s it. For me last year that was 20th December. Tip the bucket out and you’ll have 500g-1kg of perfect new potatoes.

It cost me 60p for the seed potatoes and a bucket of old compost. Compared to the shops, that’s the ultimate cheap gardening win.

I’m planting my Christmas bucket this weekend. If you want the kids to track it, grab my free Wonky Carrot Pack & growth tracker — it works for potatoes too.

Let me know in the comments if you are planting yours this week — I’ll post an update from my allotment when mine sprout.

Happy (very early) Christmas planting!

Dave The Messy Gardener, Tonbridge