11 Best Types of Potatoes to Grow at Home (with Pictures)
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Ed Malaker
- Last updated:
Growing potatoes at home can be fun and rewarding. However, with so more than 25 varieties to choose from, it can be challenging to know what you should grow. If you are interested in farming potatoes and want help choosing the right variety, you’ve come to the right place. Here are several kinds that grow well in home gardens, so you can have a great harvest.
The 11 Best Types of Potatoes to Grow at Home
1. Daisy Gold Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 80 days |
Daisy Gold potatoes are popular because they are great for baking or mashing, and they also taste great. You can harvest them in about 80 days, and these yellow potatoes have flaky, moist skin. It’s resistant to disease and has high ratings in organic field trials.
2. Kennebec Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 80 days |
Kennebec potatoes are a popular variety that has smooth, thin skin and creamy texture. They’re perfect if you make many salads and soups, and many gardeners enjoy the high yield that they produce. This is a disease-resistant variety that stores well for many months.
3. Red Gold Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 90 days |
Red Gold potatoes have a unique flavor that many people enjoy, and they are easy to grow in the home garden. This potato has thin red skin with yellow flesh, giving it its name. It’s a good all-around variety, but it isn’t well suited for long-term storage, so you only want to plant this variety if you have a big appetite or a large family.
4. Red Pontiac Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 80 days |
Red Pontiac Potatoes have thin red skin, which is where they get their name. This is a good choice for baking and salads, but most gardeners avoid using it in the fryer. It’s drought resistant, so pick this variety if you often forget to water your garden or live in a hot and dry climate.
5. Rio Grande Russet Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 59–65 days |
The Rio Grande Russet is a favorite among gardeners because the harvest time is shorter than most other varieties, and you can eat your fresh potatoes in as soon as 59 days, and the harvest is often huge. These potatoes have a low starch content that is perfect for slicing and adding to salads. They can also sit in storage for a long time.
6. Magic Molly Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 95–100 days |
Magic Molly potatoes are small to medium-sized potatoes with a dark color throughout. They’re great for barbeques, and many people like to use them for roasting or baking. They’re easy to grow, but you will need to wait longer than with other varieties, as the harvest usually takes 95–100 days.
7. Masquerade Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 100–110 days |
Masquerade potatoes have dual-colored skin with a yellow base and purple coat. This is a creamy potato that many people mash or use for baking. They are easy to grow but can take more than 100 days to produce a harvest.
8. Princess Laratte Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 90–110 days |
The Princess Laratte is a yellow potato that has a nutty flavor. It can be smooth and creamy but will keep a firm texture when you cook it, making it a popular choice among chefs. Like other popular brands, producing a harvest can take a long time, often exceeding 100 days, but many gardeners will tell you that they’re worth the wait.
9. Purple Majesty Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 85 days |
The Purple Majesty Potato is a purple variety that retains its color throughout. It’s a great choice for salads and mixed vegetable dishes. It’s also a good choice for slicing into chips or fries and cooking in a deep frier.
10. Swedish Peanut Fingerling Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 90 days |
The Swedish Peanut Fingerling Potato is an older variety that produces small, versatile potatoes with a rich flavor. These are great for pan frying and baking, though many people also like to use them in salads. Harvest usually occurs about 90 days after planting.
11. Yukon Gold Potatoes
| Time to Harvest: | 90 days |
Yukon Gold is one of the most popular potato varieties in America. It’s easy to grow and produces a large crop of medium to large-sized potatoes. It’s a great choice for roasting, and many people like to use it for grilling and frying. It has a firm yellow skin that can have speckles or brown spots. Many growers like the early harvest at 65 days.
Potato Growing Tips and Tricks
- Though you can grow potatoes in pots, most gardeners plant them in the ground because they require a large amount of space.
- If you need to grow potatoes in a pot, choose a variety that you can harvest early, as these usually require less space.
- Keep the temperature of your soil between 50 degrees and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, or you can inhibit your plant’s growth.
- Plant the potatoes in early spring when temperatures are rising, there is no risk of frost, and the ground isn’t soggy.
Summary
Several varieties of potatoes grow well in home gardens, and you can choose one based on the types of food that you like to eat. For example, Daisy Gold Potatoes are good for mashing and the Red Pontiac Potatoes are great in salads and soup. If you can only grow one variety, the Red Gold Potato is a good choice because you can use it in practically anything.
Featured Image Credit: Lars Blankers, Unsplash
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