Crops › Blue Potato › Viking Purple
Viking Purple
Blue Potato in the US
Purple-skinned with white flesh, offering a striking contrast when sliced open. If you want a potato that looks cracking but still has that familiar white interior, this is your spud.
Sow window for Blue Potato generally, zone 6.
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How to grow it
You'll want to get your seed potatoes chitting a few weeks before your last frost date, you know, let them sprout a bit in a cool, light spot. Then, depending on your USDA zone, you'll be planting them out from January right through to May. Zone 3 folks might wait until May, while those in Zone 9 can get cracking in January or February. For example, Zone 6 can plant in March or April, and Zone 8 in February or March. Plant them about 4-6 inches deep (10-15 cm) and give them about 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) between each one in a row. They like a good bit of space to spread out, so direct sowing is the way to go.
Once your potato plants start to grow a bit, you'll need to 'hill up' or 'earth up' the soil around them. This protects the developing tubers from greening in the sun, which can make them bitter, and encourages them to make more spuds. Keep doing this as they grow, piling the soil up around the stems until they're a good foot (30 cm) or so high. Make sure your plot has good drainage, especially if you're growing in containers, to stop them getting waterlogged.
More Blue Potato varieties
Track your Blue Potato from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.