[Ivor Backache]

About new potatoes.
Planted 6 varieties (2 each) in 12 florist pots in mid March. Plenty of manure in the bottom and a good soil. All started off Indoors in small pots instead of chitting. Varieties are Lady Christl, Athlete, Casablanca, Orla, Swift and Rocket. Had a good crop from all of them, but they all tasted the same. Rocket probably had the heaviest crop, but my preference was with Lady Christl.
I have also planted 3 of each in a trench on the allotment so it will be interesting to see if there is any improvement.

[Goosegirl]

I know the feeling when you select veg for their taste and - there isn't any difference! With pots, you also get a difference in texture, but that's not the only reason you grow them for. All I can think of is (and pardon me for saying if I'm wrong here) is when you get older, you lose some of your sense of taste. If that's not the case, then are you sure they were the varieties as described? If they were then, as you say, see what difference there is in the ones growing in your trenches.

[3759allen]

i find it hard to tell difference in tastes. the only thing i can tell the difference between is supermarket garbage and home grown. this is pretty much the same with every vegetable, so the main reason why we are trying to grow as much of our own as we can.

[kermit]

I was about to start a similar thread on potato taste. Just had our first harvest of 1st earlies,  duke of York. Grew them last year in sacks and containers, this year in the ground on our new plot. This year they taste incredible, so different to last year.  Too many variables to decipher what has influenced this but in general the ones on plot that taste better had less water, no manure (ran out of time), more space, warmer spring weather, more direct Sun (south facing plot).

[solway cropper]

That's what makes growing your own such fun. You just never know what you're going to get. I've been playing about with different ways of growing spuds for the last 7/8 years and, as kermit says, there are just so many variables it becomes impossible to make more than general observations. One thing I will say is that some varieties perform far better in containers than others. Oh, and MPC is a very poor substitute for soil!

[Ivor Backache]

I wasn't just talking about flavour. We get presented with 'new' varieties on a regular basis, and I sometimes wonder if it is a rebranding of an old product. Apart from Lady Christl all the other varieties were white, round, same size and texture. Couldn't tell one from another. Bought as a pack of 30 with 6 varieties from T&M.
Main crop potatoes are a totally different proposition.
I agree about MPC. Potatoes are big feeders.