Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Tom Hill on June 28, 2013, 10:39
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It would be helpful to have an up to date poll of potato variety following on from last years weather extremes.
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Two points.
You need to list way more varieties. The potato poll of 2011 listed 20 and there are many more out there that people may be growing.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=66438.0
It's rather early to be starting a poll when a lot of people have not had the chance to harvest them yet.
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Good point DD.
I have upped the choices.
The poll runs until the end of July. If they are not out by then they could hardly be classified as "early".
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"Early" does not really refer to the point on the calendar when you harvest them, rather their shorter growing period.
In my opinion, it would have been better to have started the poll later on and then run it for a shorter period. It could well slip down the forums and get forgotten while people do their harvesting.
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Twenty Three Varieties.
Have I missed any popular ones ?
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Our red duke of yorks are still in the ground, i cant do it yet i am worried we may get nothing in return. I forgot when i put them in :blush:
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You echo my thoughts BQ, that this poll has been created a little early.
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I've been eating Premier and am very impressed with them lovely tasty spuds!
Dug up one Pentland Javelin and it only had 6 spuds 2 gose egg size 2 chicken egg size and 2 golf balls :/
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Because of the wet, the earliest I could put potatoes in was just after mid-April, so my Duke of York shouldn't ready for lifting till the end of July (small wail)...the plants are tiny right now.
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Ema.
I have added Premier to the list. Thank you.
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Twenty Three Varieties.
Have I missed any popular ones ?
Can you edit Lady Christi to Lady Christl, please?
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Sharp eyes, mine are getting dim.
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Good at proof reading :) although I manage to miss my own mistakes sometimes. ::) Also my favourite variety. :D
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Ulster Sceptre and Sherine are also two varieties sold by one of the leading seed spud merchants, who is a member on here, so I suppose they'd better go on!
Oh, and apologies for being pedantic, but "Premiere" has an "e" on the end!
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I am growing British Queens as a second early. Are we only talking about first earlies here? My Ulster Classics aren't ready yet.
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Ulster Classic is fifth one up!
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Hey, you've just edited your post!
We could be talking about any spud, as the poll is entitled "new" potatoes, which to my mind is any potato dug prior to maturity.
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Have you got something against this thread DD or is it just me being paranoid.
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Hey, you've just edited your post!
We could be talking about any spud, as the poll is entitled "new" potatoes, which to my mind is any potato dug prior to maturity.
Sorry about the edit. I realised as soon as I posted I had missed Ulster Classic in the list.
Not sure about my British Queen ones then. I do use a few as new potatoes and leave the rest to mature. They are such a versatile spud, lovely boiled, baked, roast or mash.
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Have you got something against this thread DD or is it just me being paranoid.
Just trying to ensure it goes OK. Not just me that's giving input!
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Sharp eyes, mine are getting dim.
Thanks for fixing that. :)
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Interesting. Rocket (which I didn't grow) is making the pace.
I have lifted Swift & Winston so far with Winston by far the better in quantity & taste.
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Very impressed with my Casablanca, comparable to Winston and lovely taste.
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I have maris peers being pulled at the moment, not on the list!! ::) ;)
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Marris peer are 2nd early
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That'll be why then ;) You'll have to forgive my ignorance, still learning! Is it only first earlies that are 'new potatoes'? :)
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Just a reminder to vote before the poll closes. I would expect even the Northernmost gardener to have dug " New Potatoes" by now.
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Most of my red duke of yorks are still in the ground because the ones we have tried have been tasteless and we wont be growing them again.
They may get thrown into a soup or stew to get rid.
Anyone actually like the taste of them.
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My Swift went in very late, about 16th May. Have had a fantastic crop despite the dry weather. Haven't had any artificial watering. Will definitley grow again.
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I am finding it impossible to vote because it is my first time growing potatoes and I have not been at all impressed by my International Kidney (nothing like true Jersey Royals) and only slightly more impressed by my Winston :( The only one we love and would grow again is the Charlottes and they are not first earlies even though they were ready at the same time! :blink:
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Had some Vivaldis for tea tonight. Not a massive yield but very tasty and low carb. Did a side by side taste test with Vivaldi salad potatoes bought in Sainsburys and the home grown ones won the family vote. Very happy.
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I am finding it impossible to vote because it is my first time growing potatoes and I have not been at all impressed by my International Kidney (nothing like true Jersey Royals) and only slightly more impressed by my Winston :( The only one we love and would grow again is the Charlottes and they are not first earlies even though they were ready at the same time! :blink:
Hence my comment early on in the thread!
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I lost every last plant to blackleg. 2 years blight followed by this years blackleg. Think I'll grow something else instead next year.
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With two days to go the placings are for most successful first early :
1. Rocket
2. Lady Christl.
3= Arran Pilot
3= Pentland Javelin.
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Just added my vote for Casablanca. Very clean. Tasty. Good germination in a bad year for it. Accent I think are tastier but only about half germinated so that's why they don't get my vote.
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Just twelve hours left to register a vote. I can't believe despite a cold start that only 40 odd people have tried their first earlies.
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I don't understand what this thread is asking. Should it be called 'Which new potato has grown the best this year in your personal experience?' Or 'Have you tried a new variety of new potato this year and why?' Or 'Are you stuck in a rut and grow the same new potatoes every year and which ones?' Or "Which new potatoes are popular and for what reason?' Or 'What do you class as a new potato?' Or 'Have you lifted a main crop spud yet and if you have is it an early?' Or "If you have grown more than one early potato variety which has produced the highest yield?' Or "How do you measure the success of a new potato, by taste or by weight?' Or 'What does success mean when growing potatoes?' Or 'Which new potato has had the most successful marketing strategy this year?' :unsure:
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All my first earlies were very poor,swift,vanessa and pentland javelin,all i can think is the cold spring didnt help them.They had plenty of manure in,planted well and then never came through for ages,poor top growth,i knew they were going to be poor before i dug them up.
The secoond earlies charlottes are a total different ball game,good top growth with a lot of stems on each plant,im seriously thinking of just growing these next year.
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Lady Christl - excellent!
Annabelle - fabulous - the best we've ever had, but relatively low yield!
Charlotte still to come.
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M arron pilot have been a great crop, all grown in large potato bags and 12 inch tubs, just picked a load more today
My charlotte in bags and tubs still to come, be starting on them mid aug I expect.
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I have not bothered to vote, as I have tried almost all of the varieties listed and all with one notable exception are not worth harvesting in my experience of them!
I grow quite a lot as I sell them at two of our local shows in July, whereas they will take anything without looking and pay top notch in the supermarkets, when buying mine they examine and poke and ask all sorts of questions as if I were trying to poison them,before they part with their cash!
I have had a very good crop of medium sized very clean potatoes this season, unlike some other plot holders who have shown me their egg sized crop, of Rocket etc!
Potatoes are a funny crop, what grows well in one soil maybe does not do so well in another!
Cheers!
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I don't understand what this thread is asking. Should it be called 'Which new potato has grown the best this year in your personal experience?' Or 'Have you tried a new variety of new potato this year and why?' Or 'Are you stuck in a rut and grow the same new potatoes every year and which ones?' Or "Which new potatoes are popular and for what reason?' Or 'What do you class as a new potato?' Or 'Have you lifted a main crop spud yet and if you have is it an early?' Or "If you have grown more than one early potato variety which has produced the highest yield?' Or "How do you measure the success of a new potato, by taste or by weight?' Or 'What does success mean when growing potatoes?' Or 'Which new potato has had the most successful marketing strategy this year?' :unsure:
You are being pernickety and awkward for the sake of it. Of course it means 'which new pot did best for you this year'. Taking the time to type out such a long diatribe about something you apparently don't understand suggests otherwise.
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Please chill out guys - you can always try growing rice or pasta ::) if spuds don't agree with you for any reason (even Rocket is only a spud, not science! :wacko: ;))
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My 'Belle de Fontaney' first early new potatoes have been stunning this year - huge yield, really tasty.
My 'Pink Fir Apple' new potatoes (I think are a maincrop) - first 2 bags - got less than I planted and they were tiny? ??? NO idea what happened there as the next 2 bags of these were chocka with a lovely delicious yield.
2 varieties I love to grow and likely to grow again. ;)
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Just twelve hours left to register a vote. I can't believe despite a cold start that only 40 odd people have tried their first earlies.
I've been on and off the 'puter all day while watching the racing and I didn't see this thread until now so too late to vote.
Not that I planted any of the above ::)
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You are being pernickety and awkward for the sake of it. Of course it means 'which new pot did best for you this year'. Taking the time to type out such a long diatribe about something you apparently don't understand suggests otherwise.
Well that told me then :ohmy: I'm not looking for an argument just clarification. But what do you mean by 'best'?
I found Lisa's post informative and the potato she mentioned wasn't even on the list.
I come on this forum to learn something and all I've learnt from this thread is that more people planted Rocket than any other. So Rocket had the 'best' marketing strategy.....maybe. Perhaps you would like to elaborate?
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I have not bothered to vote, as I have tried almost all of the varieties listed and all with one notable exception are not worth harvesting in my experience of them!
Well Jim,
Why are you on the forum at all ?
You are the very person who could be helpful in sharing that vast experience. We remain in the dark as to this peerless variety.
In your opinion of course. The question as to "best" will always have, among other variables such as soil, treatment, weather etc., a degree of subjectivity. We continue to learn from experience and one another, if the other is willing.
Edited to separate quote from reply.
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My Ulster Classics were fine, as we're my second earlies British Queen, although I have had slightly better yields in the past. Oddly the British Queens were ready at the same time as the firsts this year. Both very good tasting spuds. BQ mash is wonderful.
I might do double second earlies next year and forget the firsts, just on basis of yield. I got a cracking yield of Edgecote Purple the other year, but it's not a good boiler, but excellent roast, baked and sauté.
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Well Jim,
Why are you on the forum at all ?
You are the very person who could be helpful in sharing that vast experience. We remain in the dark as to this peerless variety.
In your opinion of course. The question as to "best" will always have, among other variables such as soil, treatment, weather etc., a degree of subjectivity. We continue to learn from experience and one another, if the other is willing.
Right ho. So to develop the interest in the thread further it would be informative to have a guess at the single spud on the list that Jim in his wide experience rates above all the rest. My guess is that it isn't Rocket!
If he's selling his secret spud at shows then in my view the only spud people would put their hand in their pocket for would be International Kidney. Right Jim?
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Whilst you all guess at jim's favourite potato, could I ask what might be a daft question please? As I have never really had a successful crop of any sort of potato ( 3 yrs, blight, blight, blackleg) and I don't have an allotment, just a patch in the field next door, I don't really know what good looks like. If you pick earlies at the early stage ( the size you get in the supermarkets, say 3 or 4 cm long) what would be a good weight of crop per plant please?
My post blackleg charlottes produced about 500g per plant. Was that a reasonable crop?
And I guess you aRe right about the international kidney!
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Whilst you all guess at jim's favourite potato, could I ask what might be a daft question please? As I have never really had a successful crop of any sort of potato ( 3 yrs, blight, blight, blackleg) and I don't have an allotment, just a patch in the field next door, I don't really know what good looks like. If you pick earlies at the early stage ( the size you get in the supermarkets, say 3 or 4 cm long) what would be a good weight of crop per plant please?
My post blackleg charlottes produced about 500g per plant. Was that a reasonable crop?
And I guess you aRe right about the international kidney!
Well Jacky if you are having that bad luck with blight and blackleg then you could try doing what I do and that is to grow your spuds under black polythene.
As I understand it blight is not carried by rain but rain causes the blight spores already in your soil to bounce up and splash the leaves and if the humidity is right it infects the plant. If you can stop that happening then you reduce the likelihood of getting the disease. I used to get blight and spraing as my two worse potato enemies but since I've grown them under black polythene I've reduced the problem if not eradicated it completely. Last year when it was really wet and loads of potatoes were lost to disease I managed to harvest about three quarters of my crop and they saved well with regular inspection and making sure any soft ones were not infecting the others.
The worst disease you can have is spraing because you can't see it at the time of harvest as the potato looks normal and you store it only to discover later when you peel it or cut it up that it has those brown marbled marks running right through it and it's useless. At least with blight you can usually see that the spud is not quite right before you go to the trouble of storing it.
So why not give it a go?
I couldn't go back to the old ridge and furrow method now as it's so much easier with polythene and you don't have to weed either. The only thing you do have to do is make sure you have some irrigation pipes running underneath the polythene for really dry spells but some years I've not bothered using them and watered the foliage instead and the spuds bulk up just as well.
Some tips.
Spead some well rotted manure on the surface before you lay the polythene. You don't have to dig the manure in.
Make sure you weigh down the polythene well so that it doesn't blow away. I use house bricks....not just round the edges but in-between the plants as well. If you stand the bricks on their edges then you have some 9inch supports to lay cardboard over them to protect them from frost. Getting the plants off to a good start is important in my view as it affects the final weight of crop.
When you cut the slots in the polythene for the plants to grow through increase the distance between the plants by 6 inches because when you grow them this way they tend to spread out on the surface. A potato produces most of its tubers just below where the haulm meets the soil and because you don't bury the initial seed potatoe but just press it in so that it is only just covered with soil it will spread sideways. That's the beauty of it because when you lift the polythene there's hardly any digging involved and all the little darlings are sitting there on the surface ready for you to gather like windfall apples.
To your question I would say that was a reasonable weight of spud given that it was a diseased spud in the first place but I wouldn't try storing them over winter. I'm never bothered by weight of crop (within reason) as the point of growing your own is to get a decent tasting end product. If you want loads of bland potatoes there's a supermarket down the road. That's why Lisa's post was in keeping with the point of the forum and of was of some value.
It's raining out there, that's why this is such a lengthy reply :lol:
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Blight does not splash up from the soil it get's blown in on the wind.
More info if you open the What is Potato blight link given on the Potatato Council page here
http://www.potato.org.uk/publications/what-potato-blight
Possibly you get a better yield although your haulm maybe infected, because the spores cannot wash down into the soil to infect the tubers below. Cutting off top-growth, and removing it, as soon as you suspect blight works for most of us :)
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Blight does not splash up from the soil it get's blown in on the wind.
More info if you open the What is Potato blight link given on the Potatato Council page here
http://www.potato.org.uk/publications/what-potato-blight
Possibly you get a better yield although your haulm maybe infected, because the spores cannot wash down into the soil to infect the tubers below. Cutting off top-growth, and removing it, as soon as you suspect blight works for most of us :)
Yes that's what I don't understand. The spores are said to be carried by the wind and we only get it when it rains. I'm OK with that, always have been. So why do we have to buy blight free seed every year and why do some people that have had blight say that they get a healthy crop of volunteers the following year? If the spores in the soil are not a problem then why do they keep telling you to avoid contaminating your soil with infected tubers? If the spores in the soil are only a problem when they get blown away by the wind then you're going to get somebody elses' spores and not your own unless of course the rain carries it upward locally so you are in effect contaminating yourself.
I can't find the link that said it was caused by deflection upwards but it makes sense to me as well as it being brought in on the wind. Any way the proof of the pudding and all that and if Jacky has not had any success following the traditional way of growing she woudn't lose much by trying a different method.
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Blight as far as we know can only live in living plant material., never in soil alone.
If volunteer potatoes were blighted the year before, they grow in the spring and produce spores to infect plants elsewhere. You don't contaminate your soil.
If they tubers weren't blighted then they may produce a good crop - but how do you know?
Most outbreaks start with spores from outgrade piles of blighted potatoes from last year that haven't been disposed of or killed as they should have been, or the spores blow across from Europe :blink:
http://www.potato.org.uk/news/battling-blight
Potatoes grown for seed are grown in areas of very low risk and the fields are inspected many times before they are certified as disease free., for planting the following year.
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Thanks for the suggestions, I may try the plastic next year. I thought I had it licked this year with potato bags and commercial compost, but the blackleg found them. I was quite pleased with my 500g per plant considering the disease, I didn't really expect anything given the state of the tops.
I really just wondered what they might have done if they had stayed healthy. Perhaps I'll be lucky and find out next year :)
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Blight as far as we know can only live in living plant material., never in soil alone.
If volunteer potatoes were blighted the year before, they grow in the spring and produce spores to infect plants elsewhere. You don't contaminate your soil.
If they tubers weren't blighted then they may produce a good crop - but how do you know?
Most outbreaks start with spores from outgrade piles of blighted potatoes from last year that haven't been disposed of or killed as they should have been, or the spores blow across from Europe :blink:
http://www.potato.org.uk/news/battling-blight
Potatoes grown for seed are grown in areas of very low risk and the fields are inspected many times before they are certified as disease free., for planting the following year.
Thanks for the information. So the piles of feed potatoes that are rotting into the soil on my next door neighbour's farm are not putting their spores into the soil. That's a relief to know. There's an interesting discussion about this on the organic gardening forum as it seems to be accepted that the spores survive in the soil but obviously they like me have been misinformed. There's a lot of wacky understanding about it.
Jacky, in the light of what Mum has said forget the polythene for curing your disease problem even though it seems to have cured mine particularly that dreaded spraing virus but you might want to do it for ease of growing and take the easy life. No heavy digging and searching for spuds that you've deliberately buried which is not necessary. You just need to find some way of keeping the light from greening the tubers (some people use straw) and some protection from frost when they are poking their noses out (straw again would do it). Good luck. ishttp://dtvideo.com/video/6e48ebe059f75ae1c31dfcfd11530374.html?fid=Strip.
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Thanks all. Perhaps I need some potato luck too! Mind you, I'm not really complaining... Lots of other things are growing fine, and you can't win them all. :) :)
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I noticed that there are some negative posts for "Red Duke of York". All I can say is that mine are lovely. Only thing you could claim to be a down side is the splitting if left in boiling water a tad too long. They do need to be watched. Other than that, lovley taste. :)
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It will all depend on the soil they're grown in :nowink:
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I noticed that there are some negative posts for "Red Duke of York". All I can say is that mine are lovely. Only thing you could claim to be a down side is the splitting if left in boiling water a tad too long. They do need to be watched. Other than that, lovley taste. :)
MOS is right what is good for one wont be for another, we didnt rate the red duke of yorks and i wont grow them again. I may just stick to second earlies and mains as these suit us far more but its all worth trying
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Early's are much better just steamed :)
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Sorry, I didn't mean to annoy anyone with my reply, I was just saying mine were lovely. Never thought of actually steaming them. That should stop the skins splitting I suppose. Cheers :)
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I am sure you have not annoyed anyone ! And I was just voicing a personal opinion :)
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I am sure you have not annoyed anyone ! And I was just voicing a personal opinion :)
course you were - I was just explaining why some people might not like them - that's why you got the ;) on my reply. Here's another one ;)
:D
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my rocket turned out fine , i enjoyed eating them too
:D