[gobs]

Charlottes were absolutely terrible here this year, Salmo  I lost most of them to Blackleg!

So I'm thinking of trying something else next year

My understanding is, that this disease comes with the seed, Mum.

[gobs]

A kilo of seed potatoes usually contains between 25 and 30 tubers. At 80p a kilo it does not matter if you do not plant all of them. What you have left you can give away.

In yor situation I would grow 10/15 earlies and perhaps a few more seconds. My choice for seconds would be Charlotte which are good for small salad potatoes to eat in their skins but also cook in other ways.

If you want a salad variety go for either Harlequin or Anya rather than Pink Fir Apple. Harlequin is charlotte X PFA and Anya is Desiree x PFA. Both have the PFA taste but not the knobbleness.

Very sound advice in my view, however, you might rethink it in the view, that she is going to grow LCh and PFA. As much on crop size and as much on the fact, that the latter is likely to go blight.

[Nikkithefoot]

Don't forget that there are also Potatoe fairs at various locations around the country. I usually go to the Whitchurch one in January. There are up to 140 varieties of spuds to choose from and they sell individual tubers from about 15p so you can really go to town on choice.

This year I grew Swift as the early, and it was swift in growing 9 weeks to digging, and the crop improved the longer it was left. I also grew Kondor which despite the dry weather we had this year performed very well, plenty of baking sized spuds. From 1 row (10plants) there will be enough Kondor to keep 5 of us in spuds until after the festive holiday.

[Kristen]

the latter [PFA] is likely to go blight.

Only if Blight strikes?  I may be lucky, but we haven't had blight around here that I can remember, including last year.

Is there a site that shows which areas have been more prone? Perhaps Portsmouth area is relatively blight free?

I haven't been reading the threads all Summer, but has there been much blight this yea (compared to last I mean - that was really bad )?

[MrsLev]

None of my neighbours have had blight yet, tbh even in a UK 'wet summer' Portsmouth's very rarely THAT wet until sept/oct and I hope to have gotten the pots up by then.

Anyway I'm committed now! If we get blight we get blight, I'll get over it. I can't be avoiding things on the premis of what ifs, I'd never leave the house!

[gobs]

It's been a very low key year for blight all over the UK.

There is a link up the banner, it might have further links to historical maps.

It's more to do with humidity and temperature, a seaside location might be indeed much more free of it.

[Kristen]

It's been a very low key year for blight all over the UK.

That's good to hear (I kinda assumed as I had not heard much that it hadn't been a problem, but good to have it confirmed). I imagine, after last year's wet, if we had had conditions that favoured blight this year it would have been a nightmare, as there must have been a lot of volunteer spuds that were infected that could have then spread easily, and extensively.

Perhaps sales of blight resistant varieties were significantly up this year.

[gobs]

It's been a very low key year for blight all over the UK.

That's good to hear (I kinda assumed as I had not heard much that it hadn't been a problem, but good to have it confirmed). I imagine, after last year's wet, if we had had conditions that favoured blight this year it would have been a nightmare, as there must have been a lot of volunteer spuds that were infected that could have then spread easily, and extensively.

Perhaps sales of blight resistant varieties were significantly up this year.

Now this cannot be disclosed either.