[JayG]

I've only got room for a couple of rows of First Earlies, so having had to abandon Charlotte which are susceptible to eelworm, and a bad year last year with blackleg on Lady Christl, I decided to go for (hopefully) speed rather than flavour and try Rocket.

All the packs of all the varieties were £3.99 for a 2kg bag in my local GC and on getting them home there are just 21 seed potatoes, half of which weigh around 4oz (about 120g) which is at least twice the size of what is usually considered to be the "ideal" hen's egg size.

Last year the Lady Christl seeds were the same price, but the bag weighed 2.5kg and had 39 seeds in, so in the space of a year I've gone from too many to too few, and may have to take the risk of cutting up a few of them before planting. 

Perhaps it's all our fault for mentioning the small size of some of last year's seed potatoes! 

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=102013.msg1139104#msg1139104

[Willow_Warren]

I bought my Lady Cristl from T&M again this year - the sizes varied from pebbles to boulders!!!  You buy by number so I still got what I wanted.  I am sharing with my dad though, should I give him the small ones or the large ones?

I think DD did some analysis last year on potato size/yield...

Hannah

[mumofstig]

I bought my Lady Cristl  - the sizes varied from pebbles to boulders!!! 

Mine are the same - some aren't much bigger than marbles  but I still have 24 worth planting, I shan't bother with the tiny ones 

[Goosegirl]

There are garden centres where you can buy them loose, so can pick the hen egg sized ones.

[noshed]

Our lotty shop has 7 different types for £1.25 a kilo. Some are quite big but generally they look very good.

[cadalot]

Wilco 2kg bag of Maris Peer Second Earlies (26 seed potatoes) £2 something can't remember exact price
Beautiful Garden £1 Shop 8 Seed Potatoes SWIFT
Beautiful Garden £1 Shop 8 Seed Potatoes PENTLAND JAVELIN
B&Q Verve Grow Your Own  DESIREE main crop Seed Potato £3.48 or 2 bags for £6
19 Scottish Basic Seed Potatoes in the 1.75kg sack Size 35mm x 60mm Grade EC3 Class A
B&Q Verve Grow Your Own KING EDWARDS  main crop Seed Potato £3.48 or 2 bags for £6
30  Scottish Basic Seed Potatoes in the 1.75kg sack Size 35mm x 60mm Grade EC3 Class A

So quite a difference in the number of potatoes between Desiree and King Edwards for the same weight

[JayG]

There are garden centres where you can buy them loose, so can pick the hen egg sized ones.

The GC I went to did sell a few varieties loose, including Rocket, but all the hen's egg sized ones had already been picked out. 
The deal was "fill the bag for £2.99", and it was pretty obvious I wouldn't get the 25 or so I needed into one bag!   

Certainly sounds as if the suppliers and retailers between them are making a good job of trying to confuse us by playing around with the size of the spuds and the packaging as well as the price! 

[MickyB]

I like things that are cheap (and things that are free even better) however I have read that good quality seed potatoes produce far better yields and are less prone to disease and as such it is worth spending that little bit more on them........is this true or is it just a sales pitch to tempt us to part with more money?

[herbiegrowsbananas]

I'm growing Sarpo Mira this year for the first time and they are all different sizes too lol, from pebbles to boulders 

[diospyros]

I think DD did some analysis last year on potato size/yield...

Hannah

I am all agog - my Lady Christl are a range of sizes.  I was thinking of planting them in a row in order of size, but if time comes into it I need to know which end of the row to harvest first.  And should I rub off more chits on the big ones, or the small ones?

[Willow_Warren]

Went to the garden centre this lunchtime.

They had potoes loose but it was a set price of £3.99 for a bag of 10 

I didn't buy any!  I ended up buying a large bag of Charlottes for £3.99 - I've not counted them yet but I'm sure there is more than the 20 or so I need/want.

I want a few maris piper, desiree and sarpo mira - but  I don't know at the moment where I am going to get them from without paying through the nose for them! I only want single figures of each...  Will see what Wilko have to offer on Friday.

Hannah

[BabbyAnn]

And should I rub off more chits on the big ones, or the small ones?

why? 

I've planted an array of sizes in the past, including peelings (in the good old days before certifying was essential), and do you know something when it comes to harvesting, there's not a lot that says "this one was from a small spud, this one was big" LOL.

[diospyros]

when it comes to harvesting, there's not a lot that says "this one was from a small spud, this one was big" LOL.

In that case I think I will plant them in order of size then dig up one from each end to start with and see if there is any difference!

[JayG]

Given that I've barely got enough seed spuds to plant my modest 2 rows, and the mix is 50% hen's egg/50% mutant hen's egg size  I'll plant them in separate rows and see if there's any difference in productivity (won't be doing any other sort of tampering - commercial growers don't even chit them.)

[MrsLev]

I'm just appreciating how awesome my allotment shop is! 80p a kilo and got 14 uniformly sized lady Christl!