January 27, 2008

Early Potato Varieties to grow in the Vegetable Garden

Filed under: fruit, potato — Tags: new potato, variety — TopVeg @ 6:22 pm

There are several different varieties of early potatoes to grow in the vegetable garden, and some are listed below with their specific characteristics.
The three growing seasons for potatoes are:

New Potatoes, or earlies

Second earlies

Maincrop

Early potatoes are planted from January to March and are ready for digging from May-July.
Second earlies are planted between February and May and harvested from July to October.
Maincrop potatoes are planted in April and harvesting is in September and October.
Second earlies and maincrop can be stored over the winter.
Examples of early potato varieties are:
Ultra-Early Potato – Lady Christl

high yielding
numerous uniform attractive tubers
good all round disease resistance, although it is slightly susceptible to Foliage Blight
excellent cooking qualities.

Extra Early Salad Potato – Rocket

firm, waxy texture tubers
good for chipping
responds well under polythene
best under long day length conditions of Northern Europe

Very early – Winston

good yields
bold white tubers
a very short growing season
good drought and heat tolerance
powdery scab resistance
masher, chips,bake,roast

First Early Potato – Sharpes Express

low resistance to dry rot, late blight on foliage and late blight on tubers

First Early Potato – Red Duke of York

low resistance to late blight on foliage, late blight on tubers, common scab, potato leafroll virus and potato virus Yo .

First Early Potato – Maris Bard

high yielding and early bulking
good resistance to potato virus Y, gangrene, potato leaf roll virus, drought, damage and bruising
moderately susceptible to spraing, powdery scab
susceptible to potato cyst nematode
medium dry matter with good boiling and frying quality
good all round cooker

Second Early Potato – British Queen

round tubers
white skin

Second Early Potato – Charlotte

moderate yields
uniform, smooth skinned tubers
high resistance to foliage and tuber blight
susceptible to potato cyst nematode
medium dry matter
waxy cooked texture
salad potato

Second Early Potato – Kestrel

good yields of very attractive, long oval, coloured tubers
good all round cooking quality
good chipping potential, particularly early in the season

Second Early Potato – Edzell Blue

heritage variety
very floury texture
mashes & bakes well, though difficult to boil
best known blue- skinned variety

14 Comments »
Hi Top Veg,
That is really good info, last year when I first tried growing potatoes I left
it a little late, we still have a reasonable crop but with that info I will do
better this year. Thank you.
Cheers Mark
Comment by Mark – January 27, 2008 1:10 pm
Hi Mark
Thanks for that – somehow we often rush earlies – we wait for ages for
conditions to be right, but still don’t seem to have everything in place! Good
luck with this years planting.
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg – January 27, 2008 2:08 pm
[...] for the vegetable garden. Below are descriptions of some more examples,
to be added to the ten early potato varieties posted [...]
Pingback by Top Veg » Blog Archive » Which variety of Early Potatoes to Grow
in the Vegetable Garden? – January 28, 2008 5:29 am
It’s so hard to find the ‘perfect’ first early, isn’t it? They all have pluses
and minuses. I like my trusty ‘Orla’, but I experiment with others every year.
This year, though, I’ll definitely be planting mine in February. Winters are
so warm now there’s no point waiting until March.
Comment by Soilman – January 28, 2008 2:01 pm
Hi Soilman
I had forgotten you were an Orla fan – it looks good, and we like bakers! By
chance we have included it in today’s list!
Best wishes
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg – January 28, 2008 8:24 pm
We have mixed up some Valor with some Lady Christl on our allotment.
Am I right in thinking that the ones that are flowering already withlight
purple flowers are the Lady Christl? or can they flower at the same time – as
I understnad Valor has e same colour flowers.
Comment by Barbara – June 4, 2008 7:46 pm
Hi Barbara
You are right. Both varieties have the same red/violet flower. But Valor is
maincrop, with tall plants which have many berries (after flowering.) Lady
Christl is a first early, & the plant only grows to a medium height. The
berries are absent….
The new potatoes will be slightly different -
Valor are shorter with a white skin & cream flesh. Lady Christl are longer
with cream skin & light yellow flesh.
Hope that helps sort it out!
Comment by TopVeg – June 5, 2008 4:06 am
[...] Maris Bard is a first early potato variety. [...]
Pingback by Top Veg » Blog Archive » Maris Bard Potato Flower – July 25, 2008
5:36 am
I live in Llandudno, North Wales. Can you advise me as to how early I can chit
extra early potatoes please?
Comment by John Hulton – November 14, 2008 4:39 pm
Hi John
You could start some now, spread them out in shallow trays and keep them very
cool and light.
If they have plenty of light, it will hold the sprout back so that you get the
tough, green shoot we are after.
If the shoots start to go spindly, they are not getting enough light.
Let us know how you get on
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg – November 14, 2008 7:11 pm
Starting to think about 2009 I found your blog and the ’spud u like’ feature
very appropriate.
Comment by Hortoris – December 16, 2008 9:33 am
Thanks Hortoris
good to hear from you
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg – December 16, 2008 11:19 pm
Thinking about ordering for 2009 also. We particularly enjoy early new
potatoes but are so often disappointed if the potatoes disintegrate and go
mushy on boiling so try to go for the waxier varieties to avoid this. Would
Orla fall into this category?
Comment by Jane – January 4, 2009 9:30 pm
Jane
Orla are a waxy potato – so you should be fine. They will cook well – (and
taste fantastic!)
Let us know what you think of them when you have cooked them – Happy New Year
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg – January 4, 2009 10:46 pm

Comments (3)

January 24, 2008

How Many Potatoes Does One Seed Potato Produce?

Filed under: potato — Tags: seed — TopVeg @ 9:03 pm

It is useful to know how many potatoes will be produced by one
seed potato when calculating how many seed potatoes to plant in the vegetable garden.

The number of potatoes produced by each seed potato varies according to:
variety
number of chits
apical dominance
planting distance
early or maincrop
growing conditions etc…

Any number of new potatoes, from 2 – 10, can be produced from one seed potato.
But most vegetable gardeners would expect at least 6 and preferably 8 -10 new potatoes from each seed tuber planted in the vegetable garden!

Comments (0)

How Many Potatoes Does One Seed Potato Produce?

Filed under: fruit, potato — Tags: Add new tag, new potato, plant, seed potato — TopVeg @ 12:06 pm

early-potatoes

It is useful to know how many potatoes will be produced by one seed potato when calculating how many seed potatoes to plant in the vegetable garden.

The number of potatoes produced by each seed potato varies according to:

variety
number of chits
apical dominance
planting distance
early or maincrop
growing conditions etc…

Potatoes-King-Edward

The new potatoes, in the photo below, all came from one root.

new-potatoes

Any number of new potatoes, from 2 – 10, can be produced from one seed potato. But most vegetable gardeners would expect at least 6 and preferably 8 -10 new potatoes from each seed tuber planted in the vegetable garden!

Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

Brussel sprouts for the winter

Filed under: brassicas — Tags: brussel sprouts, sprout — TopVeg @ 2:25 pm

Brussell Sprouts produce throughout the winter.

The early Brussell Sprouts have been fantastic this year. The variety was Bridget and they are still producing. The photos show how tall they are.

sprout stalks

They were staked early on, to prevent them falling over, but they had to be restaked with an even longer post. They are twice as tall as the garden spade! They have been picked 4 or 5 times, and there is still another picking.

The photos below are of the later variety, not Bridget. Although not such good croppers or quality, they are a fair sample of tight, round sprouts with bright, clean leaves.

sprout buttons

The tops are perfect now, and make a change from eating sprouts. The tops have still got a bit of white fly. Probably due to the very mild time. But they wash out, and do not spoil the eating.

The late variety have not been so successful. The sprouts are looser, and not so tight on the stem. They have only just come to harvest.

Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

How Many Seed Potatoes to Buy?

Filed under: fruit, potato, root veg, tomato — Tags: Add new tag, plant, potato, seed potato — TopVeg @ 11:55 am

How Many Seed Potatoes to Buy?

new-potatoes-lifted

When calculating how many Seed Potatoes to buy, gardeners have to know what space is available in the vegetable garden for growing the potatoes.

Potatoes are grown from ’seed’ potatoes, which are small, immature potatoes or tubers.

Seed potatoes are sold ‘loose’ in old fashioned hardware shops and garden centers, but it is more common to find them in small, sealed packets.

To work out how many potatoes to buy, decide where the potatoes will be planted and measure the length of the rows available.

Early Potatoes are planted:

30cm (12in) apart from each other
in rows 60 cm (2ft) apart

So if the row is 6ft long, you will need 6 potatoes (remember that if there are only 5 seed potatoes in the packet you can divide the largest potato into 2).

space-potatoes

Main-crop potatoes are planted:

35cm (15in) apart
in rows 75cm (2ft 6in) apart

If possible, rows should run from North to South so each plant gets it’s full share of sun.

maincrop-potato-row

Growing potatoes takes up a lot of space in the kitchen garden, and if space is at a premium, early potatoes take precedence over main crop, because:

earlies are more valuable than main-crop
homegrown early potatoes have more flavour than others
early potatoes are expensive to buy.

The first steps for growing potatoes are:

Plan how many potatoes to grow, and whether to grow earlies and/or maincrop
Choose the potato varieties you want to grow
Prepare the soil in the vegetable garden
Buy the seed potatoes & look for certified seed
Chit the potatoes
Plant the potatoes

It is easy to calculate how many seed potatoes to buy when you consider what space is available in the vegetable garden for growing the potatoes. Remember that unblemished, clean, certified seed potatoes are worth the investment!

Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

How to Divide, Cut or Split Seed Potatoes

Filed under: potato — Tags: chit, new potatoes, plant, potato, seed potato — TopVeg @ 7:10 pm

Large seed potatoes may be cut into several pieces, as long as each piece
contains at least one eye. The ideal seed potato is the size of a hen’s egg.
The eye of the potato is a leaf scar with a depressed lateral bud. This bud will
grow into the shoot, which appears above ground, and also produces the new tubers below ground. When the eye first starts to grow the new shoot is called a chit.
How to Divide, Cut or Split Seed Potatoes:

divide potatoes a day or two before planting, so they have time to heal

use a clean knife, to prevent spreading disease from one potato to another

cut when sprouts/chits are 1/4″ long pieces should be about the size of a small egg.

cut pieces should be block shaped, with at least one eye or sprout, but two are preferred. Thin slices of potato are no good.

cut lengthwise, across the top, to divide the chits that usually group there.

potato-chit-day20

MBard-potato-chit-day20

part of the center core of the potato should be in each piece.

cover the cut potatoes with powdered limestone, to dry the cut up. Or sprinkle with flowers of sulphur, to stop any disease entering the cuts.

let the potatoes “heal” by storing them at 65-70 degrees with fairly high humidity. The humidity is important to stop the potatoes dehydrating. The cut surface will develop a protective coat that can help prevent seed decay. Covering the box with clear plastic film will also stop dehydration.

There are pros and cons to cutting seed potatoes into several pieces before they are planted.
The advantages of splitting seed potatoes are:

large seed potatoes are utilised to the full

less tubers are produced per seed, so each tuber harvested is bigger

apical dominance is broken, releasing more eyes to sprout
expensive seed potatoes go further in the vegetable garden

saves buying another packet, if just need one more seed to finish the row

Disadvantages of dividing seed potatoes are:

bacteria & pathogens may be spread between the potatoes on the cutting knife.

Large seed potatoes may be divided up into several pieces, as long as each piece contains at least one eye, to achieve the ideal seed potato size, equivalent toa hen’s egg.

Comments »
Hi Top Veg,
Just to answer your question about my signal box.So far I have relied on the
p-lants seeding themselves, some of the plants are taking over so this year I
will have to split plants up and move them around a bit.I wil also add seed
this year to introduce a bit more variety.
Cheers Mark
Comment by Mark – January 15, 2008 7:52 pm
Hi Mark
That is amazing – so good to know they are reseeding. Do you have signal box
open days?

Comments (0)