early « TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs

January 19, 2010

Charlotte – early potato variety

Filed under: potato — Tags: Charlotte, early, new, potato, variety — TopVeg @ 9:44 am

Charlotte is a variety of potato which may be harvested early in the season.

charlotte potato

Charlotte:

is a second early – planted between February and May and harvested from July to October
has moderate yields
has uniform, pear shaped potatoes
are smooth, yellow skinned potatoes
has a high resistance to foliage and tuber blight
is susceptible to potato cyst nematode
has medium dry matter
has yellow flesh
is waxy when cooked
is a good salad potato
may be eaten hot or cold
is suitable for growing in containers

Click this link to buy the early potato variety Charlotte.

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January 3, 2010

Early Potato Seed FAQ

Filed under: potato — Tags: early, new, potato, seed — TopVeg @ 11:27 am

New gardeners, thinking about growing potato seed,find the associated jargon a bit confusing, so here are some Frequently Asked Questions.
1. What is chitting?

chitting early potatoes means allowing the potatoes to open their eyes and start to grow the small shoots (from the eyes) which are called chits.
click this link for more information on how to chit potatoes.

: potato-chit-day20

2. Can we put seed potatoes straight in the soil now?

wait until the soil warms up.
the soil & weather conditions in the garden determine when the seed can be planted. These conditions do not usually occur until March.
your soil is ready when it has dried out so that it does not stick to your hands when you run your fingers through it.
if the soil is cold and wet, your potatoes are better chitting on the window sill!

3. Will potatoes grow anywhere?

potatoes can be grown in the vegetable garden, in raised beds, pots or in containers.
potatoes should not be grown in the same soil year after year. It is best to leave a 7 year gap before growing potatoes in the same soil again.

4. Are there any good types of potatoes that we should look out for?

different potato varieties cook in different ways and mature at different times.
early potato varieties are the new potatoes that are usually boiled with mint and served hot with butter or eaten cold.
early potatoes are the first potatoes to be harvested, usually in early June.
click this link for a short list of early potato varieties.

Please fill in the comments section below if you have any potato seed questions to add to our list of FAQ.

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December 13, 2009

New Early Potato Varieties

Filed under: potato — Tags: early, new, potato, seed, variety — TopVeg @ 3:47 pm

Early (or new) potato varieties 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.

Examples of early potato varieties are:
Ultra-Early Potato – Lady Christl

LadyChrstll-new-potatoes

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

Extra Early Salad Potato – Rocket

rocket-potatoes

* 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

Maris-Bard-new-potatoes

TopVeg favourite!

* 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

New (early) potato varieties can be ordered now so that they will be sent out in time to start chitting.

Comments (1)

July 21, 2009

Early Potato Varieties in France?

Filed under: potato — Tags: early, new, potatoes, seed — TopVeg @ 7:05 pm

Roger has asked for advice on which early potato varieties are grown in France.

Roger says:

“We have planted Charlotte, belle de fontain, and a couple of others non of which were First early’ s. First Earlies ’s have a very distinctive taste.” But he cannot find any first early potato seed in France.

Have any vegetable gardeners in France been able to source early potato seed?

Comments (5)

February 25, 2007

Is it too early to plant seeds?

Filed under: potato — Tags: early, plant, potato — TopVeg @ 2:01 pm

Should we follow the calendar or the weather?

Global warming, or not, this February has been warm & plants have started to grow early.

Traditionalists tell us we will have frosts in March so wait.

But watch the forecasts, or use the web.

Start planting & take precautions if frost is expected – cover the plants with fleece, evergreen branches – anything to trap warm air (like a string vest) & keep the frost off.

Wet soil is a problem because it is damaged when touched; it looses structure. Cover soil to stop the rain soaking it. But take the covers off when there is a drying rain.

To keep the rain off, cover with:

* cloches
* plastic sheet
* tin sheet
* anything waterproof that will not blow away

cover-bed-with-plastic

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