seed potatoes - what varieties?

[Alison]

I usually plant 6 14' rows, using 2 first earlies, 2 second earlies and 2 early maincrop.
I was tempted by the blight-resistant Sarpo vars from Thompson&Morgan, but they have had an unhappy comment in the cookery topic. Does anyone recommend them? Otherwise, I definitely want Red Duke of York (my utter favourite); and was thinking of Lady Christl; Yukon Gold; Roseval; and possibly Kestrel and / or Picasso. What do others recommend for flavour and good keeping quality? Some of this year's are already shooting!
Alison.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Alison, i always grow Kestrel for a second early, lovely taste and good on heavier ground.
I just must mention that i did plant Kestrel this year but when i harvested them they cetainly were not Kestrel, they must have mixed the bags up.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Alison]

Dear OH,
We have really heavy ground - thick solid red clay, so Kestrel sounds good.
I'm still finding my way round. Do you have any section in this forum, where people can post descriptions of their gardens, so we can look up and see what everyone has: soil, PH, and so forth?
Alison.

[Clive.]

Hello,
As a maincrop I have grown "Merlin" for the last 2 years with very good results....seems to have escaped slug damage which is a major factor on our medium to heavy ground.
I gave a bag of Merlin to a holiday group that stayed with us week before last..they sampled them as baked, mashed and wedges...and decided to share out the few that were left in the bag to take home...so I took that as a recomendation.
Merlin seems to be a good one to dig as the potatoes stay close under the plant..not like "Osprey" that I once tried that had to be dug from next door.!!...slight exageration there..but it seemed that way as I kept "spiking" them way out from the row.!!

"Kestrel" was ok this year..but does not seem to be performing quite as well as it once did.??

"Harmony" was tried out too..good crop but overall smaller sizes than Merlin. "Ambo" has produced some larger sized tates but a colleague did not comment too favourably on flavour when he took a few home to sample....
I add here that whilst I can second the info' on Merlin having being invited for dinner with the holiday group..I have not sampled the other types.
I try to give a few new varieties a run each year...with the initial main criteria for second early/maincrop being their reliability against slugs.!!

All the best,
Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Alison, sounds as if you could go into brick making with that clay.
We don't have an actual seperate section for posting descriptions of our gardens, we normally just tell people as and when they want to know.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Jenny Green]

Hi Alison

Red Duke of York is a good choice.
Kestrel is the potato of choice on the allotments where I used to garden.
I tried Picasso once but found them a little small and slug prone.

[sally wright]

Dear Alison,
I grow lady christl and find it to be an excellent new potato and if you have too many they make good bakers when they are mature. I grow charlotte as my mids they are good new/salads and when they are mature (and I grow extra specially) they are the best ever roasters and will keep until the end of january. My main crops are romano (red) and picasso. The picassos were huge this year but they do suffer from slug damage but they are excellent mashers and keep well.
A tip for larger potatoes is to rub off all but 2-3 sprouts before planting. I do this for the maincrops and the portion of the charlotte crop I intend to keep over winter. I also plant the earlies and maincrops at the beginning of march and the charlottes a week later (health, weather and life in general permitting).
Sharps express is noted for being good on heavy soils I believe. Another place to look for advice is the european potato database.
Regards Sally Wright.

[sally wright]

Dear Alison,
just looked for the website as it is a while since I last looked and the address is www.europotato.org/menu.php
or put european potato database into the search engine will do.
Regards Sally Wright.

[peter]

Foremost is delicous as a first early.
Nicola is a good second early that matures into something useful as a maincrop.
On my Hertfordshire clay I have not yet found a really good maincrop yet. Keep getting too much pest damage.

[jane E]

I've tried Sarpo Mira and Axona for 2 years and found them good. They're large, bulk up well, have suffered from hollow crown a little this year, but that will be the weather. They stood last year when all around them was falling prey to blight including Romano. This year I had one or two tubers with blight but I've only just dug them up. They're not particularly prone to slug damage - about a dozen tubers out of many rows. I wouldn't any longer plant maincrop varieties that weren't blight resistant. Having said that I do plant Pink Fir apple and Anya for their particular taste.Red Duke of York is one of my favourites as a first early. I've grown Lady Christl and found it a nice tasting potato. I also garden on heavy clay.

[Johnboy]

Hi Peter,
I used to garden on Hertfordshire Clay and although
when I mention Maris Piper or Maris Bard or Maris Peer I get howls of derision but as usual I stand adamant that all three of these varieties do well in your soil.
I grew Maris Bard this year and they were perfect for me. I do not grow Main Crop potatoes as for me it would be a waste of time money and effort.
I have been known to tickle the odd New Spud from the Nadine crop close to hand which is I suppose is tantamount to stealing which makes them taste even better!!
JB.

[Deb P]

I'm with you JB on the Maris Piper front! I grew my potatoes in pots this year (will be able to try them for the first time on the allotment next year, so very interested in any recommendations!)

I got some Maris Piper tubers from someone offering them on Freecycle this year, and had some super tasting spuds, why are others sniffy about them growing on clay? Are they notoriously difficult? My allotment seems to have quite different soil from patch to patch as I've been digging it over; like the Curates Egg, parts of it are excellent, some bits I could get a potters wheel out for......

[Geoff]

I'll stick with my reliable Rocket and Charlotte. I buy a bag of each for £1.60 to £1.80 a bag and do 2x25' rows of each. The 70 Kgs of Charlotte will last me to Christmas then I buy, I can't be bothered with maincrop where most the slug and blight hassle is.

[nini]

I grow in clay soil and my favorites are Swift as my early, Anya for taste and Sarpo Mira as maincrop. Sarpo isnt good straight after harvest but when everything else is tasteless sarpo is great.Red Duke was disliked by everybody in the family,but I think its a pretty plant.

[oldherbaceous]

I see prices have increased a little!
I love reading through the old posts, when I get a few minutes…..but as I have said before, it does leave me feeling a little sad, by the amount of members that have now sadly passed away.