Potato decisions

[Dead Dogs]

My go to spuds, when living in the far north of Scotland, was Pentlandite Javelin and Kestrel.
The Javelin make great fluffy mash and boiled. the Kestrel are great for roasts and chips.

Both did well in the very wet conditions of Caithness and suffered less slug damage than others I tried.
Now I'm further south I may try new varieties.

[Greenleaves]

Creature of habbit here so Pentland Javelin for me

[Jimny14]

Now then people, it's that time of year that my thoughts move back to thinking about potato ordering. Now I'm either going to do two varieties (Charlotte as I grew them this year and another for comparison) or grow fewer numbers of several varieties. I've not got much space (about enough for 36 spud plants) but I noticed today wilkos have started stocking their spuds. They have anya, cara, kestrel, swift, nicola and sharpes express in small packs 5 seed spuds for a quid which got me thinking, I could do a variety test with five or six different varieties in this next year.
Does anyone know of anywhere else where I can get small numbers of spuds to check out some different varieties to save me buying a Kg and only having ability to test 2 or 3 varieties a year. Or would people recommend growing fewer varieties but larger numbers to make a bigger sample size for each variety?

[jackarmy]

Lidl also do similar bags of spuds for a pound, they tend to arrive a bit later than the rest tho.

[Twynyrodyn]

I tried red Duke of York. Brilliant crop and they made very good crispy roast potatoes.Family were disappointed that there were non left for Christmas Day! I am South but on heavy clay.

[Snadger]

After a trial of various cultivars on my plot I have to say that Charlotte are my favourite. Even though they are an early I dug a few up this week that i had missed and they were still in good nick and a decent size.
My other favourites are Elfe 2nd early for their creamy taste and Kestrel for slug resistance and crop size.

[Jungle Jane]

Soon wyvale (& poplar nursery near me,you might have different garden centres?) have little paper bags you can fill with your choice for about £2.99,if you take a clear thin bag you could get two selections or three & put all three varieties in the one paper bag,take a pen & paper to write what they are & put it in the bag with them. Sharpes express give a big yield of first earlies.

[geepee]

Soon wyvale (& poplar nursery near me,you might have different garden centres?) have little paper bags you can fill with your choice for about £2.99,if you take a clear thin bag you could get two selections or three & put all three varieties in the one paper bag,take a pen & paper to write what they are & put it in the bag with them. Sharpes express give a big yield of first earlies.

Good thinking JJ, but ..Not wanting to rain on your parade, how would you know which Tubers were which variety.?
Maybe take a Permanent Ink Marker and put 1 dot on a tuber for one variety, 2 dots for 2nd variety and so on.

[geepee]

Lidl also do similar bags of spuds for a pound, they tend to arrive a bit later than the rest tho.

Thats probably because the Best grades are sold out and they are buying up the 'Dregs'.....?
Gp

[hamamelis]

My old little local garden shop did loose spuds, no minimum purchase, likewise the potato days events, though I don't think they go up very far north.

Great for doing trials; I got a few of loads of varieties. Shame I always lost the labels, so I could only ever tell the PFAs and the funky coloured ones.

Come to think of it, I need a new early variety/selection as well, as I've moved, and blight apparently hits here every year, and earlier than I'm used to.

[geepee]

Now then people, it's that time of year that my thoughts move back to thinking about potato ordering. Now I'm either going to do two varieties (Charlotte as I grew them this year and another for comparison) or grow fewer numbers of several varieties. I've not got much space (about enough for 36 spud plants) but I noticed today wilkos have started stocking their spuds. They have anya, cara, kestrel, swift, nicola and sharpes express in small packs 5 seed spuds for a quid which got me thinking, I could do a variety test with five or six different varieties in this next year.
Does anyone know of anywhere else where I can get small numbers of spuds to check out some different varieties to save me buying a Kg and only having ability to test 2 or 3 varieties a year. Or would people recommend growing fewer varieties but larger numbers to make a bigger sample size for each variety?

Now Jimmy,
I dont want to sound as though Im 'Blowing my own Trumpet' here.
I am a retired farmer and commercial grower of potatoes,Onions,brassicas and Salad crops ,parsnips,Carrots and Sugar beet ,Spinach and Peas, on a large scale , ie 200/250 acres (80-100 Hctares) per year. Of each.
As stated, I am now retired and happy to be nothing more than a 'Gardener'.

I realize that gardening is much more 'low key' than commercial growing but a lot of the same principles apply.

The choice of variety being of the utmost importance to keep abreast of developments in varietal breeding from the point of view of disease , virus and pest resistance.
there are many good sites available via google to access this info.

The main point from my past experience is not to be swayed by initial cost.
in the case of potatoes in particular...seed Quality is Paramount..yes you can take a pot' from the bag you bought in the supermarket...cheap....no knowledge of its history..has it been commercially stored on farm since harvest last year ? has it been treated in store with a 'Sprout suppressant ..?
is it 1st, 2nd,3rd or more generation...??.... is it Disease and Virus free..???
Check varieties for 'Eelworm Resistance ' for instance, most commercial grown crops will be grown with a 5/6 year break.
Not many of us gardeners have that privilege, Do we know the Nematode index of our soil ....? Etc,Etc,Etc
My advice on Choice of Variety would be ...
1.Check on line for a variety that suits your soil type, tastes, and preferred harvest dates.
1a.Buy ONLY CERTIFIED seed,Graded 35/50mm ,Virus free and from a REPUTABLE source ( Believe me) you will NOT believe the difference
2. Think about growing First earlies in pots,containers (10 ltr MFB)
3.2nd earlies in 20/30 ltr bags or simialar then can grow on to main crop.
4 Plant Main crop in 30/40/50 + ltr pots,bags ,bins etc.
potatoes take a LOT of space if grown in the ground but in pots etc you have available ground space for other things and most importantly, not not infecting the soil with pests and diseases that are detrimental to following crops.

The Moral of the above is ...As far as Potatoes go, you will get out what your prepared to put in .....ie cheap input...cheap output...!! Cheap seed tends to have Little vigour, small tubers,Produces too many sprouts (chits) that it cant support, hence its sold cheap ..!!
Gp

[Jimny14]

Thanks for the info GP, once I've checked online and narrowed down my choices to a few varieties I'd like to test could you recommend somewhere where I could get certified disease free potatoes from in small quantities (maybe half a dozen) to enable me to do a trial in the limited space I have? As I am pretty new to this growing thing I'm never 100% sure when people talk of reputable sources what they mean. There are lots of providers online and on the high street who seem to be making a good business of selling but this doesnt necessarily make them reputable I suppose. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[geepee]

Thanks for the info GP, once I've checked online and narrowed down my choices to a few varieties I'd like to test could you recommend somewhere where I could get certified disease free potatoes from in small quantities (maybe half a dozen) to enable me to do a trial in the limited space I have? As I am pretty new to this growing thing I'm never 100% sure when people talk of reputable sources what they mean. There are lots of providers online and on the high street who seem to be making a good business of selling but this doesnt necessarily make them reputable I suppose. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Absolutely spot on with your remarks about 'reputable suppliers ' jimmy.

The best site Ive found as a garden supplier for seed pots is ....SeedPotatoesDirect.co.uk
Not by far the cheapest compared to Aldi.lidl etc...
Their website gives a good selection of Varieties,I purchsed 5 varieties which arrived last week, pics attached.
Rocket, because ive grown it for many years and it always performs.
Casablanca.... some of my Farmer friends have grown it for 2 years and it seems to do 'What it says on the tin'
Athlete..as a comparison/successor to Rocket.
Lady ' C' as a first early with an ability to grow on to main crop proportions if not harvested early.
Vivaldy .. as a new variety 2nd early again to grow on to main.

I bought each in kg packs all graded 35-50/55 therefore the difference in Tuber counts.

ATHLETE = 16 TUBERS
CASABLANCA = 12
LADY C =14
ROCKET = 12
VIVALDI = 10

Yes they are much more than 20p per seed than Lidl ie mine average 41p per seed but I venture they will produce more than twice the crop( hopefully ) lol
As an aside, i did post on here in the past (Somewhere)that i actually grew 2 crops of Rocket from the mother seed using the same refreshed compo' in the same MFB back to back, so even more bonus ..!!
Gp

[geepee]

The last one, I couldnt attach it to last post because of 5 pic limit !!! Gp

[Jungle Jane]

Good thinking JJ, but ..Not wanting to rain on your parade, how would you know which Tubers were which variety.?
Maybe take a Permanent Ink Marker and put 1 dot on a tuber for one variety, 2 dots for 2nd variety and so on.

Use sandwich bags to separate the varieties & paper & pen to write what is what,sorry I didn't explain it well,I probably still haven't