Topic: which potato

[stapes]

After signing for the lottie the lottie commity ask me if i wanted any potatoes i said yes at which he gave me a list of 13 different varaties of potato
4 first earlies
3 second earlies
6 main crop next to each one was the quantity advice on how many and what potato to choose would be greatly received,i would like potatoes all year round as my family do get through quite alot,kids and mash! not literally they would give me indigestion.

[Curryandchips]

In all honesty, the best way to get assistance with choosing your potatoes is by asking other plot holders where you are. The reason is that suitable potatoes are very much decided by local soil (and weather?) conditions. As an example, this last season, I grew Cara and Desiree (maincrops) next to each other, so on the same patch of ground. The Desiree were pitiful, whereas the Cara were massive, and the best crop I have ever had. This is the third year I have had a poor yield off Desiree, so I conclude that they are not suitable for my conditions.

PS I grow 3kg of each of 4 varieties in total, that gives us adequate potatoes for our family of 4, up until about March ...

[saddad]

As Curry says ask your neighbours. We grow loads, Epicure and Red Duke as Earlies, Anya and King ED's as Mains and this year Picasso which did very well, even better than the desiree which are supposed to be drought resistant. Also always grow some different ones so will be off to Potato day in a month!
 ;D

[Merry Tiller]

Next year I'll be growing

1st - Red Dukes

2nd - Yukon Gold

Main - Picasso & Desiree

plus a small number of home bred tubers and anything I pick up from potato day + odds & ends from magazine offers etc.

[cornykev]

:) Welcome Stapes as said above your neighbours are worth listening to. I'm not very adventurous so I stick to what I know with my Early's.
So I will stick with Foremost for 1st's.
2nd's I'll go for Kestrel.
3rd's King Ed's.
A lot of people on this site have raved about Pink Firs so I will be fitting them in somewhere I think they are salads so could someone PLEASE advise when to put them in. Good luck Stapes you'll be given so many options on here you won't believe how many types there are. :P :) ;) :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Curryandchips]

Pink fir apple are a late maincrop I think, they are the last I plant, about mid-late april, harvest in October.

[cornykev]

:) Cheers for that Curry.   :D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ::) ::) ;D ;D

[moonbeam]

Potatoes doing well up in Dundee 1st early Premiere 2nd Kestrel&Nadine  early maincrop Glamis late maincrop Cara best salad Charlotte All doing well .if you need any more names just ask.

[Barnowl]

Pink fir apple are a late maincrop I think, they are the last I plant, about mid-late april, harvest in October.

I think Pink Firs are just main rather than late main, but (in our limited experience) they are good keepers anyway.

We planted our PFA's in early May and harvested them in mid September because all the tops (haulms) had collapsed. I think we may have over watered them,  because we were worried about the dry weather and our free draining soil, but it was a decent crop and having washed and dried them outdoors then stored them in a brown paper sack, they are still in perfect condition.

[saddad]

PFA are a late main... day length sensitive as all pots were, don't start to form tubers until the nights start drawing in, hence a race against the frosts or blight! Anya are a PFA X Desiree and can be lifted at the start of August.
 ::)

[moonbeam]

Pink Fir Apple is indeed a late maincrop and is a very old variety and came on the scene in 1880 and is a good salad potato.if you like the tubers larger remove surplus sprouts before planting.

[cornykev]

Blimey 1880 they do store well.    ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :P

[Merry Tiller]

PFA did suprisingly well for me this year after the dry weather we had

[triffid]

Yum...   Pink Fir Apples!

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,91/topic,26407.msg258654#msg258654

[saddad]

They would MT as the August onwards was quite wet but there was less blight around and the season kept on quite late, just what late mains need!
 8)

[kt.]

I have tried four types of early and personnaly found kestrel best for crop quantity and taste. Never planted late potatoes. Always found them cheap enough in shops. Planted more expensive autumn / winter veg in the area instead

[Merry Tiller]

They would MT as the August onwards was quite wet

Not here it wasn't, the rain didn't really get going until October for us, it's made up for lost time in the last couple of weeks mind :'(

[Curryandchips]

Never planted late potatoes. Always found them cheap enough in shops. Planted more expensive autumn / winter veg in the area instead

Good economic wisdom here, in my opinion. As I have a large plot, I have enough space to plant maincrop potatoes, but if space was limited, I would restrict myself to earlies, expensive to buy, and the flavour of really freshly dug earlies is worth their weight ... However, I would still probably put in one row of pink fir apple, these are not easily available in shops or markets, and when they are, they are not cheap.