Red potatoes — have any favourites you grow?

[Joel_BC]

My report on 2019's spuds (so far).

Well, I asked for advice about red potato varieties, and I tried one variety recommended to me on this thread. (By the way, thanks to all of you who responded with recommendations & experiences.)

All varieties showed impressive top growth.

Red Norlands... yes! These were recommended to me in this thread. I'd bought some at local markets just to try them for their taste/texture value, and I liked them. Smooth and creamy, and they make far less-dry mashed potatoes than Russets, even if you don't add milk to them! Earliest maturing of what I planted. The return was 6:1 (probably more than that) by weight; decent size, some quite largish. Like weighing nearly a pound. (Some fusarium, but not much.)

Yukon Gold. I've relied on these in the past for general size, good eating, and good return. Around 6:1, this year, generally good size & mostly quite clean. I consider this good performance given our weather, soil, etc.

Russet (my reliable late-season ones). Tops are still green, so it will be a while until I dig them.

One thing I feel disappointed about: when I buy seed potatoes here, they're wholesaled hundreds of miles from here and sold in brown paper sacks. They vary in size, some like a hen's egg (and not a really large one at that). I tried planting the smaller ones in a position in my rows where they'd get the best watering, but that compensation didn't really work. I can say definitely that smallish seed potatoes produced modestly compared to larger-size ones.

 

[Joel_BC]

I've planted both the Red Pontiac and the Norland. OK success with both. It has been a little while since I grew potatoes - about 6 years - so tryin gto go off memory and I grew the Norland out in Wyoming and the Red Pontiac in WI. The Red Pontiac seemed to have a slightly darker red skin and cooked up nice and creamy, the Norland seemed to have a more consistant size and shape with a slightly thicker skin. I liked them baked as well as boiled.

Thanks. I haven't grown either of those varieties. I do know that some gardeners in my valley grow the Norlands, but I haven't discussed the variety with anybody. The info I could find on the Red Pontiacs seems to indicate that they're "choice" in terms of flavor and texture, but rarely grow very large and in fact tend to be of modest size and smaller.

 

[Joel_BC]

I planted some All-Blue potatoes 3 years ago (when I was still eating potatoes a lot) and loved the flavor. Since then, I keep getting volunteers in the garden, although this year they were all scabby.

The scab that we're familiar with up here is caused by a bacterium that thrives when the soil is a little too high-pH (alkaline). So i have to use sulfur each year to prevent or reduce scabbing. I'd guess that if you're not deliberately cultivating your potatoes, then probably your soil pH is just going where it will, so to speak — hence, you get scab.

I've tried blue potatoes of some variety or other in the past, and the flavor and texture were fine, but the potatoes were smallish. I like spud varieties that keep well, taste good, ideally have that 'creamy' texture when baked or boiled, and produce a lot of largish tubers. My guess is that some of the red varieties would qualify... just need to figure out which ones.

 

[Joel_BC]

Thanks for that Potato Organization link. Very informative.

We keep our home-grown spuds, for as long as possible, in our cold room (concrete floor — so not really a root cellar).

This is sort of necessary, because we have about five months of no productive gardens outdoors, and a bit over three months without significant greenhouse production. Upshot is that with potatoes we like to grow bulk. I guess I'm picky, picky, picky in the other direction.

Our Russets and Yukons can provide bulk. But I guess I'll decline to select red varieties that typically produce low numbers or small (if nicely shaped) spuds.

 

[Joel_BC]

I've never seen much high yield or large potatoes when growing Yukon Golds nor did I particularly enjoy their flavor or texture. Do they grow differently where you live, Joel?

I think of the Yukons as a "serviceable" large, and (normally) good yielding variety. We've never disliked their flavor, Bee. The Russets are "okay" flavor-wise, good-yielding, but when baked they're just dry-ish (begging for gravy, lots of butter, sour-cream dressing or whatever). Even when boiled for mashed potatoes they turn out pretty dry, which improves with the addition of milk at the mashing stage.

We've been happy enough with the Yukons... grown on sandy-silty soil, to which we amend with sulphur, and having a humus level that's pretty good and which we nurture each year. Could be some sort of environmental differences (soil, micro-climate... who knows?)

When I grew Yukon Golds a few years ago, I ended up with an OK crop of medium-large sized potatoes - about 3". The flavor was good, but they seemed to take a little longer to dry off before storing. I harvest my potatoes, then let them air dry in deep shade until they seem dry enough to store.

I'd say our experience with the drying/curing time for the Yukons is similar to yours.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I love growing potatoes. My favorite crop to grow. Variable success. Favorite variety: All Red if I can get it. Red skin AND flesh. Love the flavor and texture. Waxy, not dry. Lately, I've not been able to get it, so have grown Adirondack Red. Worthy substitute. Have tried All Blue, or Adirondack Blue, but find the size and flavor to be lacking. They are also more prone to scab as mentioned by PP.

 

[Joel_BC]

I love growing potatoes. My favorite crop to grow. Variable success. Favorite variety: All Red if I can get it. Red skin AND flesh. Love the flavor and texture. Waxy, not dry. Lately, I've not been able to get it, so have grown Adirondack Red. Worthy substitute. Have tried All Blue, or Adirondack Blue, but find the size and flavor to be lacking. They are also more prone to scab as mentioned by PP.

Thanks for the recommendation of the Adirondacks. I'll look into seeing if I can get seed for that here in the far west and above the 49th parallel.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Does anyone plant in potato bags? or do you'all just plant rows of potatoes and hill them?

 

[Beekissed]

Does anyone plant in potato bags? or do you'all just plant rows of potatoes and hill them?

Neither for me. I plant in compost beds....some are cut down CPs with chicken wire to hold in contents, and shaped into a circle. Did those at the base of my apple saplings for the past few years with good success when I didn't make the mistake of adding chicken compost to those....that soil is rich enough, adding anything to it just produces all tops and no bottoms. Those are usually filled in the fall and let compost down all winter and spring, then planted. No digging required...just push the spuds down into it until you reach near the bottom.

Last year I did spuds in a haybale raised bed filled half way with composted leaves and hay and will do that again next year, if the Lord wills it.

In my son's garden, I just layered a pile of hay and leaves and later added some grass clippings. Planted into that rectangular pile and left it be. Yielded a great crop.

The beauty of planting in this manner is good moisture retention, an ongoing feeding of the plant from the ongoing composting of the materials, and an easy harvest of very clean spuds. Just brush away the compost, pick up the spuds.

Wash, rinse, repeat in the fall of the layering of the leaves and hay.

Compost beds in various stages of prep and growing spuds....

The mound of compost in my son's tiny garden....produced VERY well.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I dig a trench, lay in my seed pieces, cover with soil. I never hill. As the potatoes grow, I layer on the mulch, and keep doing so until it is 12" deep.