Salad Potato 04

7/30/2019 Salad Potato 04

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RHS Plan t Trials an d Aw ardsRHS Plan t Trials an d Aw ards

www.rhs.org.uk

Salad PotatoesJacquie GrayTrials Recorder, RHS Garden W isley

Bulletin Num ber 8

November 2004

Salad PotatoesJacquie GrayTrials Recorder, RHS Garden W isley

Bulletin Num ber 8

November 2004


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Potato (Solanum tub erosum)

In 2003 the Royal Horticultural Society, as part of a

continuin g assessment of new an d established potato

cultivars, held a trial of salad potatoes. These are typically

lifted arou nd 13 to 20 weeks after planting as small tubers

(between 20mm and 40m m in d iameter) and h ave a low

dry matter content, so that th ey remain wh ole when

boiled and are suitable for slicing an d eatin g cold in salads.

For th is trial entries were obtained from sources available

to t h e general public and grown at Wisley, as well as at

Harlow Carr and Rosemoor Garden s for com parison. RHS

vegetable trials are con ducted as part of our charitable

m ission t o inform , educate and inspire all gardeners, with

good, reliable cultivars identified b y th e Award of Garden

Merit after a period of trial.

Objectives

On e of the aims of th is trial was to evaluate new

introductions and t o compare th em with old established

cultivars. It also gave us the op portu n ity to explore the

value of taste testing and to demonstrate the growing of

early potatoes at Rosemoor (wh ere there is a h igher risk of

bligh t) with out th e use of fun gicidal sprays. The Vegetable

Trials Subcom m ittee assessed th e entries and ou tstan din g

cultivars were given th e Award of Garden Merit. Ent ries

were also described and photographed to provide a lasting

record in th e RHS Herbarium at Wisley.

Entries

There were 21 en tries in th e trial subm itted by various seedcomp anies in th e UK, with t hree separate sources supplying

'Pink Fir Apple' so that the consistency of this very old

cultivar could be gauged.

History

The original wild po tatoes, from which th e first European

tubers came, are found in t he Andean m ountains of

western South America, where th ere is evidence to show

th at th ey have been cultivated for around 7,000 years.

Introduced int o Britain d uring th e 1590s potatoes remained

a curiosity for th e botan ists' gardens for decades and, wh ile

RHS Trials of Salad potatoes

RHS Plant Trials and Awards2

th e aristocracy may have eaten th em as an exotic vegetable,

th e low yield of small knobbly tubers prevented th em from

becomin g a valued food crop. Even as late as 1716 th e

radish was still more importan t to th e nation al diet. By the

1750s the potat o, having acclimatised to th e longergrowing day in Europe, was producing a reasonable yield

and interest in breeding for comm ercial use increased so

th at by 1836 t here were 136 different cultivars in England

alone. The pot ato had by then become t he n ation's staple

food and th e major food crop for peasant farmers in

Ireland. W hen crops in Ireland and Europe failed between

1845 and 1850, due to potato blight, famine decimated the

Irish popu lation and man y of th ese old potato cultivars

were lost or aband oned . During th is tim e, as part of its

regular assessments of potatoes, the RHS carried out

experiments into t he causes and con trol of th is devastating

disease. This coincided with a h eight ened en th usiasm for

breeding as growers, importing new stocks from America,

looked for cultivars that h ad resistan ce to blight. By th e end

of Queen Victoria's reign in 1901 there was a better

knowledge of how to prevent blight with resistan t cultivars,

applications of copper based Bordeaux Mixture an d by

improved growing p ractices including th e use of fresh,

infection free, seed stock each year and earthin g up to

protect th e plant stems from blight spores as well as to

reduce the n um ber of green p otatoes. Also at th is time th e

importance of the highlands in Scotland and Ireland

became recognised as aphid-free areas where seed potatoes

could be grown free of the risk of the virus infections t hat

are spread by these pests. After the First World War the

Governm ent set up th e National Institute of Agricultural

Botany (NIAB) to assess and improve plant naming, cropcultivation and pest and disease con trol. NIAB found th at

m any cultivars were known and sold un der several different

nam es ('Up-to-date' was found to h ave over 200 synon yms).

They also worked to en sure that only cultivars highly

resistant to wart disease (Synchytrium endobioticum, which is

no w a rare but still not ifiable disease) were introduced.

Today th e potato is the second m ost importan t crop in

Europe after wheat an d breeders con tinu e to search for

cultivars with im proved eating an d keeping qu alities,

greater pest an d d isease resistance an d also th e attractive

appearance th at supermarkets require.

L ef t : C h i t t i n g p o t a t o e s (Ph o t o : C a t h e r i n eS te i n b e r g )

Fr o n t c o v e r : C h e r i e (P h o to : D r H F O a k l e y )


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Award of Garden Merit description s

The t rial wa s assessed f or t he Aw ard

of Garden M erit by the Vegetable

Trials Subcommittee using the

following criteria:

quality

depth of eye

colour of skin

colour of fle sh

cookability (appearance and taste

when cooked)

'Amandine'

Se n t b y T h o m p s o n & M o r g an L t d .

First early. Gives a h igh yield of

uniform, oval shaped tubers, with

shallow eyes and a pale yellow, waxy

flesh. (A "salad b aker" i.e. good for

baking with a waxy textu re

unu sually will be in the am ateur

market before the wh olesale one).

Introduced 1 99 4. Plant heigh t 65 cm.

Mediu m sized, oval, w hite tubers wit h

cream coloured, waxy flesh. Average yield

per plan t; 26 tubers, w eight 1.7 kg.

'Annabelle'

Se n t b y U n w i n s Se e d s L td .

First early. High yield of oval t ub ers,

with shallow eyes and w axy, yellow

flesh.


Mediu m sized, oval tubers with

white/yellow skins and yellow, waxy

flesh. Average yield per plan t; 36.5

tubers, weight 1.8 kg.

'Charlotte'

Se n t b y S E M a r sh a l l & C o L t d , &

T h o m p s o n & M o r g an Lt d .

Second early. Good yield of u n iform ,

oval tubers. Waxy, pale yellow flesh

has a good flavou r.


Mediu m sized, oval tubers with wh ite

skins and yellow waxy flesh. Average

yield per plan t; 24 tubers, w eight 1.6 kg.

'Cherie'

Se n t b y S E M a r sh a l l & C o L t d .

Gives a good yield of pin k skinn ed,

oval tubers with pale yellow, waxy

flesh and a good flavour.


Mediu m sized, red skinn ed tubers with

cream coloured, waxy flesh. Average yield

per plan t; 31.5 tubers, w eight 1.5 kg.

RHS Plant Trials and Awards4


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'Mimi'

Se n t b y T h o m p so n &

M o r g an L t d .

Produces fairly small, roun d,

uniform, h igh quality tubers

that have an attractive

colour. Low yielding, but

would be particularly

suitable for pot culture.

Introduced 2 00 2. Plant h eight

50cm. Sm all, round, red tubers

with cream coloured, wax y

flesh. Average yield per plan t;

32 tubers, weight 0.8 kg.

'Pink Fir Apple'

Se n t b y W Ro b i n s o n & So n

( Se e d s & P la n t s ) L td ,

T h o m p s o n & M o r g an L td a n d

U n w i n s S ee d s Ltd .

Late m ain crop (takes 22

weeks from plan ting).

Produces a useful crop of

unu sually shaped but fine

flavoured, late salad potat oesfrom very vigorous plants.

Introduced before 18 50 . Sm all

to medium sized, knobbly,

long, oval tubers with red skins

and yellow, wax y fl esh. Average

yield per plan t; 43 tubers,

weight 1.5 kg.

'Princess'

Se n t b y T h o m p so n &

M o r g an L t d .

First e arly. Yields well. Ova l

tubers, which wh en cooked

have a cream coloured,

floury flesh and good flavour.

Introduced 2 00 0. Medium

sized, oval, yellow tubers with

yellow coloured fl esh that

becomes cream coloured and

floury wh en cooked. Average


weight 1.6 kg.

'Ratte'

Se n t b y U n w i n s S ee d s Ltd . ,

a n d Th o m p so n & M o r g an Lt d .

Early main crop salad. Oval,

with waxy, cream coloured

flesh and a good flavour.

Int roduced 1 87 2. Plant height

75cm. Sm all, oval, white

skinned tubers with waxy,

cream coloured fl esh. Average


weight 1.1 kg.

Image

'Roseval'

Se n t b y T h o m p s o n &

M o r g an L t d .

Early main crop salad.

Produces a high yield of

un iform , oval tubers, with

attractive red skins. Retains

mu ch of the colour when

cooked, which con trasts well

with th e yellow, waxy flesh.


85cm. Sm all to medium sized,

oval, red skinned tubers with

yellow, waxy flesh. Average

yield per plan t 51 tubers

weighing 1.3 kg.

'Shelley'

Se n t b y T h o m p s o n &

M o r g an L t d .

Second early. Un iform , oval

tubers with sh allow eyes and

wh ite flesh


75cm. Sm all to medium sized,

oval tubers with white skins

and wh ite, fairly waxy flesh.

Average yield per plan t; 38.5

tubers, weight 1.4 kg.

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Salad po tato selection guide

Cult ivars in t he t rial Int ro. Type Skin Shape Claimed resist ance t o pest and disease

Colour

Am an d in e 1 9 9 4 First ear ly W h it e O v al Blig h t , leaf ro ll v iru s, co m m o n scab an d

w ar t d i sease .

An n ab el le ' 2 0 0 1 First ear ly Ye l lo w O v al C o m m o n scab (so m e) , w ar t d isease an d

p o t a t o c y st n e m a t o d e .

C h ar lo t t e 1 9 8 1 Seco n d ear ly W h it e O v al Blig h t an d slu g s.

C h er ie 1 9 9 7 Seco n d ear ly Red O v al Blig h t (so m e) , co m m o n scab an d leaf ro ll v iru s.

M im i 2 0 0 2 First ear ly Red Ro u n d ,

sm a l l

Pin k Fir Ap p le 1 8 5 0 Lat e m ain c ro p Red Lo n g o va l, C o m m o n scab (so m e) .

k n o b b l y

Pr in cess 2 0 0 0 First ear ly Ye l lo w O v al Blig h t , co m m o n sc ab an d p o t at o cy st n em at o d e.

Rat t e 1 8 7 2 Ear ly m ain c ro p W h it e O v al C o m m o n scab (so m e) .

Ro seva l 1 9 5 0 Ear ly m ain c ro p Red O v al

Sh e lley 2 0 0 4 First ear ly W h it e O v al Po w d er y an d co m m o n sc ab , an d

p o t a t o c y st n e m a t o d e .

An y a 1 9 9 6 First ear ly Red (p ale) Lo n g o va l, Blig h t (so m e) an d co m m o n scab .

d e e p e y e s

Be lle d e Fo n t en ay 1 8 8 5 Ear ly m ain c ro p W h it e O v al t o lo n g C o m m on scab (so m e) .

In t ern at io n al K id n ey 1 8 7 9 Ear ly m ain c ro p Yel lo w O v al

Ju l ie t t e 1 9 9 7 Seco n d ear ly W h it e Lo n g o va l Blig h t , co m m o n sc ab an d leaf r o l l v i ru s.

Lad y Fe lic ia D isco n t in u ed D isco n t in u ed

Lin zer D e licat ess 1 9 7 6 Seco n d ear ly W h it e Lo n g o va l Blig h t (so m e) an d co m m o n scab .

M ar is Peer 1 9 6 2 Seco n d ear ly Yel lo w O v al Blig h t an d co m m o n scab .

N ico la 1 9 7 3 Ear ly m ain c ro p W h it e Lo n g o va l Blig h t (so m e) an d p o t at o c y st n em at o d e

Ro c ket 1 9 8 7 First ear ly W h it e Ro u n d C o m m o n scab , p o t at o c y st n em at o d e.

* a w a r d e d a s 2 n d e ar l y Su i t a b l e f o r c o n t a i n e r g r o w i n g

Ea r ly p o t a t o e s m a t u r e in a r o u n d 1 0 0 t o 1 1 0 d a y s, se c o n d e a r li es 1 1 0 t o 1 2 0 d a y s, a n d m a in c r o p 1 2 5 t o 1 4 0 d a y s

d e p e n d i n g o n t h e w e at h e r.

Potatoes in containers

Several cultivars are suit able for

cont ainer growing, and it is alsopossible to h ave a crop of new

potatoes in time for Christmas

using specially prepared cold-stored

tubers (available from specialist

seed m erchant s) th at are planted in

early Septem ber and given frost-

free con dition s. Generally, ordinary

garden soil is unsuitable for

cont ainers as it is liable to becom e

very comp acted with frequent

watering. It is th erefore comm on

practice to use a loam -based

compost or good garden loam with

well-rotted organic matter added.

The contain er should be at least

30cm deep an d wide, with d rainage

ho les and a layer of drainage material

in th e bottom. It should th en be part

filled to 25cm with th e growing

m edium before th ree well-spacedtubers are planted at dep th o f 15cm.

As th e foliage develops the p otatoes

should be 'earthed up' with further soil

unt il the con tainer is full. Container

grown plants must be kept well

watered and will benefit from feeding

with a general-purpo se liquid feed.


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Trials Office

RHS Garden

Wisley

Woking

Surrey GU23 6QB

e-m ail: tria ls@rh s.org.u k

www.rhs.org.uk/trials

Reg charity no. 222879

All text an d im ages Copyright RHS 2004-02-1

ISSN: 1477-9153 (print)

ISSN: 1447-9161 (online)

RHS Bullet ins

Canna: September 2003

Daisies, Yellow, Perenn ial: September 2004

Delphinium : June 2004

Lavender (hard y): July 200 3

Miscanthus: October 2004

Potentilla (sh rubb y): July 2002

Spiraea ja pon ica (with coloured leaves): November 2003

These bulletins can b e viewed at a larger

size on th e RHS Website

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