Sarpo blight resistant potato collection
potato - early maincrop or maincrop
Years of research at the Sárvári Research Trust (SRT), which is a not-for-profit company based at Bangnor university in North Wales, has produced a these potatoes, which show high levels of blight resistance.
How to care for Sarpo blight resistant potato collection:
As soon as the potato tubers have been delivered you should unpack them and start the chitting (sprouting) process. Place them in single layer in a seed tray without compost and leave in a light, cool area protected from frost. This can be started about six weeks before you intend to plant them. Early varieties can be planted out under frost fleece protection, but the later varieties should be planted after the worst frosts have passed in your area - this is generally mid March to mid April. Dig a trench 8 - 13cm (3 - 5in) deep adding a general purpose fertiliser to the bottom of the trench. Plant the potato tubers in the trenches about 30cm (12in) apart, being careful not to knock the shoots off the tubers, and keeping the shoots facing upwards. Then lightly cover with soil. As the plants get to around 20cm (8in) tall you need to bank up the soil around the plant, so the soil covers the bottom two thirds of the plant. Watering your plants well will help improve crop yield and discourage potato scab.
What's included:
This collection contains 30 blight resistant potatoes bred by Sarpo, 10 each of the following:
‘Sarpo Mira’: A high yielding, red-skinned late maincrop variety (pronounced Sharpo), it produces a good amount of weed-smothering foliage, but it is the potatoes natural resistance to blight that makes it stand out from the crowd. It's a good all rounder in the kitchen and has a floury texture that is great for baking, roasting and making chips. It also has good crop yields and stores well so the good harvest potential will mean you do not have to eat them all at once.
‘Blue Danube’: Purple-black stems and a dark shiny foliage and spectacular blue-skinned tubers of good shape and skin finish. It is an early maincrop with medium foliage-blight resistance and good tuber-blight resistance. It also has good resistance to a number viruses. The flesh is bright white and of medium dry matter content. Growers experimenting with this variety always want more - and many claim it as their favourite roast potato!
‘Sarpo Una’: The first 'second early' in the Sarpo range, this disease-resistant variety can be harvested and used as a waxy salad potato from mid-June onwards. Otherewise, leave it in the ground and it will go on to produce a heavy crop of larger potatoes, which are excellent for baking. Ideal for smaller gardens, this versatile potato can be grown in pots or bags, and when harvested, it has a pure white flesh with a subtle flavour.
Eventual height:
0.6m
Eventual spread:
0.45m
Position:
Full sun / light shade
Rate of growth:
Fast-growing
Soil:
Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil, or peat-free general purpose compost
Hardiness:
Frost tender
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Humans/Pets: Seed potatoes and plants - Harmful if eaten
Unavailable
Bulbs (only)£4.95
