I had the same problem last year with 4 rows of Maris Piper. Apart from the slugs in a third of them the rest were so floury they just went to mush when boiling and were just about ok when steaming. But they were tasteless even when roasted or chipped. Monty Don, in a Gardeners World article, experienced similar which he put down to extremes of weather, too much water at the wrong time and then too hot and dry when the tubers were growing.
So planted 2 rows of Casablanca earliest, had some today and were very nice, plus 2 rows of Sante main crop which are more resistant to slugs (hopefully).
The only other alternative is to grow a waxy variety
Oldigger, I have a perennial keeled slug problem so have tried a lot of varieties over the years and can recommend Kestrel for both slug resistance and flavour. I always grow at least two rows of those and they hardly get any slug damage. Another one that has few slug problems is Sarpo Mira which also shows good blight resistance. Both are worth trying for anyone who gets a lot of slug damage.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
I grow several varieties side by side in the exact same ground and cnditions and I have been digging out the odd potato for dinner for a while now... the Bleue de la Manche will disintegrate if you don't watch them really close, the others don't... so my guess it's that it's mostly a variety thing. I still love my blu potatoes, I just have to watch them more closely, fish them out of the water as soon as the sin cracks, and finish them in a pan with some oil and spicing... ok, now I'm hungry
Here's a great way of cooking small potatoes: wash them and chop any large ones in half. Put them in a bowl with some olive oil, salt and herbs (e.g. mint, parsley, chives)and stir well to coat. Divide the potatoes into single portions, on sheets of foil, and wrap each parcel loosely. Bake in a hottish oven for about 40 minutes. The potatoes stay in shape, full of flavour, and should just be beginning to brown where they touch the foil. Ideal if you are already using the oven for something like a casserole.
I've had another bad season of rusett potatoes turning to mush. In 1983 I ran into this problem. Idaho potatoes hardly ever has this problem. Washington Rusettes often has this water problem. I wonder what is the conditions in Washingtons soil condition?
I had this problem 2 years ago with Charlottes and King Eddies so I skipped potatoes last year. Same problem this year with purples and Charlottes but I got them in late and it became hot and dry not long after. Will try more potash and compost next year.
I grew seed potatoes on my allotment and a few of the same seed in my potatoe bag. The potatoes grown in the bag cooked lovely and were delicious but the ones I had this evening from the allotment went with the water and were mushy so disappointed. Why would this happen?
You only ‘set’ the skins of maincrop potatoes that are to be stored … it lessens damage and the likelihood of rot setting in during storage.
You don’t set the skins of new potatoes because youre going to eat them shortly after lifting and you want the skins to be ‘scrapeable’ … and besides ‘setting’ the skins makes no difference to the moisture content of a potato, which is what causes the likelihood of ‘mush’.
Mushiness is caused by too much water in the last few weeks of tuber development … difficult to avoid in some summers in the UK.
It’s one of the reasons that light, freedraining soil is so sought after by potato farmers.
😊
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
I had the same problem last year with 4 rows of Maris Piper. Apart from the slugs in a third of them the rest were so floury they just went to mush when boiling and were just about ok when steaming. But they were tasteless even when roasted or chipped. Monty Don, in a Gardeners World article, experienced similar which he put down to extremes of weather, too much water at the wrong time and then too hot and dry when the tubers were growing.
So planted 2 rows of Casablanca earliest, had some today and were very nice, plus 2 rows of Sante main crop which are more resistant to slugs (hopefully).
The only other alternative is to grow a waxy variety
Oldigger, I have a perennial keeled slug problem so have tried a lot of varieties over the years and can recommend Kestrel for both slug resistance and flavour. I always grow at least two rows of those and they hardly get any slug damage. Another one that has few slug problems is Sarpo Mira which also shows good blight resistance. Both are worth trying for anyone who gets a lot of slug damage.
I grow several varieties side by side in the exact same ground and cnditions and I have been digging out the odd potato for dinner for a while now... the Bleue de la Manche will disintegrate if you don't watch them really close, the others don't... so my guess it's that it's mostly a variety thing. I still love my blu potatoes, I just have to watch them more closely, fish them out of the water as soon as the sin cracks, and finish them in a pan with some oil and spicing... ok, now I'm hungry
Here's a great way of cooking small potatoes: wash them and chop any large ones in half. Put them in a bowl with some olive oil, salt and herbs (e.g. mint, parsley, chives)and stir well to coat. Divide the potatoes into single portions, on sheets of foil, and wrap each parcel loosely. Bake in a hottish oven for about 40 minutes. The potatoes stay in shape, full of flavour, and should just be beginning to brown where they touch the foil. Ideal if you are already using the oven for something like a casserole.
I've had another bad season of rusett potatoes turning to mush. In 1983 I ran into this problem. Idaho potatoes hardly ever has this problem. Washington Rusettes often has this water problem. I wonder what is the conditions in Washingtons soil condition?
I had this problem 2 years ago with Charlottes and King Eddies so I skipped potatoes last year. Same problem this year with purples and Charlottes but I got them in late and it became hot and dry not long after. Will try more potash and compost next year.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.