First Early Potato Tubers??

[threepeas]

hi

We are after some help, we brought some seed potatoes last week, I have but them in egg boxes to 'chit'.
1. We brought Foremost and International Kidney are they good first earlys?
2. The International ones have gone a bit soft, they have shoots on them but i am not sure if they are still ok?

If you think we have brought the wrong ones please tell me??

Hope you can help.


Ben

[chris]

I don't know if they're good or not, surely that's subjective down to the individual taste? Or do you mean diseas resisitance, etc? Usually, it'll mention such things on the boxes/packaging that they come in.

My maincrop spuds (Maris Piper) are pretty much all soft, but there's a really great thread on this forum started by "tattieman", it's pretty long but has so much info in there. I read through it all, and then decided that I wanted to grow spuds so I'm doing it for the first time like you.

Are the shoots that are coming out of the spuds white, or deep purple? If they're white it means they've been kept in the dark rather than the the light - which they need to chit. As far as I know they should be rubbed off (I had a few white shoots popping out some of mine, took them off and they've now been replaced with nice dark purple ones).

[chris]

Ah, here's the thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ed-2010-a.html (sticked at the top of this forum).

[selfraising]

Hi
Think you'll find that International Kidney are second earlies which means they crop about 2-3 weeks after the first earlies. I grew them last year and found them reliable and relatively disease free. Don't know about foremost I'm afraid as I've never grown them.

[Snadger]

Foremost tatties have stood the test of time being over 50 years since they were introduced. They are an 'Old school' (my Dad used to grow em!) flavoursome first early.
International Kidney are a maincrop tatties which are lifted immature and used as an early (Jersey Royals). When grown as a maincrop and the tops die down they are a big cropper of huge tatties.
I've grown both Foremost and International Kidney before but the taste of the IK's didn't do anything for me (Maybe its the Channel Island soil and the lashings of seaweed that give them he Jersey Royal taste?)