First earlies

[Greenleaves]

Evening All

In your opinion what are the best tasting first early potatoes?

In addition are first earlies best grown in pots or open ground?

[Mr Bones]

The best tasting first earlies I grew were Lady Christl planted in lots of stable muck. Very early with loads of first early flavour. The following year I planted them without the muck and they were disappointingly tasteless.

[Chippy Minton]

I really thought this could be a light the blue touch paper kind of question, there's so many to choose from. Add another vote for Lady Christl, the current favourite, very early so although ours have had blight we still get a good crop. Also can't miss out on Pentland Javelin, the very first crop I grew way back when.

Pots are good as we get enough from a pot, they come out spotlessly clean and it's a great game for kids, hunt the spud, then they tip out the remainder and spread it around he garden! Given first earlies are also a nice to have early on we've found the pots approach better (don't want masses).

[sparrow100]

Lady Christl for me. I tried Pentland Javelin and Swift and they didn't taste of much on my soil. Dunluce did pretty well, but it's back to Lady Christl in 2017. I start 3 in a 40L pot in Feb so I have some really early spuds, but the rest go in the ground for less faffing about.

[Penellype]

Another vote for Lady Christl which is the best first early I have grown for flavour. Mine got blackleg last year but I think there was a lot of it about due to the wet spring. I quite liked Maris Bard but found the yield disappointing. I didn't like Pentland Javelin or Duke of York much and Rocket was very early and great for yield but lacking in flavour.

I grow all my potatoes in containers. I find them cleaner, easier to harvest, much less prone to slug damage and you get far fewer left behind to grow where they are not wanted.

[Martin H]

Just to be different ... I tried Lady Christl and didn't think much of them. Pentland Javelin taste good to me and give a nice big crop as well.

This is in our Essex clay soil, not containers.

[Cadalot]

Another Vote for Lady Christl and Swif here

[Small pumpkin]

I was going to suggest jazzy, but it turns out they're a second early. ( I really do have trouble with the early, late, main thing )
They are the best spuds I've grown this year.

(thank you GL)

[Lumpy]

Never tried growing 1st earlies but stick to Charlottes as 2nd's

How many weeks can you start 1st's before 2nd's? Or is it just down to growing time?

[Alison]

Never tried growing 1st earlies but stick to Charlottes as 2nd's

How many weeks can you start 1st's before 2nd's? Or is it just down to growing time?

It's growing time. Apart from a few earlies which I plant up in the polytunnel all the rest of my spuds go in at the same time, just get harvested differently

[Alison]

Best earlies I ever grew were Ulster Classic but not been able to get hold of them for a few years. Tried various others and Lady Christl are the best I've found although not as good as the Classics