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Cara was bred by the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Carlow Ireland and released for sale 1976. It is a very popular variety sold in supermarkets and often appears as an unnamed variety described as for general purpose.
There is a sport (genetic mutation) with red skin known as Cara Red but aside from skin colour, it has the same characteristics.
Cara Potato
Cara is a Maincrop potato variety which produces a very good crop of average sized oval potatoes of similar sizes. The skin is firm (it definitely needs to be peeled for most uses) and the flesh is cream coloured with several red eyes. They produce a larger than normal crop of potatoes.
It is a floury potato which is best suited to making mashed potato. It does OK for roasting, chips and boiled potatoes, but only just OK. Flavour can most kindly be described as mild, but slightly bland might be a better description.
Cara potatoes have good disease resistance and impressive resistance to blight. They do produce tall plants which can be damaged by strong winds.
Cara potatoes should be grown in the normal manner for Maincrop potatoes. Click here for our detailed page about growing potatoes. We wouldn't advise growing them in containers.
Main crop potatoes like Cara benefit little, if at all, from chitting. However, if you really do want to chit this variety, the best time is the first week of March in average areas of the UK. Comprehensive details about how to chit potatoes can be found here.
Sprouted Seed Potatoes
The best time to plant out Cara potatoes is about the first week of April in average areas of the UK.
Planting out on this date will give the seed potatoes about six weeks before they reach the surface of the soil. Whilst they are growing towards the soil surface the sprouts will be protected from frost by the surrounding soil.
By the time they do appear above the soil, the danger of frost will have passed and the sprouts will not be damaged by frost. Comprehensive details about how to plant out potatoes can be found here.
As with all vegetables, the time for harvest is dependent on many factors such as the weather conditions while they are growing and the general soil conditions.
Cara potatoes take a couple of weeks longer to reach full maturity compared to other maincrop varieties. On average however you can expect to start harvesting Cara potatoes in late August in average areas of the UK.
Using the above date as a guide we would advise that a week before that date you use your hand to search through the soil to harvest one or two potatoes. The term often used for this activity is known in gardening circles as "furtling"!
It does almost no damage to the remaining potatoes but allows you to examine one or two of the potatoes to ensure they are of approximately the correct size. If they are, start harvesting, if not wait for one or two weeks and try again.
Cara flower
Harvesting Cara potatoes can be spread over three to four weeks and they can be stored successfully for three months in the correct conditions. Comprehensive details about how to harvest and store potatoes can be found here.
An obvious competitor to Cara is Maris Piper because it is an excellent all rounder. For other maincrop potatoes we have tested select one from the drop down list below.
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