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OTHER POTATO PAGES
Probably the most discussed of all potato problems is Late Potato Blight. Although there are actions you can take to minimise the effects of potato blight, the best action for the amateur gardener is to grow a variety which has proven resistance to potato blight.
The Sarpo family of potato varieties all show good resistance to blight however, the latest in the line, Sarpo Axona has top blight resistance and at the same time tastes good and (boiling aside) is an excellent all round choice for the kitchen.
Another maincrop variety which some blight resistance is Cara. A Second Early variety which is showing some resistance is one of our favourite varieties, Vitabella.
Don't be fooled into thinking that the variety Setanta has any special blight resistance, independent testing has proven that to be a myth - click on this page here for evidence.
With one exception, the Orla variety (more about that below), no First Early variety of potato has good blight resistance. In fact most of them have very low resistance to blight.
But as far as blight and First Early varieties are concerned this is normally not a problem. There are a couple reasons for this.
First Early potato varieties mature much earlier than than Second Early or Maincrop varieties and they therefore stay in the ground for a shorter time. This in turn reduces their risk of being attacked by blight.
Also, blight it less likely to attack early in the season (blight requires warm conditions to take hold), which is just when First Early varieties are nearly (or already) ready for harvest.
So, when growing First Early potato varieties, if you keep an eye out for blight (see section below), and act as soon as you see any signs of it (if at all), your crop of First Early potatoes is almost guaranteed to be unaffected by blight.
Regarding the mention of Orla potatoes above, this particular variety has only average resistance to blight on the leaves but has very good resistance to that blight being transmitted down to the potato tubers.
Slugs can damage potatoes sufficiently to make them totally inedible. See our page dedicated to slug resistant potato varieties.
There are no chemicals available to amateur gardeners for preventing scab in the UK. Our page dedicated to scab in potatoes explains in detail what options you have.
BEST VARIETIES FOR EARLY POTATO CROP
BEST POTAT0 VARIETIES FOR ROASTING
BEST VARIETIES FOR MASHED POTATOES
BEST VARIETIES FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE
OTHER POTATO PAGES
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