Released: February 14, 2003

Ask Early for Seed Potatoes With Just-Right Characteristics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Dealers who sell seed potatoes often stock only one or two varieties.

Yet, potato varieties can vary widely in skin color, disease resistance, and yield potential. They can differ in how long they take to mature and how suitable they are for various cooking methods.

To get a specific variety, gardeners may have to call around early in the season. In Kansas that means before potato planting peaks in mid-March, said Chuck Marr, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.

"Then you’ll want to make sure to select only firm, solid seed potatoes that have a blue tag on the bag. That tag tells you they’ve been inspected and are free of diseases," Marr said.

Among the best potatoes for planting in the central High Plains are the following:

* White-skinned varieties are good for baking. The Superior variety is good for mashing, too, and it matures just into midseason. Because its cooked texture is VERY mealy, Norchip is the only variety also recommended for making french fries; it’s the most productive of the whites, maturing in midseason.

"Irish Cobbler is a white-skinned potato that matures early under Kansas conditions. It’s good for mashing, as well as baking, but it also produces deep eyes and has poor tolerance to scab disease," Marr said. "Late-maturing varieties such as Kennebec can be a problem during our typical summer weather. Potatoes can’t accumulate starch during hot-hot weather, but CAN lose quality. Besides, years of K-State field trials found Kennebec has poor scab tolerance here."

* As a group, red-skinned varieties tend to mature earlier than the whites or russets, and their waxy-when-cooked texture makes them good for boiling. Red Norland is the earliest-producing red that’s recommended for Kansas; it’s shown good scab tolerance in field trials. LaRouge and LaSoda don’t mature until midseason and have only moderate scab tolerance, but they can yield at least half-again more potato poundage than Norland. Viking is a new red that is high yielding, scab resistant, and moderately early to mature.

"I’d be less likely to plant Red Pontiac," the horticulturist said. "It does have a soggy to waxy texture when cooked that makes it good for both salads and boiling. But it matures late and is susceptible to scab."

* Russet (brown)-skinned varieties have a mealy, crumbly texture that makes them the best for baking, but good when boiled. The two recommended for Kansas have shallow eyes and good scab tolerance. Norgold Russet also matures early, but yields the smallest poundage of all the potatoes on Marr’s list. Norkotah matures midseason and is probably the best of the russet varieties for growing in Kansas.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward, Communications Specialist
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News