Potato Season: chitting & seeding varieties

Are your potatoes well chitted and ready to be planted?  With so many varieties of potatoes to plant, it’s fun finding your personal favourite.

Did you know a medium sized potato can supply nearly half the recommended daily intake of vitamin C?

Waxy or Floury?

You’ll see reference to potatoes either being ‘waxy’ or ‘floury’ in their description.

As waxy potatoes have a high water content and are low in starch, they tend to retain their shape once cooked so suited for boiling, salads, casseroles and soups due to density. In saying that, most new potatoes (freshly dug) are waxy but can change their texture as natural sugars convert to starch.

Floury potatoes are low in water and high in starch and tend to be of a more delicate and fluffy texture, breaking up easily. These floury potatoes are better suited for roasting, chipping and mashing.

In the middle are ‘all purpose’ potatoes which sit somewhere in between the two.

Chitting Potatoes

“Chit” you ask? Chitting is another term for the sprout of the seed potato that must be present before you begin your planting regime.  To do this, remove the seeding potatoes from the plastic bag (if they come in one) and lay in a single layer in a dark place on some paper. A drawer or cardboard box works well.

Grow until the sprouted eyes are green and at least 2cm long, then plant. Read more about where to plant potatoes and

Potato Varieties to Grow in your Veggie Patch

While I have grown supermarket potatoes before that have gone to seed in my potato drawer, this particular article is about growing seeding potatoes that you’d buy from a plant centre or reputable supplier.

Boy, what a choice you have once you start taking potato growing seriously! When buying potatoes from the supermarket you’ll only have a handful of choice and more often than not, the variety isn’t even identified.

There are more than 50 varieties grown in New Zealand.

Your plant centre or seed potato supplier (be it via a farmers’ market or online) may include a  number of potato varieties. Some may include:

• Agria – an all purpose floury potato. Cream skin, yellow flesh. Maturity approximately 90-100 days.
• Arran Banner – an early harvest waxy potato. Pale yellow skin, white flesh. Maturity approximately 70/80 days.
• Anuschka – an early harvest smooth skinned salad potato. Yellow flesh. High yield.

• Cliff Kidney – an early harvest waxy potato. White flesh. Maturity approximately 80/90 days.
• Desiree – an all purpose potato. Pink skin, cream flesh. Maturity approximately 90/100 days.
• Haylo – an all purpose potato. Cream flesh. Maturity approximately 80/90 days.
• Heather – an all purpose waxy potato. Purple/blue skin, white flesh. Maturity approximately 80/90 days.

What a choice…..now, what to plant!?

I have dabbled with a few varieties, all delicious! Everything tastes better when you grow it yourself though! This season however I’ll be trying Jersey Bennies and Liseta.

Note: *early harvest/early variety – these varieties literally grow faster so have a shorter growing period – perfect to keep in mind if you are looking to have homegrown potatoes on your Christmas Menu.