Early High Humidity, heat tolerant potato varieties?

[toomanyseeds]

What are the best "early" varieties?

What are the best humidity, heat tolerant varieties? 

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Looking for varieites I might have overlooked.

[stevecrouse]

Available moisture is a more appropriate metric IMO.
Varieties like Russet Burbank and Kennebec can be forced to reach maturity faster if they are given adequate moisture.

[toomanyseeds]

Kennebec has always been on the later side for us under normal conditions. Ive never tried forcing them. Maybe I will put them in a test plot, and see what happens.

[DarJones]

Kennebec is distinctly a late variety here. Azul Toro is mid-season. Russian Banana fingerling is very early, about 80 days to mature tubers. La Ratte is another that matures very early.

[Tom Wagner]

Anthony, since you asked about early varieties...I am not going to go into my own varieties rather just mention a few that come to mind.

Accent
Adora
Amandine
Anuschka
Arran Pilot
CalWhite
Caribe
Crimson Red ( COO 86107-1R )
Dark Red Norland
Epicure
Estima
Foremost
Irish Cobbler
Kameraz
Maris Bard
Molli
Pentland Javelin
Satina
Swift
Red Duke of York
Redsen
Red Sunset, * (AO93487-2R)
Rocket
Rosara
Russet Norkotah,
Trisor
Winston
Yukon Gold

>>>>>best humidity, heat tolerant varieties? There are so many variables and what are the examples? Depending on where one grows them to determine that. I was growing potatoes in four seasons in California all only a days drive away. I know about growing potatoes in thirty states fairly well having bought potatoes as a potato buyer for Frito-Lay back in the sixties and seventies, but I could no further tell you for sure what constitutes a humidity tolerant potato than a man in the moon. A heat tolerant potato...yeah that is easy but the varieties I would have to mention would be complicated...let it suffice that Lenape was by far the best parent for that category. Frito Lay varieties were singled out for that especially. I think Arizona around
Queen Creek back 45 years ago with 117 F heat was one of the best examples of heat tolerant. Kennebec's melted in that heat.

The only reason one would grow potatoes in extreme heat is for a market window or that is where you live.

[stevecrouse]

Eramosa is one of the earliest varieties I've grown, at about one to two weeks earlier than Superior.
They respond well to greensprouting
Great for the new potato market, but when they mature, there is absolutely no flavor.
Plants are light and weak as well.

[toomanyseeds]

Our area is not known for its great potato crops. Tomatoes, corn, soybeans.

We either need to go with varieties under 90-100 days; or ones that can struggle through 2-6 weeks of 95-110 degree weather and heat indexes at 115-125. Pollination during this time frame is rough. We now have varieties of tomatoes,peppers etc that continually set fruit straight through (blue tears now produces for us, nonstop through the heat, and survived early blight and septoria). 

So, we are looking for potato varieties that can handle this, still taste good, produce good and set fruit. Most at the farmers markets, are not that good.

Im going to seek out a source for La Ratte and Russian Banana. See how those do. (around 80 days would be about perfect)

We have a few varieties of TPS from Tom, (although those were hard to select, as the website has little background info) we will grow some of those.

And with Toms additional list, will research some of those, and see it I can find a decent source..

In the end , will no doubt cross a few to get what we want.

We grow for ourselves, extended family and select clients.

[stevecrouse]

If you have trouble sourcing those in your area, I know where to acquire them on the east coast.

[DarJones]

I am in a high temp high humidity area and have grown many of Tom's potatoes over the last 10 years. I found 6 out of about 200 that produce in my climate. Three of those 6 are very good.

Azul Toro - This one should be commercial. Very good production and the best virus tolerance I've yet seen.

Chellan - large white potato, the only one I've seen that can give Kennebec a run for the money production wise.

Unknown Purple Skin - This is one that I grabbed a spare tuber from Tom during a visit a couple of years ago. It has turned out to be very good for production and disease tolerance.

I have TPS from Chellan and the Purple Skin variety that I need to send back to Tom. With a bit of luck, he will list them for sale next spring.

La Ratte and Russian Banana are very similar in most traits except size. I suggest La Ratte and French Fingerling for commonly available varieties. French Fingerling gives a chance to try a potato that has more uses such as for creamed potatoes.

[gardensup]

I too live in a short season area with a few weeks of hot temperatures and high humidity. Not sure my climate is quite as extreme but I do know that it is a real stress on the plants. It is also difficult to get successful pollination for TPS berries.

I recognize that local conditions are unique but the following are a few good varieties that I have grown recently that have been heat and drought tolerant:

Boyd Dude
Diamond Toro
Fiesta Gold
Granola
Nicola

With the exception of Diamond Toro which has either blue or red flesh, they are all yellow fleshed.

DarJones, with your strong endorsement oI Azul Toro, I am thinking that I should try it next year. Are you aware of a TPS source?

[Tom Wagner]

The Azul Toro variety which I bred up years ago has the history of earliness, heat tolerance and humidity tolerance from the parental background that justifies it as a venerable clone to keep going. I probably should put together a TPS listing that has the Azul Toro family involved. Since I don't format the website and seldom do a good job on editing it...I will have to work closer with Rob to do that.

I had a commercial grower back in 2006 say that Azul Toro should have been one of the varieties to spend money on to clean up, but the grower and I no longer work together so I suspect I will never see the day that Azul Toro gets cleaned up or not with my connection to any profit motive.

For the clear approval by lots of folks with the non-certified Azul Toro still working for them...my own collection was infected with virus...I will definitely look at the family crosses to get good blues, reds, whites, red flesh, and yellows out of the A.T. progenies.

[toomanyseeds]

We would be interested in some relatives of Azul Toro also. As well as Chellan and the unknown Purple that Snickeringbear has.

[toomanyseeds]

Does anyone have a US source for Maris Bard, Rocket, or Swift? I only find UK.

[Tom Wagner]

i grew them and used them in hybrids and discarded the tubers after one or two generations. The Rocket variety crossed with FL 1533 (Early medium White, oval Chips)resulted in some very early lines, however most of the TPS from those crosses were not from the super early but from medium maturities.

When I put those varieties on display to commercial grower connections nothing clicked. Sometimes these UK lines get into the states for a year or two but attrition wipes them out for further contention. So many UK lines are white skinned potatoes and we don't market fresh market whites so much except for chipping stocks.

[toomanyseeds]

We figured that would be the case; decided to incorporate Cal-White, as I have a source for that. And it seems to fit what we were looking for in an early white. We will try a few pounds and see what happens.