Potato Blight League Table
This is my attempt to quantify foliage late blight susceptibility in the types I've grown. Remember that no potatoes are immune - they just take a bit longer to be affected.
Top of list (higher numbers) - least affected by late blight.
Bottom - most affected.
Scale from 1-9 as used by Alan Romans and others.
9 Sarpo Mira (of the types I've grown, out on its own - astonishing blight resistance)
8-9 Sarpo Axona
8 Verity
7 Markies
7 Cosmos
7 Lady Balfour ......UPDATE - resistance broke down in 2008 season
7 Orla ......UPDATE - resistance broke down in 2008 season
6 Cara
6 Claret
6 Penta
6 Romano
6 Kerr's Pink
6 Golden Wonder
6 Valor
6 White Lady
5-6 Picasso
5-6 Blue Auvergne
5-6 Odenwald Blaue
5 Red King Edward
5 Majestic
5 Maris Piper
5 Congo
5 Desiree
5 Charlotte
5 Wilja
5 Shetland Black
5 Pentland Dell
4-5 Rooster
4-5 Swift
4-5 Catriona
4-5 Ulster Prince
4 Red Duke of York
4 Epicure
4 Mandel
4 Mimi
4 King Edward
4 Yukon Gold
4 Edzell Blue
4 Rocket
4 Certema
3 Salad Blue
3 Duke of York
3 Up to Date
3 Ulster Chieftain
3-4 Anya
3-4 British Queen
2-3 Home Guard
2-3 Yetholm Gypsy
2 Pink Fir Apple
Note that it's not really fair to compare earlies and maincrop in a list like this. Pink Fir isn't a lot more susceptible to blight than Edzell Blue (an early), but it stays in the ground longer so damage is often worse. The positions will also vary depending on the type of cultivation. I have grouped these based on experiences of growing them in pots in Leicestershire, along with a glance at Alan Romans' excellent "Guide to Seed Potato Varieties", which is available through HDRA. Our figures do not always agree but most are fairly close.
Varieties classed as 6 and above can generally be kept going in containers (with constant attention and bordeaux mixture) for their normal lifespan even in a bad blight year.
Figures will change a little, always for the worse, with time.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
