Blight Proof Potatoes:
The Sárpo, continued...
I attended an interesting talk given by G. Davies at Ryton in late January, 2005. He and E. Skinner had been involved in organising Sárpo trials undertaken by Henry Doubleday members, the experiment sponsored by (and suggested by) Thompson & Morgan.
The three varieties tried were: Sárpo Mira, Sárpo Axona and Sárpo Tominia. Members were supplied with five tubers of each type and were asked to grow them alongside a variety of their choice. They were asked to comment on yield (number of tubers and weight), taste, and to note their observations on growth. There were 170 returns.
Most planted in the first 2 weeks of May.
Most people established 5 plants of each variety.
Here is a list of their findings:
GROWTH
Not much difference between Mira, Axona, Tominia and the members' own choice. Growth was very slightly less than "members' own".
There was much less foliage blight. Sárpo had about 10% blight after 20 weeks, comparing with 44% for the members' own choice. Axona was better than Mira; Mira better than Tominia. There was some early blight on the Sárpo varieties but this is caused by a different organism, and this confused some of the growers; the true figure for Sarpo late blight, therefore, is probably lower than 10%.
The Sárpos gave more tubers than "own variety". There was little TUBER blight on any of the potatoes, including "member's own".
YIELD
The average yields were:
Axona: 5.5 kg per 5 plants
Mira: 5.5 kg
Tominia 6.5 kg
Members' own: 4.1
COOKING QUALITY
No difference between Axona, Mira and Tominia with respect to disintegration. All are floury and have to be cooked in the correct way. All are whitish; Axona slightly whiter and a bit more floury.
"Own variety" scored best for taste (not surprising if it's the grower's favourite). Mira scored worst.
When
asked if they would grow the Sárpo potatoes again, the
response was:
The
main reason for not wanting to grow them again, cited by
about a quarter of the growers, was taste. TOMINIA
was the most impressive, which is a pity, because this is the one
which the Ministry have decided won't make it onto the National
Listing - it's too similar to MIRA. The Ministry couldn't find
sufficient difference between the DNA fingerprints.
COMMENTS
FROM THE FLOOR 1.
Several growers said that both Mira and Tominia have good flavour. 2.
One grower said that the tubers of all three types are tough skinned.
There was general agreement. 3.
One person commented that it's difficult to know when to dig the
tubers up. The foliage doesn't die off. Some members harvested in
September; some left them in until November, when tubers could be 1lb
each. There was a decrease in taste and an increase in slug damage
with very late harvested tubers: again, not surprising. 4.
One member reported that the tubers were better after storage for
mashing, but no good after storage for chips. 5.
Members reckoned that allowing the plants to grow for 4 months was
about right. Late May sowing is fine. 6.
Two members reported hollow heart in large tubers- perhaps because
their harvesting was rather late. 7.
One member commented that Axona had a grainy, unpleasant texture. 8.
All agreed that late blight resistance was
outstanding (I believe it's rated at "9" on the Alan Romans scale). Alison and I have obtained some Sárpo
Mira seed and will be writing about the plants later in the
season.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Mira Axona Tominia
Yes 54 52 62
No 34 35 25
Perhaps 6 7 7
