In any grocery store store I visit , I typically find three primary type of white potato : red , yellow , and russet . But if you ’re a fan of red potatoes like I am , you bang that there are C of variety sporting a cerise skin over the creamy interior . While red potatoes may all seem the same at a coup d’oeil , each has its own unique color , flavor , and culinary determination .
But how do you be intimate which smorgasbord of red potato to prefer ? And how should you care for them in your garden ?
Keep indication , as I guide you through the cognitive process of planting , grow , and harvest home red potatoes , and introduce you to my top 16 picks of white potato cultivars with scarlet skin .
@mums_gardening
All About Red Potatoes
red-faced Solanum tuberosum have reddish skin ( ranging sometimes from dark pink to light purplish ) , and whitened to yellow coloured insides . They stand out amongst their pale - skinned cousins and for full reason : due to their dark skins , ruby white potato vine are one of the healthiest and most nutritious potatoes out there .
Red potatoes are plenteous in vitamin B6 and vitamin nose candy , and they also contain some atomic number 19 and iron . They are also rich in antioxidants , thanks to large quantity of the anthocyanain paint in the skin .
As the name suggests , violent Irish potato have tenuous , rouge cutis that is more often than not shiny and unruffled and does not need peeling .
@mums_gardening
Most of the nutriment is find in these red skins , and you cansafely eat potato skins in most compositor’s case . However , do not run through the skins on potatoes that are damaged , burgeon forth , or turn green as they containpoisonous substance that can be very unhealthy in large quantities , especially to tiddler .
In most cases , you could eat skin in moderation but , with or without skin , red potatoes are a great addition to your meal and you will be very well-chosen you grew them in your garden .
On the inside , red potatoes are ( ordinarily ) white , cream , or yellow .
The flesh is dense and creamy when cooked with a modest pantry flavour that is more or less sugared ( they are deliberate a medium clams content potato ) .
flushed potato are called a waxy white potato which means they have less start and hold their shape better when cooked . In fact , red potato are probably the waxiest of all the potato type and they are excellently suited for salad , soups , roasting , boiling , or coquet .
ruby-red potatoes are considered a pocket-size to medium potato depending on the variety . They typically weigh between 140 and 180 g ( 5 - 10 oz ) , and have a round to oval material body with adiameter of around 3.5 cm to 6 cm ( 1.5 - 2.5 inches ) .
Planting Red Potatoes
Here is a guide to plant red white potato in your theatre of operations or garden :
flushed white potato vine grow best in wanton , well - drain soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0 . Being heavy birdfeeder , they grow specially well in plots that were enriched with compost just before planting .
Sprout your germ potatoesprior to planting by come out the tubers in a sunny spotlight ( but out of direct sunlight ) 20 days or so before you want to institute . Each seed white potato vine should have between 2 and 4 eyes if potential , and you’re able to cut any large I if needed .
Seed potatoes can be surprisingly small , with most companies recommending a seed white potato vine that is 2 cm to 4 cm ( 1 - 1.5 inch ) in diam , or weighs around 85 g ( 3 oz ) . Of naturally , they can be orotund and you will still get a great crop of red tater in the decline .
Start violent potatoes in your garden between 2 and 4 weeks before your last expected rime . Dig a diminished hole 8 curium ( 3 inches ) late , set your seed spud in the bottom , and cover them with soil again . Most varieties of red potato can be space 30 centimeter ( 12 inches ) asunder in rows set 60 cm to 90 centimetre ( 24 - 36 inches ) . You should begin to see the plants popping up in around 2 workweek .
Alternatively , you could produce spud from semen ( as opposed to semen potatoes ) by following these tipshere .
Care While Growing
While develop , red potatoes really only need two thing : watering and hilling .
Watering : For the best shaped tubers and an abundant harvest , give your crimson potatoes 2 cm to 3 centimeter ( approximately 1 inch ) of H2O every week . Hopefully , you will get adequate rainfall , but verify to turn on the water supply if not . Soaker hoses mold exceptionally well for potatoes by providing wet directly to the roots and grow tubers .
Hilling : Hilling is the practice of covering your growing potatoes with soil , compost , straw , or another organic matter . Themain purpose of hillingis threefold : it protects genus Tuber from green in the sun or being damaged by the freeze ; it suppresses weeds ; and it give you a big yield of better tuber . Hilling is not necessary , but it can certainly help your crop . When the plants are between 15 cm to 30 curium ( 6 - 12 in ) improbable , mound up your chosen matter around the base of the plant , and repeat once or twice more throughout the grow season .
How And When To Harvest Red Potatoes
Regardless of which miscellanea you develop , your red potato can be harvested at any point . It is popular to dig them little as creamers or “ newfangled potatoes ” , or leave them in the ground until they have hand their maturity date date as full sized white potato .
Most red potatoes are full size of it in the former summer or fall . Leave them in the ground until two weeks after the foliage has died back , or until a obliterate frost hits your country . Check out our other article for moretips on when and how to glean white potato vine .
Storing Red Potatoes
If possible , let your potato heal for 7 to 14 Clarence Day after harvesting . Lay them in a individual bed in a cool , sour location with estimable line circulation . ( notice : this step is n’t necessary , but it can improve the foresighted - terminal figure storability of the red potatoes ) .
There are many different ways to store potatoes . My favorite way is to put them in a cardboard box ( perforate a few melody gob ) , and cover them with newspaper shaving ( this is a great way to get a second use out of old cant statements ) .
Keep them at 7C to 10C ( 45 - 50F ) for ideal storage . If long term repositing for commercial-grade purposes is required , keep up a 95 % relative humidness .
@mums_gardening
16 Red-Skinned Potato Varieties You’ll Love to Grow
Now that you know how to produce cherry potatoes , it is clip to pick out the unspoilt miscellanea for your garden ( and palette ) . You ca n’t go awry by choose one of these preferent red potato variety :
Adirondack Red
Adirondack potatoes are mostly well known as the old gloomy or empurpled var. , but theAdirondack Redcame on the scene in 2004 .
Unlike most cherry tater , the insides of Adirondack potatoes are red which means the flesh is also high-pitched in antioxidants . In fact , the skin can range from red to reddish - purple , and the flesh can be from pinkish to Marxist in color .
Developed by Cornell University , Adirondack Red are fair sprawling plant with a mass medium to in high spirits output of long and somewhat flattened tubers .
Adirondack Red potatoes are susceptible to silver exfoliation disease and gold nematodes . On the other helping hand , the are fairly resistant to common scab and they produce gracious , blemish - loose tubers on the whole .
2: Chieftain
Since 1957,Chieftainpotatoes have become a fairly popular ruddy potato for nursing home gardener , market gardeners , and large export growers , and it is easy to see why .
This medium sized flora sports large , wan violet blossom and lot of oval tuber . The crimson peel is very bright and attractive , with slightly darker spots at the eye . The flesh is livid and they are excellent for boiling , roasting , fry , salads , and any other potato recipe you have . tribal chief potatoes also store very well , and can even reply well to being washed before storehouse .
Another attractive quality is that they are wide adaptable and can be produce in a broad range of mountains of status and soil case . Just be indisputable to keep them well water for good sized potatoes as a lack of tearing will lead them to be undersized .
Chieftain have resistance against recent blight , common strikebreaker , rhizoctonia , ash grey exfoliation , stem - end browning , tuber final mortification , and verticillium wilt .
They are susceptible to calamitous leg , fusarium dry rot , leaf roll , phoma hogwash , PVX , and PVY .
3: Cherry Red
From 1999 , Cherry Red potatoes produce caboodle of pretty flowers with a drear - violet corolla and spectacular hotshot . They are a medium sized , semi erect plant that has fairly beneficial drought tolerance , plus they are resistant to fusarium dry rot , rhizoctonia , and hollow kernel . Cherry Red can have problem with other blight ( both tuber and foliar ) , common scab , blackleg , leafroll , PVY , PVX , powdery rat , and bacterial soft guff .
It is a unspoiled yielding craw , consistently produce 8 to 9 genus Tuber under each plant . The ellipse potato have a tranquil reddened skin and snowy physical body that are first-class for boiling and baking but work well for everything else , too .
The plant starts get tubers betimes and they bulk up quite quickly , promising an early harvest . Because of the fast tuber set and development , the potatoes can grow quite large , so assure them early to avoid cracking .
Red Cherry also sets its Tuber quite shallow , so hilling is crucial to protect them from the sun .
4: Desiree
This mid to late season variety show from 1951 is a extremely seek after potato , and is commonly sell in lifelike grocery store stores . It is also democratic with flock of nurseryman .
Desiree are a mellow soften variety with calorie-free yellowed insides , which are superb for boil but also run well fried , baked , or turned into white potato salad or Irish potato Saratoga chip .
The plant life are pretty unretentive but sprawling plants with wooden-headed stems . It produce numerous pink flowers with white tips and a pretty unripe headliner pattern .
@waltson.chips
The tubers are also very nice looking . Desiree white potato are average to large long ellipse tubers with a unruffled crimson skin . Despite their large size , Desiree potatoes rarely crack nor suffer from hollow heart . They have a courteous uniform size , though irregularly shaped spuds can occur in heavy grime or when given atomic number 99
Desiree potatoes digest drouth quite well , and they also have a salutary disease underground package , include skin pip , PVY , tuber late blight , blackleg , PVA , PVX , fusarium dry rot , and they are immune to potato verruca ( race 1 ) . The only literal offspring they confront is common scab , but you should also watch out for leaf late blight , and foliage roll .
5: Glenwood Red
acclaim from Newfounfland , Canada in 1991 , this recent season , medium sized flora produces lots of violent - reddish blue efflorescence . The tuber are orotund with a politic light pinkish hide and white to cream slanted form .
Each flora create mint of tubers that are a nice , uniform sizing . They are preponderantly used for simmering and baking , but they are well adjust to many dishes .
Glenwood Red are resistant to potato wart , late blight , unwashed scab , and fusarium ironical rot . They are susceptible to golden nematode .
@craigavonfarms
If you exist in Newfoundland , or another east coast place with a similar climate , you will find that these potatoes really beam .
6: Lady Rosetta
Lady Rosetta come out of Holland in 1988 . They are a medium to late time of year variety of red potato that produces tall plants . The flowers are remarkable : not only are there lots of them , but they are a pretty mauve with a dramatic blanched starting time design . ( Some mutants have been observe that have all bloodless blooms or even snowy potatoes ) . Another interesting compass point about Lady Rossetta ’s flowers is that they produce very little , if any , berry !
Lady Rosetta tubers are round with bizarre crimson skin , and each plant bring on very attractive and uniform potatoes .
The industrial plant are very prolific and you will glean great savour white potato with cream to pale yellow flesh that are specially ideal for boiling or backing as the suffer almost no discoloration after cook .
@fourseasonfarm
They are resistive to PVA , PVX , murphy cyst roundworm , PVY , leaf roll , common scab , and tuber blight . Lady Rosetta do have problem with blackleg , powdery blackleg , and folio blight .
7: Norland
In my area , Norlandpotatoes are mayhap the most common locally grown ruddy potato , and they have been seek after by commercial growers and nursing home nurseryman since they came out in 1951 . The purple bloom are very pretty but the spuds themselves are even more exceptional .
This early season variety chop-chop farm lots of oblong , slenderly flattened genus Tuber with a smooth red pelt . They are smallish , and the potatoes fit nicely in your script . A few strains , such as Norland Dark Red , Red Norland , New Red Norland have even darker - toned skin but they all have a bright white flesh .
An attractive characteristic of the Norland Irish potato is that they are adapted to most every garden soil and climate . They are , however , sensitive to drought - like conditions so supervise your watering closely .
They are excellent young white potato , though they spite and skis easily when harvested too soon . But they wash out and store very well when leave alone to maturate , and since they are an other variety , you do n’t have too tenacious to wait !
Norland have very piddling offspring with intimate defects , and they are resistant to PVA , mutual scab , white potato wart , and rhizoctonia . They are highly susceptible to silvery scurf and also be on the lookout man for black branch , fusarium ironical rot , late blight , leaf roster , phoma rot , and verticillium wilt .
In the kitchen , Norland potatoes are well for pretty much any potato looker you want to create .
@myaustingarden
8: Pinto Gold
A more unique red potato , Pinto Gold is a relatively Modern white potato that was officially made its start in 2018 . It was bred by the University of Maine and has a very high yield and computer memory well .
Pinto Gold has a yellow-bellied shape that is buttery and very scrumptious , but it is in the skins that these white potato really shine . The skin is bland and crimson with orotund lily-livered patches around the eyes , giving the potatoes a nice hodgepodge look . The size is very irregular but , and you’re able to get ovals or even long fingerling , but this only adds to their good luck charm .
They are a late time of year variety and have a fairly satisfactory disease resistance package .
@appalachias_homestead_1870
9: Red Gold
The name “ Red Gold ” adeptly explains the line between the tegument and the flesh . Coming out in 1970 , they are a mid season variety that are a decent producer of delectable tubers .
The potatoes are round to oval , with a smooth to slightly freaky pinkish - crimson skin , and the eyes are marked by brighter pink - red spots .
The bright yellow flesh has a very moist texture , making them excellent for boil and baking .
Red Gold are tolerant to foliage roll , PVA , and common blackleg , but susceptible to PVA , PVS , and PVX .
And the blossom are an electrical pinkish - purpleness !
10: Red La Soda
Red La Soda came about in the mid 1900s . This mid - time of year variety is an average side plant with great lavender coloured flowers .
It has prolate , very attractive looking tubers with a deep cherry hide . They also store very well .
Each plant yields a band of Irish potato and the flesh is white and they are good for baking , boiling , and roasting .
@flintalyckans_blomster
Red La Soda grow well in all climates and are grown from the northward to the south . They are exceptional good in hot and juiceless season and they are also immune to former blight . Be on the observation post for bleak ramification , common blackleg , fusarium teetotal rot , former blight , leaf coil , verticillium wilt , PVX , and PVY as Red La Soda are susceptible to these .
11: Red Pontiac
This is one of the most popular violent potatoes the world over . Registered in 1931 , Red Pontiac potato are a mid to belated time of year salmagundi . The plants are very large , matched by big , white - tipped purple blooms .
The genus Tuber themselves are mostly round or slenderly oblong with quiet , occasionally netted reddened skin . The plants bring forth lots of these very attractive potatoes . They are also tolerant to drought . On top of that , they store very well but injure easily to handle them cautiously at harvest .
They are moderately resistant to tuber net necrosis and dim leg , but they are susceptible to PVA , PVX , PVY , folio roll , unwashed scab , fusarium dry rot , belated blight , and verticillium wilt disease .
The white - fleshed potato can be cooked and prepared in any way for a delicious meal .
12: Redsen
Redsen white potato were released in 1983 from North Dakota , and are an early to intermediate season variety . The plants are fairly large and have pretty lavender coloured flowers .
Redsen genus Tuber are fairly circular , with promising ruby skin that is very thin and politic , and lily-white interior . The plants grant quite well and do n’t usually have issues with inner fault . Harvest them cautiously , however , as the thin skins bruise very easily .
Mostly bred for baking and roasting , these potatoes boil well but are susceptible to blackening later , particularly if they have been stored for a retentive clip first .
@pharmtotablenc
They are resistant to late blight , coarse scab , and silver scale , but they can have problems with fusarium dry rot .
13: Rosara
Rosara potatoes come out of Germany in 1983 . They are a mid time of year variety with tall plants and red - violet peak with a thin start pattern . The are breed to grow in every grunge type and all growing conditions . They are not drought broad , however , so ensure to water them on a regular basis .
The tubers are long oval with smooth violent skin . They are medium sized and very attractive . gratefully , they do not have many issue with internal or outside impairment , such as bruising or hollow core . Rosara are immune to potato wart , and resistant to prosperous nematode , tuber late blight , blackleg , common rat , leaf curlicue , PVA , PVY , and leaf late blight .
Their sensationalistic frame is perfect for boiling or baking .
@red.truck.acres
14: Sangre
This mid season variety came out in 1982 , with medium sized plants and a few lavender coloured flowers . They yield lots of ellipse genus Tuber with tranquil , deep red skin . Let the seeded player potatoes warm up to elbow room temp for 7 - 10 days before planting for good outgrowth . They still might take a while to number up but uprise very fast after that . The genus Tuber can mature quite big , so plant them near together , at most 30 cm ( 12 in ) , to keep the tubers from grow too big .
Sangre are fairly large-minded to drought , but they perform far well with regular irrigation . ironic dirt will lead to web on the peel ( this wo n’t impact the murphy but they wo n’t be as pretty sounding ) .
The white flesh has a great flavor that can be used in any manner but they are excellent for boiling ( with no after - cooking discolouration ) and baking .
They are resistant to last necrosis , leaf scroll , PVY , and early blight genus Tuber rotting . Sangre are susceptible to common rat , early blight , belated blight , verticillium wilt , blackleg , seed - piece decay , and argent exfoliation .
15: Strawberry Paw
peradventure the most adorably - name tater , Strawberry Pawproduces lashings of round to oblong spuds . They are a mid season variety and the potatoes are in the main pretty enceinte with a bright blood-red skin .
Their white flesh is very smooth and creamy with superb tang . Strawberry Paw are quite damp and sour well boiled , baked , roasted , or made into a salad .
Strawberry Paw are repellent to tuber late blight , common scab , which is what they were breed for . They are also exceptional storers and will keep all wintertime long .
16: Viking
Another very commonly grown white potato vine , Viking come out in 1954 from North Dakota . There are light pinkish heyday on top of medium sized plants . They are a mid - time of year miscellany and are capable of produce a adequate harvest time in as little as 85 24-hour interval .
Since the tubers size up quite quickly , space the works 16 cm to 20 curium ( 6 - 8 inch ) apart to avoid oversized , unshapely tubers . Viking are quite tolerant to drought , and will handle a all-embracing range of climates and weather .
Viking plant high yielding , and produce lots of round to oblong smooth red skin . The bright white inside are ideally for simmering but are also good for baking , roasting , and salads .
They are fairly unspoiled at resisting coarse scab , but they have problem with opprobrious leg , fusarium dry rot , former blight , leaf drum roll , and verticillium wilting .
Other Red Potatoes
Of naturally , there are many , many more types of red murphy . Some more notable varieties admit Colorado Rose , Dakota Rose , La Rouge , Mountain Rose , NorDonna , Red Bliss , Red Luna , Red Maria , and Red Ruby .
There are also a few blood-red fingerling potatoes , and while there can be a big and het up debate amongst horticulturalists whether they are fingerling with red skins , or crimson potatoes with fingerling shape , it does n’t make any divergence to the consecrate red potato lover , so check out Red Thumb orFrench Fingerling .
The Colorful World of Red Potatoes
Red potatoes are one of my dearie . I really like the grain when cook , and they are a colorful surprisal when digging them up from the garden ( and I do n’t mistake them for rocks like I do with yellow - skinned varieties ) .
I hope this article has inspired you to try red potatoes in your own garden . What is your favorite kind of red potato to grow ?
Written By
Amber Noyes was put up and raised in a suburban California town , San Mateo . She hold a captain ’s grade in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco . With experience mould on an organic farm , water preservation enquiry , farmers ’ markets , and works glasshouse , she understands what make plant thrive and how we can better empathise the connexion between microclimate and plant health . When she ’s not on the commonwealth , Amber loves informing people of new idea / thing relate to horticulture , especially organic horticulture , houseplants , and growing plants in a small space .
