How to Care for Accent Potatoes

  • Editor: Alex
  • Time to read: 5 min.

This is an early season potato, the tuber produced is quite firm and their size is even for the most part. If left in the ground they grow to a quite large size and the crop of potatoes is also very substantial and it produces a good yield. They have a reasonable enough resistance to diseases and pests especially for powdery and common scab.

They are also slug resistant, if slugs are common in your area you have nothing to worry about. They are susceptible to late blight as their resistance to this disease is quite low.

Parentage

The parent species of the accent potato are Alcmaria and AM66.42

Appearance

The skin of the accent potato is a pale brownish colour and this thick enough for a new potato breed but the eyes of this potato is very shallow which makes peeling it very easy.

The flesh is a light yellow colour and very waxy which makes it and ideal pretty to breed for boiling if you leave them in the ground after the normal harvest date they will continue growing like a main crop.

Taste

The accent potato breed is known for its good taste and excellent flavour and is a waxy potato breed.

Positive points for Accent potatoes

Accent for one has a good taste it’s also can be left in the ground to grow for a while after it expected harvest date as a main crop the accent potato plant does not grow to a large height which makes it the ideal variety above other options for exposed positions

Negative points for Accent potatoes

Apart from it’s low resistance to late blight, the accent potato breed does not have any significant drawbacks; nothing stands out as a glaring disadvantage of planting accent potatoes.

Buying accent seed potatoes in the UK

Accent is not a common variety of potato, but you can find it easily online. Several online vendors sell accent seed potatoes.
It is best to buy seed potatoes from certified suppliers, because the alternatives sold in the supermarket can be a source of disease and pests.

This is due to the potatoes in the supermarket being made primarily for consumption instead and are not packaged the same way as if they were meant for growing.

 

How to Care for Accent Potatoes

 

Buying seed potatoes from random people online on general retailers like Amazon and eBay is not recommended, it is best that you know exactly who is supplying your accent seed potatoes.

Also a discount store might not be the best option for buying seed potatoes. They might have good deals but it can also result in poor quality produce. This is due to discount stores taking second quality seed potatoes while the bigger conventional suppliers will take the highest quality seed potatoes. This could lead to a very disappointing harvest, which you will only find out after you have carefully taken care of the crops for several months.

Accent potato alternatives

There are several alternative species of potato that you can plant apart from the accent variety. The pilot specie is a good choice simply because it has a better taste.

The Swift potato specie is another good alternative that beats the accent potato by a huge margin because as you might have guessed from the name.

The Swift potato matures earliest of all the potato species and is also very good when it comes to being resilient against pest and disease.

When to chit/sprout accent potatoes

The best period to begin chitting or sprouting your accent potatoes is in the third week of February. This time is recommended by experts as it will give four to five weeks to develop healthy sprouts.

At around the time when they should be ready to be planted out keep the potatoes in cool places with good lighting to ensure they grow. Healthy accent potatoes should have short green spouts

When to plant accent potatoes

Accent potatoes fall into the class of first early potatoes and under the right conditions become ready for harvest 14 weeks after the seed potatoes are planted. The major Factor governing the time for planting your potatoes is the date of the last frost in your area. The smallest touch of frost can be very damaging to potato plants.

 

How to Care for Accent Potatoes

 

If the foliage of your potato plant is above ground and exposed to the frost an unexpected severe Frost could totally kill them.

The date for planting accent potato seeds can be calculated with the estimate that seed potatoes take about a month to appear above ground, so try to make sure that the period they appear above ground coincides with when the winter is over. This is the best practice to make sure they are not exposed to the frost.

When to harvest accent potatoes

The harvest time for all potato breeds is majorly dependent on when you plant your seed potatoes. It also depends on weather conditions throughout its growing period, but on average you can expect it to be ready for harvest between the second and last weeks of July if you are in the UK.

Summary of main Accent potato features

Type of harvest: First early maincrop, can alternatively be left in the ground after harvest date for larger potatoes.

Size: Average

Crop Regularity: Consistently produces a good yield of potatoes

Use: For salad and boiling

Skin texture: Smooth even skin with shallow eyes

Colour: Light brown

Cooked Texture: Waxy

Storage: Can be stored for between one to two weeks but tastes best when eaten fresh.

Special features: None

Awards: None

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