Clay / Heavy / Moist / Well Drained / Light / Sandy
Salad potatoes have grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to their delicious flavour and waxy texture. Solanum tuberosum 'Charlotte' is a favourite salad potato, producing very early crops of potatoes with creamy yellow flesh that remains firm on cooking. Solanum tuberosum 'Charlotte' potatoes are delicious boiled or steamed. As well as being excellent in salads, Charlotte potatoes also make great small jacket potatoes. They're uniform in shape and up to 50 per cent larger than other salad varieties.
How to grow Charlotte potatoes
'Chit' the potato tubers to encourage shoots to develop a couple of weeks before planting, by placing them in a well-lit, dry, frost-free place such as a window sill (old egg boxes are useful for potato chitting). Dig over the soil well and incorporate plenty of compost or rotted manure. Plant in trenches or individually in a deep hole, or you could grow potatoes in pots. Earth up or mulch around the potato leaves (known as haulms) to prevent light reaching the tubers and making them green. Water the tubers thoroughly around two weeks before lifting.
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Advice on buying Charlotte potatoes
Charlotte potatoes are widely available from garden centres and online
Always check tubers before planting, ensuring they are firm and don't show any signs of mould or softness
