Orla
The early to grow if blight has beaten you before, and the obvious first choice for organic Irish plots.
Orla came out of the Teagasc breeding programme at Oak Park and was selected with Irish conditions and Irish blight pressure in mind, which is why organic growers here reach for it so often. It is fast enough to lift as a first early in July, but unusually among earlies it has enough blight resistance to be left in the ground and bulked up into a second early or light maincrop if the season allows.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Solanum tuberosum
- Type
- Certified seed tuber
- Category
- First early
- Difficulty
- Easy, good first crop
- Hardiness
- Half hardy, protect from frost
- In Ireland
- Grows outdoors unprotected
- Sowing depth
- 10cm
- Spacing
- 40cm apart, 75cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Grows well in pots
- Sowing to harvest
- 10 to 22 weeks
- Harvest
- June to August
- Award
- RHS Award of Garden Merit
Sowing and harvest calendar for Orla
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Orla seed potatoes in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
- Fruit Hill Farm Irish Organic seed potatoes split by earlies, maincrop and blight resistant Bantry based supplier to Ireland's commercial organic growers. Certified organic and biodynamic seed, mail order only. Visit Fruit Hill Farm , Co. Cork
- Quickcrop Irish Sorted by first early, second early and maincrop Ballymote based, lists sowing and harvest months per product and ships across Ireland. Visit Quickcrop , Co. Sligo
Why it suits Ireland
Blight is the defining problem of Irish potato growing, and Orla is one of the few widely available varieties that was bred against it here rather than imported and hoped for. That combination of Irish breeding and genuine field resistance is why it turns up on organic seed lists far more often than its name recognition would suggest.
The practical benefit is time. A blight-susceptible early has to be out of the ground by mid July in most Irish gardens. Orla gives you the option of leaving it, and every extra fortnight in a wet Irish summer adds noticeably to the crop.
The eating quality is good rather than exceptional. Young tubers are waxy and firm, and they dry out and go floury as the crop matures, so it suits both salads in July and mash in August depending on when you lift.
Growing notes
Chit from late January or February, then plant from mid March on the coast or April inland, 30 to 35cm apart in rows 50 to 60cm apart. If you intend to leave it to bulk up, use the wider spacing.
Earth up as the shoots reach 20cm and again a few weeks later. Resistance in the foliage does not protect the tubers from spores washing down through the soil, so a proper ridge still matters.
From late June, decide what you are growing it for. If you want new potatoes, lift as the flowers open. If you want a heavier crop, leave it, keep watching the blight warnings, and cut the haulm the moment infection does appear rather than assuming the resistance will hold.
Lift on a dry day, let the tubers surface dry, and store in paper sacks somewhere cool and dark. Orla is not a long keeper in the way Rooster is, so plan to eat it through autumn rather than into the new year.
Common questions
How blight resistant is Orla really?
Better than any other common early and better than most maincrops, but not immune. In a moderate season it will stay green while Home Guard and British Queen beside it go down, which buys you weeks of extra bulking. In a severe blight year it will still be infected eventually. The Sarpo varieties are stronger again, so if blight has repeatedly wiped you out, grow Orla for the early crop and Sarpo Mira for the maincrop.
Is Orla a first early or a second early?
Catalogues differ, and that is because the variety genuinely straddles the line. Lifted at ten to twelve weeks it behaves as a first early, with small waxy new potatoes. Left in the ground into August it keeps bulking and gives you a heavier crop of larger, drier potatoes closer to a second early. Its blight resistance is what makes that choice available, since most earlies have to come out before the weather turns.
Why do organic growers use Orla so much?
Because organic growing rules out the protectant sprays that conventional growers rely on, so varietal resistance is the only real defence against blight. Orla combines that resistance with earliness and acceptable eating quality, and it was bred in Ireland for Irish conditions rather than adapted from somewhere drier. It is sold as certified organic seed by several Irish suppliers, which conventional varieties often are not.
More potatoes to consider
Rooster
AGM/ Maincrop
The default Irish maincrop for good reason: heavy crops, keeps well, and floury without collapsing in the pot.
Growing notes and stockistsHome Guard
/ First early
The old reliable first early, out of the ground and eaten before blight has a chance to find it.
Growing notes and stockistsKerr's Pink
/ Maincrop
The floury maincrop older Irish cooks swear by, if you can forgive it for falling apart in the pot.
Growing notes and stockistsBritish Queen
AGM/ Second early
Grown here for flavour rather than convenience, and worth the trouble in a decent summer.
Growing notes and stockists