Rooster

Why it suits Ireland

Rooster was bred here, trialled here, and selected for the conditions Irish growers actually face, which is a rarer thing than it sounds when most garden varieties on sale were selected in England, Scotland or the Netherlands. It yields heavily on ordinary Irish soil without needing a perfect summer.

It also has decent drought tolerance, which matters less in Mayo than in a dry June in south Leinster, and it stores unusually well for a modern variety. A sack lifted in late September will still be sound in February if it is kept dark, dry and cool.

The honest caveat is blight. Rooster’s popularity means an awful lot of Irish gardens lose a Rooster crop every few years, and the variety is not the reason it survived or failed. Timing and earthing up are.

Growing notes

Chit from late February if you want to, though maincrops gain far less from it than earlies. Plant from mid April into early May, 40cm apart in rows 75cm apart. Do not crowd it: the haulm is vigorous, and a dense canopy that never dries out is exactly what blight needs.

Earth up twice, building a ridge 15 to 20cm high. Rooster sets a lot of tubers close to the surface and they will green up fast if the ridge slumps after heavy rain, so check it again in July.

Watch the blight warnings from late June onwards. When you cut the haulm, take it off the plot rather than leaving it lying between the rows, and lift the crop before the ground turns properly wet in late October, when keeled slugs do most of their damage.