ARRAN VICTORY POTATO

By David Marks
This is a variety dating back to 1918 and it is one of several Arran type potatoes. They all take part of their name because they were bred on the Isle of Arran which is on the milder West coast of Scotland opposite Ayr.Donald McKelvie was responsible for breeding the Arran type potatoes and Arran Victory is the oldest of them all. Named to celebrate the victorious end of the First World War. It has achieved fame and retained it for many reasons, the most notable being the deep purple blue skins which loose their colour on cooking.

PARENTAGE

The parents of Arran Victory are Suttons Abundance x unknown.

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ARRAN VICTORY

The Arran Victory potato (picture courtesy SuttonElms.org.uk)

As the above picture very adequately demonstrates the defining feature of this variety of potato is its deep purple-blue colour, very few varieties have this skin with this depth of colour. Colour is not the only attribute of this variety however, it cooks to an excellent roast, mashed or boiled (gently or steamed) potato. This is a maincrop variety with lots of dry matter to it, the flesh is whiter than most.

POSITIVE POINTS FOR ARRAN VICTORY
For those who still care, this variety is a piece of history, you will be eating a delicious potato which has a history dating back 100 years. The skin colour is spectacular although it does loose much of it if cooked in its skin. Taste is excellent and will differ slightly depending on the soil and conditions in which it is grown. This is a real potato not a bland new variety.

Arran Victory keeps well and disease resistance (except for the pesky eelworm) is reasonably good. Blight resistance is low but harvested as an early, often this will not be a problem.

NEGATIVE POINTS FOR ARRAN VICTORY
None of any significance, although it’s better steamed, mashed or roasted rather than boiled. The plants are tall so should not be grown on exposed sites.

BUYING ARRAN VICTORY SEED POTATOES

Arran Victory is generally only available for sale online.D T Brown are one of the few suppliers remaining who sell them, click here for information.

We recommend buying your seed potatoes from certified suppliers because those sold in supermarkets for consumption can be a source of disease and pest. We would avoid buying them from online general retailers such as as Amazon or E-bay unless you know exactly who is supplying the seed potatoes.

ALTERNATIVES TO ARRAN VICTORY POTATOES

The outstanding feature of Arran Victory is the brightly coloured skin. No variety we can think of has such a vivid colour but the Kestrel potatoes have interesting coloured skins.

A heritage variety, Salad Blue, which we are in the process of testing has caught our eye recently. It not only has blue skin but unusual blue flesh as well Treat as a maincrop.

For other potato varieties which we have fully reviewed, click the drop down box below, select a variety and then click the More Information Button.

The planting and harvest dates used below are correct for the UK average. If you want them to be even more accurate and adjusted for your area of the UK click here. It only takes a minute and the adjustment affects every date in this site and lasts for six months.

WHEN TO CHIT / SPROUT ARRAN VICTORY POTATOES

In all the tests we have conducted and those we have researched, there is no detectable difference between maincrop potatoes which are chitted and those which are planted directly in the ground. However if you want to stick with tradition and chit your Arran Victory potatoes, we recommend that you start chitting / sprouting this variety in. the third week of February This will give them four to five weeks to develop healthy sprouts just at the time when they are ready to be planted out. Keep the potatoes in cool but light conditions to ensure they grow short, green sprouts. Click here for our page dedicated to chitting / sprouting potatoes in the UK and Ireland.

WHEN TO PLANT ARRAN VICTORY POTATOES

Arran Victory potatoes are maincrop potatoes and they are ready for harvest, if conditions are correct, 18 to 20 weeks after the seed potatoes are planted. The key factor governing the time for planting all potatoes is the date of the last frost in your area. Even a touch of frost can damage potato plants if their foliage is above ground, an unexpected severe frost can kill them completely.

The date for planting Arran Victory potato seed can be calculated on the basis that seed potatoes will take four weeks before they appear above ground. Given also that you want them to appear above ground only when the danger of frost has passed (the last week of April is the UK average ) the last week of March is about right time to plant them.

WHEN TO HARVEST ARRAN VICTORY POTATOES

The harvest date for all potatoes is not only dependent on when you plant your seed potatoes, it also depends on the weather conditions throughout the growing season. But on average you can expect your potatoes to be ready for harvest some time between the first and third weeks of August 2017 in your area of the UK.

PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OF ARRAN VICTORY POTATO

The table below sets out how good or bad Arran Victory potato plants are at resisting common pests and diseases in the UK. The 0 point is average with minus (red) values showing lower than average resistance and plus values (green) showing higher than average resistance.

	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5
Late blight – foliage
Late blight – tubers
Common scab
Powdery scab
Slugs
Potato Cyst Nematode (pallida)
Potato Cyst Nematode (rostochiensis)
Blackleg
Splitting
	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5