WINSTON POTATO

By David Marks
If you read the write-ups from the seed merchants they would have you believe that Winston is a first early which quickly bulks up to the size and quality of a maincrop. Yes, it does bulk up quickly but at the expense of taste and texture. It is a watery potato variety and not one we would recommend for regular use in the kitchen.

Looks however are a different matter and if you want a good looking potato early on in the season for exhibition then Winston will suit your needs admirably.

PARENTAGE

The parents of Winston are Kismet x (Desiree x Maris Piper)

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF WINSTON

The Winston Potato

Winston potatoes certainly look the part with light brown skins and very few shallow eyes. Cut it in half and it still looks good with a white-cream flesh but cook it and its watery content lets it down. Disease resistance is good except for one form of eelworm and it bulks up quickly. The plants are relatively short growing so would still do well in windy conditions.

POSITIVE POINTS FOR WINSTON
Winston is a first-early variety which bulks up quickly. The potatoes looks good and are great for exhibition purposes.

NEGATIVE POINTS FOR WINSTON
Flavour is lacking and the flesh has a watery consistency when cooked. Not a variety we would recommend if flavour is important to you.

BUYING WINSTON SEED POTATOES IN THE UK

Winston is a common variety of potato which is readily available online and sometimes in garden centres.

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.

Buying seed potatoes from the discount store can be a good deal but it can also result in a sub-standard crop. The discount stores take the second quality seed potatoes whereas the more specialist suppliers take the best quality. Unfortunately you will only find this out after you have carefully tended your crop for several months.

Crocus (a GardenFocused approved supplier) sell Winston seed potatoes (and many other varieties) which are not only correctly certified but they are graded by size to avoid unduly small seed potatoes being sold. Click here for more information and to buy Winston online. A 2kg bag will contain about 22 good sized seed potatoes.

ALTERNATIVES TO ARRAN PILOT POTATOES

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 WINSTON POTATOES

We recommend that you start chitting / sprouting Winston potatoes 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 WINSTON POTATOES

Winston potatoes are first early potatoes and they are ready for harvest, if conditions are correct, 12 to 14 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 Winston seed potatoes 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 WINSTON 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 Winston potatoes to be ready for harvest some time between the last week of June and the second week of July in your area of the UK.

BUYING WINSTON SEED POTATOES IN THE UK

Winston is not one of the commonest seed potatoes but is easily found online, and can sometimes be found at garden centres.

PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OF WINSTON POTATO

The table below sets out how good or bad Winston 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

SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS OF WINSTON

USE: Baking, boiling and roasting – watery flesh and little taste

SKIN COLOUR / TEXTURE: Light brown, smooth with shallow eyes

FLESH COLOUR: Cream

TASTE AND TEXTURE: Lacks taste and texture

STORAGE: Poor storage qualities

POTATO SIZE: Average to large

REGULARITY OF CROPPING: Regularly produces a good yield

AWARDS: None

SPECIAL FEATURES: None

MORE PAGES ABOUT GROWING POTATOES:

Growing Potatoes Start Page

Recommended Varieties

Chit / Sprout

Planting Seed Potato

Caring for Potatoes

Harvesting and Storing Potatoes

Growing in Containers

WINSTON APPLE TREE

Winston is a direct descendant of Cox’s Orange Pippin and when stored for a couple of weeks the similarities in taste becomes very clear.

Good reasons for growing this variety of apple tree include:

Excellent storage capabilities (into April)
Well above average disease resistance
A compact tree well suited to smaller gardens
Grows well in almost all areas of the UK
Self-fertile so produces a good crop even as a stand alone tree

PARENTS OF WINSTON

The parents of Winston are Cox’s Orange Pippin and Worcester Pearmain, both top quality apples as far as taste is concerned. This variety was bred in Berkshire during the 1920s and first released to the public in 1935.

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF WINSTON

The apples are slightly smaller than average which is probably the key reason that this variety is not grown commercially. For the amateur however, the size is not a drawback because smaller apples are frequently less prone to diseases and less likely to attract the attentions of pests.

Winston apple

When harvested straight from the tree there is a definite acidity to the flavour which is too tart for some. But leave the apples in storage for a couple of weeks and the sweetness soon emerges making this a very tasty apple. Storage is one of the key advantages with Winston, it will keep to March if kept in cool conditions, even to April if storage is spot on.

The skin is flushed red on the sun side and green-yellow on the shade side. The flesh is very pale, crunchy and juicy.

Crunchy flesh of a Winston apple

Far easier to grow than many apple trees, Winston requires little pruning and grows as a compact tree well suited to even small gardens.

Overall tree size is of course primarily dependant on the rootstock but also on the growing conditions. On average the following tree sizes by rootstock are for a fully grown tree after 7 years:

M9 rootstock – pruned height 1.8m / 6ft, unpruned height 2.5m / 8ft
M26 rootstock – pruned height 2.2m / 7ft 6in, unpruned height 3m / 9ft 6in
MM106 – pruned 3m / 9ft 6in unpruned height 4m / 13ft

GROWING A WINSTON APPLE TREE

Winston is a very trouble-free apple tree to grow and has no special requirements. Follow our simple pruning rules here, and our cultivation methods here.

PESTS, DISEASES OF WINSTON APPLE TREES

Some exaggerate its disease resistance but it is well above average as far as scab, canker and mildew are concerned. It is rarely affected by bitter pit.

BUYING A WINSTON APPLE TREE

This apple tree variety is not common in garden centres but is readily available from online fruit specialists.

SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS OF WINSTON

USE: Eating

SKIN COLOUR / TEXTURE: Yellow, green and red

FLESH COLOUR: Light cream

TASTE AND TEXTURE: Acidic when eaten fresh, a good balance of sweetness when stored for two weeks or longer

FRUIT SIZE: Slightly smaller than average

STORAGE: Five months

SUITABILITY FOR CORDONSPALIER GROWTH: Yes

TREE SIZE: Compact

REGULARITY OF CROPPING: Very regular

POLLINATION: Group 4, partially self-fertile, benefits from a nearby pollination partner

AWARDS: Awarded an RHS AGM 1993, reconfirmed in 2013.

SSPECIAL FEATURES: Stores exceptionally well, good disease resistance, grows well in almost all areas of the UK, good for small gardens.

FLOWERING AND HARVEST TIMES FOR WINSTON

The average flowering time (optimum time for pollination) and date when fruits are ripe in the UK for Winston are set out below. If you have set your home town we can give you a more accurate estimate, if you have not set your home town (do it now by clicking here) the dates below will be the average for the UK. Winston resists frost damage to its blossom better than average.

Your town has not been set, the average main flowering time for Winston in the UK is the third week of May. Fruit will be ready for harvesting in the third week of October. Click here if you want to set the dates to your home town.

Flowering and fruit picking dates vary according to the weather in any particular growing season so the above dates may well change slightly from one year to the next. The flowering date above is when the apple tree produces the maximum number of blossoms, it will also produce blossom, although less, a week or two either side of the date given.

WINSTON APPLE TREE POLLINATION

Winston is in pollination group four and is self-fertile. We list below varieties which are
suitable pollination partners.

Arthur Turner – pollination group 3, self-sterile, cooker
Bountiful – pollination group 3, self-sterile, cooker
Braeburn – pollination group 4, self-fertile, eater
Charles Ross – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker and eater
Court of Wick – pollination group 3, self-sterile, eater and cooker
Discovery – pollination group 3, self-sterile, eating and cider
Dumelow’s Seedling – pollination group 4, self-sterile, cooker
Ellison’s Orange – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, eater
Emneth Early – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker
Epicure – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater
Falstaff – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater
Fiesta – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, eater
Gala – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, eater
Golden Delicious – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, eater and cooker
Granny Smith – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater and cooker
Grenadier – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker
Honeycrisp – pollination group 4, self-sterile, eater
Howgate Wonder – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker and eater
James Grieve – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker and eater
Katy – pollination group 3, self-sterile, both
Kidds Orange Red – pollination group 3, self-sterile, eater
King of The Pippins – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, eater and cooker
Lanes Prince Albert – pollination group 4, self-sterile, cooking
Laxtons Fortune – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, eater
Laxtons Superb – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, eater
Lord Derby – pollination group 4, self-sterile, cooker
Merton Beauty – pollination group 5, self-sterile, eater
Newton Wonder – pollination group 4, partially self-fertile, cooker
Peasgoods Nonsuch – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, cooker
Rajka – pollination group 4, self-sterile, eater
Red Falstaff – pollination group 3, partially self-fertile, eater
Scrumptious – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater
Sops in Wine – pollination group 3, self-sterile, juicer
Spartan – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater
Sunset – pollination group 3, self-fertile, eater
Tydemans Late Orange – pollination group 4, self-sterile, eater
Waltz – pollination group 3, self-sterile, eater

The full list of apple tree varieties which we have reviewed is listed below. Select any one of them and then click the “More Information” button to be taken to the in depth review: