JAZZY POTATO

By David Marks
Jazzy potatoes were first sold in the UK in 2014 but even before that, in 2013, they were awarded the Award of Garden Merit by the RHS. That’s an impressive achievement!A few articles define this variety as a first early variety but in our opinion we would go along with the majority and classify it as a second early variety.They produce a very large number of potatoes per plant although the size is slightly below average. Overall yield is high.

PARENTAGE

The parents of Jazzy are Franceline and Cupido.

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF JAZZY

The cream coloured skin is very thin and needs no peeling when used for salad potatoes. They do need to be peeled if you want to mash them. The taste is slightly sweet and creamy, very pleasant. Size is below average but ideal for use as a salad potato.

These are good looking potatoes, and produce the majority of the potatoes to a similar size. This makes boiling them an easy task with very few needing to be sliced in half. They have only a very few eyes which are shallow and the skin is very smooth.

All of the seed potatoes we planted came up as healthy plants. The plants themselves are slightly shorter than average make them a good choice for a windy situation. We grew them both in containers and also in the open ground, they were fine in both situations.

We started to harvest them in mid July when the foliage was still healthy. By late July the foliage had started to die down (Birmingham area). The length of harvest is so far over a month and the spuds still taste good.

An update – these potatoes store well in the ground for several months. They effectively turn into maincrop potatoes (some very large if left long enough) whilst still tasting very good. The skins harden slightly over time, probably suffering from mild blight, so older ones will definitely need peeling before cooking.

As at very early December we are still harvesting Jazzy potatoes which have been grown in potato bags. Outstanding, that’s about a six month harvest span.

If boiled hard Jazzy potatoes will break up slightly. However, if you boil them very lightly for about 13 to 15 minutes they retain their shape and texture perfectly. They also steam very well. They make good quality mashed potato.

POSITIVE POINTS FOR JAZZY
A good looking, tasty and strong growing potato which produces lots of evenly sized small salad potatoes.

NEGATIVE POINTS FOR JAZZY
None identified so far

BUYING JAZZY SEED POTATOES IN THE UK

Jazzy 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.

Suttons Seeds (a GardenFocused approved supplier) sell Jazzy 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 Jazzy online. A 1kg bag will contain about 11 good sized seed potatoes.

ALTERNATIVES TO JAZZY POTATOES

the Swift potato must be a good alternative as is International Kidney. Neither quite equal the good looks and thin skin.

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 JAZZY POTATOES

We recommend that you start chitting / sprouting Jazzy 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 JAZZY POTATOES

Jazzy potatoes are second early potatoes and they are ready for harvest, if conditions are correct, 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 Jazzy 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 JAZZY 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 second and last weeks of July in your area of the UK.

PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OF JAZZY POTATO

Formal tests have not yet been conducted on the pest and disease resistance of Jazzy potatoes. The ratings below are based on research and our experience of growing them last year.

Our Jazzy potatoes did succumb to blight one year however its progress was unusually slow and only affected the foliage – the tubers were untouched. On our clay soil, slugs were a problem if the potatoes were left in the ground too long but we harvested most before the slugs had a chance to do much damage.

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Late blight – foliage
Late blight – tubers
Common scab
Powdery scab
Slugs
Potato Cyst Nematode (pallida)
Potato Cyst Nematode (rostochiensis)
Blackleg
Splitting
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