MAXINE POTATO

By David Marks
Maxine is an early maincrop potato variety which is very suited to exhibition growing but lacks real taste and, looks apart, has few characteristics which mark it out from the competition.

PARENTAGE

The parents of Maxine are Antar x 93-2.

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MAXINE

The Maxine Potato

Maxine has the looks of a perfect, modern potato. Mid-pink skin which is thin and only a few shallow eyes. Yields are reasonably good although not amongst the highest. Disease resistance is on the whole good.

POSITIVE POINTS FOR MAXINE
This is not a variety we would choose when looking at the competition but it does keep reasonably well and also is good for baking, boiling and roasting.

NEGATIVE POINTS FOR MAXINE
Rather a run of the mill variety which excels in very few areas.

the third week of February

WHEN TO CHIT / SPROUT MAXINE 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 Maxine potatoes, we recommend that you start chitting / sprouting this variety in 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 MAXINE POTATOES

Maxine potatoes are early maincrop potatoes and they are ready for harvest, if conditions are correct, 16 to 18 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 Maxine 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 is about right time to plant them.

WHEN TO HARVEST MAXINE 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 Maxine potatoes to be ready for harvest some time between in your area of the UK.

BUYING MAXINE SEED POTATOES IN THE UK

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

PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OF MAXINE POTATO

The table below sets out how good or bad Maxine 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