Potato, Yungay, 100 true seeds (TPS)

True potato seed information and growing instructions

True potato seeds are classified as breeding seeds and germination is not guaranteed.

Yungay is a modern tetraploid variety, bred by Carlos Ochoa, a prolific Peruvian botanist and potato breeder.  It has yellow skin and flesh.  It was released in the 1970s and was a very popular potato in South America when released, as it had good late blight resistance. The late blight organism has since cracked that resistance, but it remains a fairly popular variety where it can still be grown. Yellow tubers with red eyes and yellow flesh.

Culinary Traits

Yungay has an all purpose texture with fairly thick skin.  It is suitable for most methods of cooking.  The flavor is excellent, rich and lacking in any bitter elements.  Tubers are round and somewhat flattened and average three to four inches in diameter.

Agronomic Traits

Plants are large with a late maturity. The stolons can grow pretty long, topping out around 18 inches. Yields reach nearly three pounds per plant in a sufficiently long growing season. The tubers are vulnerable to cracking with inconsistent soil moisture. The flowering period lasts at least two months and this variety sets berries well.  There is contradictory information about whether or not it is self-compatible, but I believe that it is.  While Yungay does not have comprehensive resistance to late blight, it does have resistance to older strains, which may be enough depending on which late blight strains are present in your area.  I don’t see much scab on this variety.  The tubers have good dormancy.

True Seed (TPS)

TPS was produced in 2020 and was open pollinated, although I also hit it with bulk tetraploid pollen several times throughout the season. I expect the majority of the progeny to be yellows from large, late plants, but there will probably also be some progeny of all colors.  Somewhat slow germination, probably indicating that this seed has some dormancy.