Why are my Charlotte potatoes crumbly not waxy?

Could you be cooking them too long? Potatoes lifted from the ground and cooked almost immediately need a shorter cooking time - at least that has been my experience.

I'm interested in this as I've had the same problem with 'Nicola'. I have found that it's best to bring them fairly slowly to the boil, & only simmer gently, and, as Moon grower says, they don't take so long to cook as older spuds.

I find steaming them helps.

also leaving them to mature for a few days in the dark also helps.

Interesting - I had the same problem last year - I assumed I'd left them in the ground too long......

This year we've grown Maris Peer and just taken the first row from the veg patch. They are wonderful, waxy, 'earthy' and sweet and we're definitely 'hooked'! They don't need much cooking, far less time than you'd think. Make great potato salad as well as plain boiled spuds.

Thank you all for your feedback. I think its the growing conditions rather than the cooking as I've now tried some that were grown in the ground (the first ones were in pots) and they are waxier.
I've got another pot with maris peer that isn't quite ready yet so will be interesting to see how they turn out.
Lots to learn!

Good luck with them! :-)