Potatoes
General information: potatoes are a plant of the Solanaceae family. His homeland is considered South and Central America. Here in the distant past, local Indian tribes have learned to cultivate wild potatoes and consume it for food. From South America to Europe( Spain), culture was introduced in the second half of the 16th century, and from Spain to Italy, Belgium, England, France, Germany and other countries.
There is no exact data on the time of appearance of potatoes in Russia. There is only a version that it happened in the late 17th century. Peter I during his trip to Holland sent a bag of potatoes to Count Sheremetev with an order for his distribution. What came up with it further - is unknown. But there is information that in 1740 potatoes were mashed at St. Petersburg, and it was served in small quantities at court banquets. Potatoes are a perennial plant propagated by tubers. Tuber is a modified, shortened and thickened ground stem( stolon), turned: so it would be in the storage of nutrients.3 Depending on the type of tubers in shape are oval, round, flat, barrel-shaped;by color - white, pink, red, with different shades;on the color of the pulp - white, cream, light yellow, purple, white with red spots - potato precursors - cabbage, cucumber, salad, spinach, quite good - carrots, beets, parsley. You should not grow potatoes in the area where it was cultivated in past years, especially if the plants were contaminated with scab or other fungal diseases. It is impossible to place potatoes both after the emperor, and also in close proximity to him, since they have a number of identical diseases.
Varieties
Early( r) and early( AS)
Belarusian early( r) - tubers white, rounded with a blunted apex and slightly impressed with a stolon trail, weighing 90-100 g. Flesh white. Resistant to cancer. Viral diseases are weakly affected, scab - strongly. Warmas( p) - tubers are white, lined, large with small eyes. The average mass of the tuber is up to 200 g. The flesh is white, the tuber does not boil during steaming and water. Spring( Wed) - tubers are long-oval, light pink, weighing 90-130 g. Flesh is white. Suitable for salads, broiling and cooking. Resistant to cancer, late blight and other fungal and bacterial diseases.
Domodedovo( p) - tubers round, white, weighing 80-100 g. Flesh white, not dark. Resistant to cancer, weakly affected by viruses. Vyatka( r) - white tubers with a creamy hue, rounded, large, weighing 90-140 g. The flesh is white, not darkening when cutting. Resistant to cancer. At high yields, tubers are prone to cracking.
Spark( p) - tubers are white, roundish, weighing 96-130 g. Flesh is white. It responds well to the application of increased doses of fertilizers. Resistant to cancer, black stalk.
Average ripeness
Gatchinsky - table appointments. Tubers are white, round, large, the skin is mesh, the flesh is white, it does not darken when cutting. The eyes are small. Resistant to mosaic, strongly affected by phyto-fluorosis.
Dream - universal. Starch content 18- 20 %. Tubers white, large, oval with superficial eyes, cream pulp, slightly darkens when cutting. Prefers light humus soils.
Mid-late( cn) and late-maturing( ps)
Istra( sp) - universal. Tubers are white, roundish, medium in size. The flesh is white. Suitable for technical processing and preparation of crispy potatoes. To the soil is not exacting.
Lorch( sp) is one of the most plastic, versatile. Tubers white, round-oval, with a shortage of potassium and phosphorus oblong. Flesh white, with a yellowish cut. Suitable for making high-quality crispy potatoes.
Loshitsky( cn) - universal purpose. It is deduced in Belarus. In the field, it is resistant to phytophthora, cancer and other diseases. Stored well. Suitable for cohesive loamy soils. Poorly tolerates drought, demanding for nitrogen fertilizers.
Tempo( ps) - high-yielding. The taste and digestibility of tubers is good. Relatively resistant to scab. Lying-bone is good, at an optimum temperature of storage of a tuber does not germinate for a long time.
Requirements: With proper soil cultivation and the introduction of the required amount of fertilizers, as well as quality crop care, potatoes can grow and yield good yields on almost all soils. Perfectly suited soil with good water retention and air permeability. It is important that the plow layer is sufficiently deep, which contributes to a good development of the root system. Potato yields the highest yields in floodplain, as well as sod-podzolic medium-, light loamy and sandy-loamy soils with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction.
To obtain the earliest harvest, the potatoes should be planted on open, undistorted areas from the south and southwest, which are early liberated from snow. It is necessary to treat the soil taking into account its types, weather conditions, predecessors and the degree of contamination. During the main( autumn) plowing of the soil, weeds and plant remains from the previous crop are plowed. Depth of plowing depends on the thickness of the arable horizon. Organic fertilizers( manure, humus, composts, etc.) are of particular value for obtaining a high yield, since they contain all the necessary nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and trace elements. Fertilizing effect of manure lasts for several years: on light soils - 2-3 years, heavy - up to 5 years. The manure decomposed to humus contains nitrogen 2-3 times more than fresh. For top dressing slurry is used, diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4, if the soil has a small amount of phosphorus, then a tablespoon of superphosphate is added to 10 liters of solution.
A good fertilizer for potatoes is ash, which can be applied for plowing and cultivation, as well as in the holes and for feeding.
Composition: tubers contain from 15 to 30% of dry matter, mainly starch, mineral salts of calcium, iron, iodine, potassium, sulfur, etc. The value of the protein of potato is determined by the presence in them of significant quantities of essential amino acids - valine, lysine, phenyl-lalanine, tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine, methionine and threonine, which the human body does not synthesize. In addition, potatoes are a source of anti- scotogonic vitamin C, vitamins B, A, PPiK.
Cultivation: potatoes can be planted in the open ground, depending on the variety, already in May. An obligatory condition for high yields is planting it in optimal terms( as soon as the soil ripens and warms at a depth of 10 cm to 6-7 ° C).
With , the crests are manually cut by a motor block or a tractor cultivator. The height of the crest into which the tuber is planted is no more than 12 cm, the width at the bottom is 65 cm. Tubers on loamy soils are closed at 6-8 cm, and on sandy loam soils - 8-10 cm, counting from the top of the ridge to the tuber. Smooth planting of is carried out by placing the tubers in a furrow. Simultaneously, organic or mineral fertilizers are smelt. The density of planting significantly influences the vegetation and harvest. The optimum density depends on the variety, the size of the seed material, the growing conditions and the growth objectives. If the aisles are wide and the distance between the bushes is large, the weight of the stems increases, the tubers grow better, the weight of one tuber grows. The recommended distance between the rows is 70 cm.
Care: Usually, 6-8 days after planting, harrowing, loosening and spacing of the rows can begin. Loosening the soil, especially in dry and sunny weather, during the daytime leads to the destruction of up to 80 % weeds. Before the shoots, 2 times are harrowed with iron rake, and after the formation of 2-3 leaves on the plants, the soil is treated with a hoe between the bushes in a row on both sides to a depth of 8-10 cm, being careful not to turn the wet layer onto the surface.
The main thing in care is the soil content in the loose state and the active destruction of weed seedlings.
Hilling begins when the height of the plants is 15-18 cm. During the hilling, loose soil from the row spacing is poured. The depth of hilling on light soils is 13-15, for heavy soils - 10-12 cm. The hilling should be completed before the tops are closed. When hilling it is necessary to pour loose and damp soil, and not just cut the grooves. If the plants develop poorly, they can be fed with mineral or organic fertilizers. On the lack of certain nutrients in the soil can be judged by the state of the foliage. So, when lacks nitrogen , the overall development of the bush is weak, the stems are thin, the leaves are shallow, light green. When lacks potassium , the tips of the middle and lower leaves become dark brown, later the whole surface of the leaf becomes bronze. The phosphorus deficiency of is particularly pronounced in young plants. Color of leaves dull, dark green;the lower leaves turn yellow and brown.
From organic fertilizers, it is good to give humus as fertilizer - 2 handfuls for each bush. Mineral fertilizers are scattered in the aisles at a distance of 5-6 cm from the stems, then they are closed with a hoe. Top dressing can be carried out by slurry. The solution is prepared in a barrel at the rate of 1 part of the slurry for 5 parts of water.
With a lack of moisture in the soil, the growth of potatoes is delayed, the leaf apparatus, the root system develop poorly, the formation of tubers slows down, which leads to a decrease in yield and its quality indicators, so it is important to supply plants with water and all the necessary nutrients. After each watering or rain, it is necessary to loosen the soil( if the soil sticks to the hoe, the moment has not yet come, if it starts to dust you are too late with loosening).
There is a general rule: on light soils, potatoes should be watered more often, but in smaller doses, on heavy soils - less often, but abundantly, so that the water is gradually absorbed into the soil without the formation of puddles. The lake should be kept closer to the ground and quickly pass with it 2-3 times to completely soak the soil. The temperature of irrigation water should not be lower than the soil temperature. Potatoes are susceptible to various diseases, , among which are late blight, early dry spot, potato, rizoctonia, black scab), fizariosis( dry rot), phobia( button rot), scabby, powdery, tubercular( osporosis), silvery scab andanthracnose( partrosis).
Harvest: early varieties are harvested in June, medium-sized in August, late in fall. The optimal time for potato harvesting is the time of withering and death of the above-ground organs( leaves and stems).Harvesting of potatoes is done manually. It should be kept whenever possible in good weather. Collect the tubers better after they dry up. Drying the surface of tubers is necessary for fighting;activators of phytophthora. To facilitate 9632; tcherochnyh work can be done 10-12 days before 9632, borky mow down the tops of potatoes, as a result of the year e is prevented from growing too large tubers, the yield of standard tubers increases and the damage caused by aphids is reduced.: the mature potato is perfectly stored incool and dark place( ideal temperature 7-9 ° C).
Use: due to its taste, food and culinary qualities, as well as its uneatenability, the potato has become a product of almost daily use. Our menu can not be imagined without it also because of the simplicity and incredible variety of ways of cooking and eating: from potatoes it is easy to cook at least 700 dishes. In certain cases, potatoes can act as an effective remedy, which in combination with medicines can accelerate the process of treatment from various diseases. Potatoes are included in the diet of patients suffering from circulatory failure, atherosclerosis, hypertension, nephritis, kidney failure. Fresh potato juice inhibits the secretion of gastric juice, lowers its acidity, has an anti-inflammatory, ulcerizing effect. In the treatment of diseases of the upper respiratory tract( rhinitis, angina, pharyngitis, etc.) inhalation is used in pairs of freshly harvested tubers. Since ancient times, folk medicine has been using potatoes in the treatment of burns, soaking, impetigo, and other skin diseases.