If you want to grow potatoes in the Central, Central Black Earth, Volga-Vyatka or North Caucasus region, you can choose Blue for planting. This is a medium-late variety that gives the first crop 100 days after the appearance of the first seedlings. With its characteristics, especially planting and growing, we suggest that you read further.
Description and characteristics of the variety
The variety was bred by Russian breeders GNU VNIIKH them. A. G. Lorch in 1993. The potato got such a name for its bright blue inflorescences. Planting a plant in the garden looks very beautiful, reminiscent of a cornflower field from afar. Blue is popular among gardeners, because it easily adapts to weather changes, is resistant to many diseases, and with proper care gives a high yield. The characteristics of the variety are presented in detail in the table below:
Characteristic | Description |
Name | Blue |
Originator | VNIIKH them. Lorha (Russia) |
Destination Type | Table-type potatoes are therefore suitable for preparing a variety of dishes, including mashed potatoes and french fries. |
Maturation | Blue is a medium-late variety. The ripening period is 3 months (about 100-115 days). |
Productivity | From 1 ha of land you can collect up to 500 centners of the crop. On one bush 9-11 fruits ripen. |
The mass of root crops | 90-120 g |
Starch content | 17-19% |
Type of commodity tubers | They have a round-oval shape with a blunt top. The peel is slightly rough (mesh) and painted in a light beige color. It is covered with superficial wide eyes, which lie at shallow and medium depths. |
Pulp | It has a white color, which does not change when cooking, and a friable structure. |
Type of bushes | The bushes are of medium height and not sprawling, due to this they look neat. The leaves are large and bright green in color, which persists during the growing season. The bushes are covered with flowers of cornflower blue color, which become the decoration of the site. |
Keeping | 95% |
Preferred Climate Regions | Volga-Vyatka, Central Black Earth, North Caucasus |
Disease and weather resistant | It has low resistance to nematodes, medium - to late blight, high - to common scab and rhizoctonia. It tolerates drought and temperature extremes. |
What time is suitable for planting potatoes?
The most suitable time for planting the Blue is considered to be the period from May 1 to 10. If the spring is warm, planting can be done earlier. In general, when choosing a planting period, weather conditions should be taken into account - the soil temperature should be at least 6-7 degrees. Potatoes easily adapt in cool soil, absorbing all nutrients from it as much as possible. If the temperature is higher, the tubers will only absorb nitrates.
If you get a little late with the time of planting, this will affect the amount of yield and taste of ripened potatoes.
Landing site preparation
First of all, the gardener must choose the right site for planting potatoes. To do this, proceed from the following rules:
- the site should be well lit by the sun, because in partial shade and shadow it will not be possible to get a good crop;
- the site should be protected from drafts;
- the most suitable for potatoes are peat, sod-podzolic and chernozem soils, and they should be loose and light, but soil with an alkaline reaction is unacceptable;
- the best predecessors of Blue are winter and leguminous crops, annual grasses and flax.
Tubers should not be planted if the ground is excessively waterlogged, because in this case the soil will become dense and heavy, so the fetus will not be able to develop in it.
A place for potatoes is recommended to be prepared in the autumn, as soon as the harvest is harvested. The site must be dug up, make mineral or organic fertilizers. It is advisable to get rid of wheatgrass weeds. Another way to prepare for the spring planting of potatoes is to sow green manure in this order:
- Level the soil with a rake.
- Sow mustard and phacelia seeds. They need to be scattered everywhere and covered with earth using a rake.
- In spring, cover siderata with a layer of earth about 10 cm.
Siderata is a green fertilizer that is a great nourishment for potatoes planted in spring.
Seed preparation
It is necessary to pay special attention to the preparation of tubers for planting, because the crop yield also depends on this. The following steps are required:
- About a month before planting, get planting material from a storage location, such as a cellar.
- Sort tubers, choosing only healthy ones, because otherwise sick root crops can infect most crops with diseases. In addition to the quality of the fruit, it is necessary to pay attention to their size and approximate weight. For planting, it is advisable to choose large potatoes weighing from 50 to 100 g.
- Put the potatoes selected for planting in boxes in 2-3 layers, and then shift them to a warm and illuminated place so that shoots appear from the eyes. The vernalization process takes about 30-40 days.
- Immediately before planting the tubers, disinfect them. To do this, prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate with the addition of copper sulfate. Dip the potatoes in the solution for half an hour, and then dry them. Large fruits can additionally be divided into 2-3 parts.
It is necessary to work with potatoes carefully so as not to cut off the sprouts, because in this case the plant yield will decrease by about 20%.
Landing methods
There are two ways to plant this variety:
- Comb. It is used in areas where high humidity and heavy rainfall, i.e. suitable for heavy soils. It is required to form rows of ridges 20 cm high, and then lay tubers in them.
- Ridge. It is used in arid climatic conditions, that is, it is suitable for dry soils. It is necessary to prepare in 2 rows ridges 1 m wide, and then plant root crops in them.
Regardless of the specific method, the following general rules should be considered:
- The distance between the rows should be 70 cm, but in humid regions you can withstand 90 cm. Directly between the holes you need to withstand 30-35 cm.
- In wet loamy soils, deepen tubers by 6-8 cm, in light - by 6 cm, and in heavy - by 4-6 cm. In case of hot climate on light soil, you can prepare holes with a depth of 10-12 cm.
- If the tubers have not been vernalized, with moist soil, potatoes without seedlings can be planted to a depth of 8 cm, but in arid areas it is necessary to deepen the planting by 12 cm.
- In each well, put a handful of a mixture of 1 cup of manure or compost, 1/2 cup of ash and 1 tbsp. l powder of bird droppings. Such a mixture needs to be mixed with the soil and covered with 2 cm of soil, and then lay the tuber with the top up, cover with soil and level the soil with a rake.
Landing care
After potatoes have been planted, to obtain a good harvest, competent care for the plant is required.
Watering
The variety is considered drought tolerant, so frequent watering is not required. It is enough to irrigate it in arid and hot weather. It is recommended to carry out 3 waterings for the entire growing season.
Loosening and hilling
Potatoes need to be loosened and spudded to increase oxygen access to the roots and to contribute to their additional germination, which will make the plant stronger and will allow you to get a better crop.
Loosening should be done after rain or watering, so that there is no dense crust that prevents the roots from breathing. Hilling for the first time after rain with the appearance of the first shoots, and the second - when the top of the tree reaches a height of 20 cm.
How to spud potatoes is described here.
Feeding
The culture is fed when the first shoots appear, during budding and flowering. So, a total of three top dressings are introduced:
- First. The plant is watered with a solution obtained by dissolving in 10 l of water for 1 tbsp. urea and bird droppings, as well as 0.5 liters of mullein.
- Second. Potatoes are fed a mixture of 1 tbsp. potassium sulfate and 2-3 tbsp. wood ash on a bucket of water.
- Third. For the last top dressing, a mixture of 2 tbsp. superphosphate and 1 cup mullein per bucket of water.
Regardless of the composition of top dressing, the plant is watered at the rate of 500 ml of solution per 1 bush.
In the active phase of growth, the plant needs a large amount of nitrogen, so in June you can make root dressing in the form of tincture, which is prepared as follows:
- Take in equal parts the tops of nettles and peels of bananas.
- Pour water and let it brew for several days.
- Dilute the resulting tincture in water until a light brown solution is obtained and pour the wells.
In June, foliar top dressing can also be applied. This requires the green mass of the plant to pour infusion of nettle.
Weeding
During the growth period of the potato, weeds must be weeded, as fungal spores and various insects can remain on them, which will subsequently threaten the potato. In addition, many herbs draw nutrients from the soil, so potatoes get them less and develop poorly.
Diseases and Pests
Blue is not afraid of scab, various types of rot, cancer, rhizoctoniosis and alternariosis, but the following diseases and pests pose a threat to it:
- Late blight. It affects the plant in wet and cool weather. In this case, it is recommended to process potatoes with a composition of 150 g of slaked lime and 100 g of copper sulphate per bucket of water. In a container with water, you can also add a special drug, fungicide Hom.
- Chlorosis. The disease is determined by the darkened veins of the leaves and their wrinkled appearance. For treatment, you can treat the plant with a solution of potassium permanganate (about 5 g of potassium permanganate per bucket of water).
- Colorado beetle. Among the frequently encountered pests of potatoes can be identified Colorado potato beetle. The fight against him can be effectively carried out with the help of special drugs, among which Dilor and Commander can be distinguished. They spray the tops several times over the entire growing season. In order not to have to deal with pests, many gardeners prefer to process the seed by means such as Prestige and Taboo.
- Medvedka. To get rid of such a pest, the plant can be treated with a drug called Medvetox. You must act strictly according to the instructions.
It is advisable to treat plants already at the first sign of disease, but do not need to do this less than 3 weeks before harvest, bearing in mind the toxicity of the preparations.
Harvesting and storage
Potatoes can be harvested in late August - early September. To accurately determine the time of harvesting, you need to pay attention to the tops. It should look a bit wilted, and the leaves should not be saturated green. At the same time, 2 weeks before harvesting, it is recommended to cut the tops at about 15 cm.
It is best to dig up potatoes on a sunny day so that it dries well and the remaining soil is easily removed from it. In any case, the crop must be harvested before the soil begins to freeze. This is best done with the help of a pitchfork - you need to carefully dig up the bush from the side and gently pull it at the tops. Root crops are first thrown into a bucket, and then sprinkled onto a coating material located on the ground to dry.
After the tubers have dried, it is advisable to sort them out. You need to set aside potatoes for eating and immediately choose tubers as seeds for the next season. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the tubers are not affected by diseases, look smooth and even. If the fruit has at least small cracks, punctures with a pitchfork or scratches, they need to be postponed for quick consumption.
To increase the shelf life, potatoes must be etched with copper sulfate. It must be diluted at the rate of 2 g per bucket of water, and then used to spray root crops.
It is best to store potatoes in the cellar. The optimum temperature is considered to be + 1 ... + 4 ° C. At a lower temperature, the tubers will freeze and their quality will suffer, and at a higher temperature, they will begin to sprout and lose nutrients. Potatoes should be kept in crates up to 1.5 m high. It is important that the potatoes receive air and excess moisture evaporates.
In order to protect the fruits from decay, between their layers it is worth lining the leaves of plants, which serve as a kind of protection against damage. It can be fern leaves, mountain ash, wormwood or dream. In addition, it is worth monthly inspecting the potatoes in order to remove rotten roots in time.
Blue Rejuvenation: growing from seeds and mini-tubers
Each year, potatoes can grow smaller and yield lower, since each next generation of root crops has a richer set of diseases than the previous one. In this case, you can update the variety by growing it from botanical seeds. How to do this, find out further.
Seed collection
After the flowering of the Blue, green fruits remain that must be found and collected before the yellowing of the leaves begins. Next, they need to be laid out on a warm windowsill, so that they ripen. When the fruits become soft, they need to be cut and removed from them the seeds that need to be dried and stored until spring.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Harvested seeds should be sown on seedlings as follows:
- Prepare and disinfect the soil, and then water it. If watering is carried out immediately after sowing, the water will pull the seeds inward, so they will not be able to break through to the surface.
- Arrange the seeds in a row, pressing lightly to the soil with a toothpick.
- Cover the landing with a cover, polyethylene or glass.
- Transfer seedlings to a warm place (at least 25 degrees). It is advisable to keep on the windowsill.
Seedling Care
To grow seedlings on the windowsill, you need to consider the following rules:
- at the emerged seedlings, the roots will be on the surface, so they should be sprinkled with loose soil to the very leaves or transplanted into another container with a deepening of the lower part of the stem with the root;
- water the seedlings gently with a thin stream along the walls of the container or from a douche for each root so that water does not get on the leaves and stems;
- provide potato seedlings with a bright light, including through illumination, otherwise the plant will stretch, lie on damp soil and die from the black leg;
- from March to landing in open ground, when the threat of frost passes, carry out 2-3 dives with deepening or sprinkling with earth without transplanting (hilling).
Planting seedlings in open ground
When at night the freezing temperature ceases to be fixed, seedlings can be transplanted into the open ground. Otherwise, the landing will need to be covered with protective material in case of frost. Seedlings can be planted according to any scheme. For example, in one hole you can throw several roots, and the distance between them is 15-30 cm.
Unlike potatoes from tubers, seedlings do not need to be spoiled whole, otherwise it will not be able to break through a layer of earth to the surface. In addition, to obtain a good harvest of mini-tubers, it is recommended that regular watering, loosening and top dressing be carried out, including in the form of preparations with an anti-stress effect, which include:
- Epin;
- Fertika Lux;
- Energy;
- Novosil.
Collection and storage of mini-tubers
As a rule, one bush grown from a seed gives 20-30 seed tubers the size of a quail egg. They are the superelite material of Blue. Their collection can be made in August - September, when the tops begin to turn yellow.
Harvested potatoes need to be processed with a bright pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then sprinkled for drying and landscaping. You can do this on the windowsill or in the penumbra garden under a canopy. In any case, the place should be dry, warm, well-lit and ventilated. After a week, the seed can be collected and transferred to the basement or cellar for storage. In the spring, mini-tubers need to be taken out and planted in the open ground in the same way as regular tubers.
An alternative way to rejuvenate
If the plant has not produced botanical seeds, since all the flowers have crumbled, and the fruits are not tied, you can try this method of rejuvenation:
- Immediately after flowering, cut 1-2 stems from the strongest bushes.
- Remove the tops and base from the stems.
- Transfer the stems to a dark place, placing a layer of straw under them up to 20 cm high.
By autumn, in the axils of the leaves it will be possible to find a healthy material - small pea-sized tubers.
In order not to grow Blueberry superelite from seeds, planting stock can be purchased at the store, but at an overpriced price.
Pros and cons of the variety
This potato variety is very popular among gardeners due to such positive characteristics:
- Does not respond to changing temperature conditions;
- tolerates drought, as it has a developed root system;
- has immunity to many diseases, including viral ones;
- gives a high yield - up to 500 kg / ha;
- grows on different types of soils.
As for the minuses of the variety, we can distinguish low resistance to such fungal diseases as late blight and nematode. Moreover, under unfavorable weather conditions, hollow formations, i.e. hollows, can appear in the tubers.
Blue is a variety that has been bred by Russian breeders. During the growing season, the plant looks very aesthetically pleasing, since it blooms with blue flowers. It is popular among gardeners due to its immunity against many diseases. In addition, the variety gives a high yield and grows on different types of soil. The ripened potatoes have a wonderful taste and friable structure.