Content
Potatoes are a popular crop that many people grow in their summer cottages. When choosing planting material, you must be guided by varietal characteristics. Among the mid-early varieties, Deva potatoes are distinguished. It is high-yielding, has good taste and can grow in any region of Russia. Before purchasing planting material, you need to familiarize yourself with the strengths and weaknesses of the variety, view photos and study the description of the Virgo potato.
Description of the Deva potato variety
Potato Virgo grows into a small, sparsely leafy bush up to half a meter high. The variety is mid-early and takes about 110 days from planting to harvest. The elongated, soft pink tubers are covered with a thin but durable skin. The smooth skin has no eyes or defects. The variety is resistant to sudden changes in temperature and humidity conditions, and is resistant to diseases and pests.
Taste qualities
Deva potatoes have dense, yellow, tasty flesh. The variety is universal; it is used to prepare vegetable stews, French fries and chips.The tubers boil well, so they make beautiful and tasty mashed potatoes.
Pros and cons of the Virgo variety
Virgo potatoes, like any variety, have positive and negative qualities. The positive characteristics of Virgo potatoes include:
- high fruiting;
- resistance to diseases and temperature changes;
- unpretentiousness in care and soil quality;
- good taste and presentation;
- universal application.
The variety has no disadvantages.
Planting and caring for Virgo potatoes
The Virgo variety can be grown from tubers and through seeds. The seed method is difficult and time-consuming, so gardeners prefer to grow potatoes from purchased tubers. When purchasing, you must carefully inspect the planting material to ensure that it is free of mechanical damage, signs of rot and fungal diseases.
Before planting Deva potatoes, you need to read the description and reviews, view photos and videos. This will make it possible to understand the variety and carry out proper care in the future.
Selection and preparation of a landing site
Choose a place for planting that is well-lit and protected from gusty winds. The variety is unpretentious to soil quality, but to harvest a rich harvest, the soil must be well drained and aerated, light and nutritious.
The area for potatoes is prepared in advance. To do this, dig it up with a shovel and remove weeds, stones and clods of earth. Rotted manure and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are added to the soil.After tilling the soil, the area can be sown with siderites, which will saturate the soil with nitrogen.
Improving soil quality:
- Ph level – add bone meal, ash or calcium carbonate to acidic soil. Alkaline soil is oxidized with peat or manure.
- Air and water permeability - sand, compost, perlite, vermiculite are added to the soil.
In order for Virgo potatoes to bring a rich harvest, you need to adhere to crop rotation. Tubers cannot be planted after strawberries. The best predecessors are cucumbers, pumpkin, legumes and cereals, beets, sunflowers and corn.
Preparation of planting material
For quick germination, Deva potatoes are germinated a month before planting. For this:
- Planting material is sorted, discarding diseased and damaged tubers.
- Selected planting material is washed and disinfected. Soak for a quarter of an hour in a solution of boric acid (10 g diluted in a bucket of warm water).
- Disinfected potatoes are laid out in one layer to dry completely.
- Dried tubers sprout after 14 days at a temperature of + 18-20 °C.
- 2 days before planting, sprouted potatoes are hardened. To do this, it is transferred to a cool room and covered with a dark film or cloth.
Landing rules
Planting is carried out after the end of spring frosts, when the ground warms up to + 10 °C. Experienced gardeners say that potatoes should be planted during the lilac flowering period.
Planting Deva potatoes can be done in several ways. When choosing a planting method, it is necessary to take into account climatic conditions and soil quality.In regions with rainy and cold summers, heavy soil and shallow groundwater, potatoes are planted on ridges. In southern cities they prefer a smooth landing.
The standard row spacing is about 70 cm. The space between tubers depends on the size of the planting material. If large tubers are 40 cm, medium ones are 35 cm, small ones are 20 cm.
Planting depth depends on the composition of the soil:
- 4-5 cm on heavy clay soil, with shallow groundwater;
- 10 cm on loams;
- 15 cm on sandy, well-warmed soil.
The most common methods:
- Under the shovel – at a certain interval, holes are made into which the sprouted tubers are placed. Planting can be done in 3 ways: square nest, checkerboard, two-line. This method is not suitable for areas with clayey, heavy, poorly drained soil.
- Into the ridges – planting material is planted in prepared shallow grooves. This method is used on soils of light mechanical composition.
- In the trench - an old, proven method, suitable for areas with loose soil that does not retain moisture well.
- Into the ridges – the method is suitable for areas with heavy, clayey soil and with shallow groundwater. It is better to use a motor cultivator to cultivate the soil.
- Into the grass - a new but very popular way of growing potatoes. It does not require any effort or time. The tubers are laid out on the ground in a checkerboard pattern, leaving a gap of 20 cm between the tubers. A thick layer of mulch (hay, dry leaves) is laid on top. When the mulch overheats, it settles, so it is necessary to periodically add a new portion.Since mulch retains moisture and is an organic fertilizer, irrigation and fertilizing are not carried out.
Deva potatoes are an unpretentious variety, but to obtain the long-awaited harvest, you must follow simple agrotechnical rules.
Watering and fertilizing
In dry, warm summers, irrigation is carried out 3 times a season: after emergence, during the formation of buds, and during the flowering period. If the summer is rainy, watering is not carried out. If the plant does not have enough moisture, the tops will lose their elasticity and begin to wither. Watering is carried out only in the morning.
Potatoes, like other plants, are very responsive to feeding. Fertilizers are applied according to the following scheme:
- 2 weeks after planting;
- during budding;
- after flowering.
A mineral complex is used as a top dressing (10 g of urea, 20 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium chloride diluted in 5 liters of water). If the plant quickly grows tops, then urea is not added to the fertilizing.
It is advisable to foliar fertilize with Bordeaux mixture 2 times a season. It will not only feed the plant, but will also protect it from diseases and pests.
Loosening and weeding
The Virgo variety grows well in loose soil, since air access to the roots is necessary for good fruiting. The first time the soil is loosened after germination, at the same time removing weeds. Further loosening is carried out when an earthen crust appears.
Hilling
Hilling is carried out depending on climatic conditions.If the summer is hot and there is no time to water frequently, hilling is not carried out. Because the dryness and heat will cause the potatoes to bake in the ground.
In regions with cold, rainy summers, hilling must be carried out: the first time after the emergence of seedlings, the second time 20 days after the first hilling.
Diseases and pests
Potatoes of the Deva variety have strong immunity to diseases. But in rainy summers and if the rules of care are not followed, the plant may suffer from some ailments.
- Potato rot – affects leaves, stems and tubers. The disease progresses at the end of July, after flowering, in rainy, cool summers. At the first signs of the disease, the outer side of the lower leaves becomes covered with dark brown spots, and a white coating forms on the inner side.
- Ring rot - a common disease that appears during flowering. The fungus attacks stems and tubers. If the disease affects the stem, it dries out and falls to the ground. If it is a tuber, then when cut the flesh is soft and watery.
- Colorado beetle - a dangerous insect that infects the plant throughout the growing season. Without treatment, in a short time the insect destroys all the green mass, which leads to the death of the plant.
To protect the plant from diseases and pests, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures:
- observe crop rotation;
- provide proper care;
- remove lower leaves and post-harvest residues;
- At the beginning of flowering, spray the bush with Bordeaux mixture.
Potato yield
The Deva potato is a high-yielding variety; the bush produces 6-9 tubers weighing up to 150 g.If you follow agrotechnical rules, you can harvest up to 400 kg of potatoes per hundred square meters. Due to high fruiting, good keeping quality and transportability, Deva potatoes are grown on an industrial scale throughout Russia.
Harvesting and storage
Young potatoes of the Deva variety begin to be harvested in early August. To do this, a test excavation is done in dry, warm weather. If the tubers correspond to standard sizes, the potatoes can be dug up.
Peak harvest occurs in mid-September. By this time, the potatoes will have grown and will be ready for long-term storage. The dug up tubers are cleared of soil and laid out in one layer to dry. If potatoes are not dried, they will have a short shelf life, as the remaining moisture will cause the tuber to rot.
Dried potatoes are sorted, removing small ones for planting next year. Tubers with mechanical damage are eaten first.
Selected potatoes are laid out in bags or boxes and stored in a cool, dry room where the air temperature does not exceed + 15 °C. At high temperatures, potatoes will begin to germinate; at sub-zero temperatures, the tubers acquire a sweet taste.
Knowing everything about Deva potatoes, you can harvest a good harvest without wasting extra effort and time.
Conclusion
The description of the Virgo potato reveals all the positive characteristics of the variety. It is unpretentious, can grow in all regions of Russia, and has good taste. By planting Deva potatoes, you can provide yourself with a harvest for the whole winter.
