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The founder of the variety is the famous Dutch company C.MEIJER B.V. The Melodiya potato was zoned in the Central region of Russia in 2009. The variety was registered and tested in Moldova and Ukraine.
Description
The potato variety “Melody” belongs to the category of medium-late and late. The time from planting to harvest ranges from 100 to 120 days. The plant of the Melodiya variety is a semi-erect bush with lush green, slightly wavy, closed leaves. The color of the flowers is reddish-violet.
Potato tubers are oval-shaped, with small superficial eyes. The skin is yellowish in color, with a pronounced mesh pattern. The weight of one tuber varies from 95 to 180 grams. The nests are compact and well leveled. The number of potato tubers on one plant is from 7 to 11 pieces. Potatoes have an excellent taste (score 5 points out of 5 possible). Can be used both for preparing various dishes and for industrial processing (dry mashed potatoes). The dry matter content is from 20.5%. Potatoes of this variety are not suitable for making chips and deep frying.
The variety is characterized by high productivity. Here are the characteristics for this indicator.
- The average yield of the variety ranges from 176 to 335 centners per hectare.
- The maximum yield value is 636 centners per hectare (recorded in the Moscow region).
In addition to high yield, potatoes are distinguished by their attractive appearance and high shelf life (about 95%). Tubers of this variety tolerate transportation well and are resistant to mechanical stress. The advantages of the variety include a long dormant period (7-8 months). This allows you to preserve potatoes for a long time without breaking off the sprouts.
Features of agricultural technology
In spring, seed potatoes of the Melodiya variety must be checked for damage and signs of disease. For planting potatoes, you should use only healthy tubers with a diameter of 30-70 mm, no less.
When planting in “slices,” the weight of each should not be less than 50 grams.
The time for planting the variety is May (from the middle to the end of the month). Potato planting pattern 700 x 350 mm. The highest yield can be achieved with dense planting (the number of bushes per 100 square meters is from 55 to 700). The depth of the holes is such as to ensure good germination of potato bushes.
- For loams and clayey soils, the planting depth of the variety is 70-80 mm.
- For sandy soils and sandy loams, potatoes are planted at 90-120 mm.
Crop rotation is important to obtain a good harvest. The best green manures include herbaceous plants, winter crops, lupine, flax, and legumes.
Potatoes of this variety are demanding of care and require regular loosening of the soil, weeding, and good watering.Weeds cannot be left even between rows, since with a large mass of weeds, the number of tubers on a potato bush is significantly reduced.
Tillage
- In the autumn, the site is dug up. 3-4 cm of fertile soil is added. It is possible to apply organic fertilizers (compost, humus) in the amount of 4-5 kg per square meter of land. If the thickness of the fertile soil layer is less than 30 cm, then the amount of humus per “square” increases to 9 kg. It is impossible to apply manure directly under the bushes, since the risk of damage to potato tubers increases.
- Of the mineral fertilizers for potatoes of this variety, potassium and phosphorus are preferred.
- Tillage in the spring consists of digging and applying mineral fertilizers (ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate). For fertile soils - from 16 to 20 grams per square meter. For depleted soils, the amount of mineral fertilizers per square increases to 25 g.
The potato crop is harvested after the bushes have withered and a fairly thick skin has formed on the tubers.
Pests and diseases of Melodiya potatoes
The variety is moderately resistant to the Y virus.
Good resistance to such diseases.
- Potato cancer (pathotype I).
- Potato golden cyst nematode.
- Mosaics of all types.
- Blackleg.
- Rhizokontia.
- Scab.
Infestations of the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes of the “Melody” variety can be combated only with the help of chemical agents (Corado, Tabu, Commander, etc.).
Prevention of late blight
Late blight is a fungal disease that affects the entire plant. The fungus develops best at high humidity and air temperature. The best preventive measure is careful selection of seed material.In addition, starting in the fall, it is necessary to carry out such events.
- After harvesting potatoes You cannot leave plant remains on the site (tubers, remains of bushes).
- Treatment of seed material with antifungal drugs. The best fit: Agate 25K (per 1 liter of water - 12 g) and Immunocytophyte (per 1 liter of water - 3 g).
- Regular sowing changes (do not grow nightshade plants in the same place for 2-3 years). If this is not possible, soil disinfection using Bordeaux mixture helps. This especially applies to the southern regions.
If there is a threat of late blight infection, potato bushes are treated with special preparations 2 times with a break of 1.5 weeks. Arcedil (5.5 g per 1 liter of water), Ridomil (2.7 g per 1 liter of water), Ossich (2.0 g per 1 liter of water) helps.
Syngenta is quite expensive, but extremely effective. Helps even with total infection of potatoes with late blight. It is used both as a therapeutic and as a prophylactic agent.
Growth stimulants (Ecosin, Epil Plus) also increase the resistance of Melodiya potatoes to fungal infections.
If you do not want to abuse chemicals, then folk remedies help fight late blight quite successfully.
- Garlic infusion (100 g of chopped garlic cloves per ten-liter bucket of water). The solution is used for weekly spraying of potato bushes for a month.
- Fermented milk solution (1 liter of sour kefir per 10 liters of water). Spraying is carried out every week until visible signs of the disease disappear.
- For 10 liters of water: 1 tsp. potassium permanganate, copper sulfate and boric acid. Processing time occurs during the hottest period of summer (late July-early August).Potato bushes are sprayed twice with a week break.
- Mulching the soil with lime in a layer of 0.1-0.2 cm.
The fight against late blight is a rather labor-intensive task. Therefore, it is advisable to take effective preventive measures to avoid infection of potato plants.
Prevention of viral diseases
The fight against viral diseases mainly involves preventing infection.
- Use of healthy planting material (preferably certified).
- Preventive inspection of plants and timely removal of affected potato bushes. This will prevent the infection from spreading.
- When growing in a small area, select potatoes for planting material immediately from healthy bushes.
- Thorough cleaning of the bed from weeds.
- Destruction of pests. Aphids, cicadas and Colorado potato beetles are carriers of viral infections.
- Treatment of planting material with antiviral agents.
- Maintaining crop rotation.
The insidiousness of viral diseases is that at first they develop almost imperceptibly. But after 2-3 years, if measures are not taken, potato yields decrease significantly. Therefore, it is important to promptly recognize the disease and prevent its development.
