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Potatoes appeared in Russia thanks to Peter the Great and since then have been the most popular product. Vegetable growers try to select the most productive varieties for planting on plots. This is not so easy to do today, since the variety of the potato tribe is growing every day thanks to the hard work of breeders.
Among the most popular varieties are Rocco potatoes, and we will talk about them.
A little history
Dutch breeders created the Rocco potato variety. Thanks to its unique properties, it quickly gained popularity. Today, the vegetable has been grown in many countries around the world for more than two decades.
The Russians first planted Rocco potatoes in 2002. Currently, it is grown not only in garden plots. We started growing potatoes on a production scale, as in this photo. The reason is that the variety has a high yield and is quickly sold out on the market: approximately 95% of all potatoes grown by farmers.
Botanical properties
When choosing a variety, gardeners take into account the characteristics of the vegetable, preferably potatoes:
- matured quickly;
- wasn't sick;
- gave a good harvest;
- stored with minimal waste.
Rocco potatoes, according to the variety description, photos of finished products and reviews from vegetable growers, fully meet the requirements:
- The tubers are pinkish-red, oval, smooth (as in the photo below), the flesh is soft cream. The color does not change after cooking.
- Potatoes weighing up to 125 grams, more than 10 in a bush. The total weight of one bush is about 1 kg 500 g. If you look at it on a large scale, you can get up to 400 centners per hectare.
- Plants can be distinguished from other varieties by their upright bushes, large juicy green leaves and red or purple inflorescences.
Advantages
Breeders have worked on the vegetable for many years, achieving unique properties. The result was potatoes of the Rocco variety, which are not afraid of many of the diseases of its relatives. The vegetable does not get sick:
- potato cancer;
- golden potato nematode;
- wrinkled and striped mosaic;
- striped mosaic;
- virus Y;
- The leaves practically do not curl.
Scientists managed to reduce tuber late blight, but leaf blight could not be completely eliminated.
Photos describing the variety are increasingly appearing not only on websites, but also in user correspondence and in their reviews of Rocco potatoes. There is nothing surprising here, because this vegetable has many other advantages:
- Mid-season potatoes ripen 3 months after germination.
- Plantings provide plot owners with a rich harvest.
- High starch level: 15-30%.
- Excellent taste, judging by reviews from vegetable growers.
- Able to withstand fluctuations in temperature and soil moisture. Therefore, potatoes of this variety can be grown in any climatic regions of Russia and Europe.
Taste
It is not only the high yield of varietal potatoes that attracts Russians. The variety gained great popularity for its amazing taste.Rocco potatoes are used by housewives to prepare various dishes.
It is widely used on an industrial scale in food factories to produce chips and French fries. The reason is the high starch content.
Features of cultivation
Growing potatoes is accessible even to beginning gardeners. There are no special difficulties with this. Although there are some points that are worth paying attention to.
Before planting, the tubers are taken out into the open air in containers so that it warms up and the eyes hatch. They will be strong, as in the photo.
Then the potatoes are treated with Bordeaux mixture or a solution of potassium permanganate. This is a preventive measure against fungal diseases. When planting, add stove ash to a minimum in each hole. It is necessary to increase the starchiness of the tuber.
The varietal vegetable responds well to turf, loamy or sandy soil. To increase the yield, it is necessary to add black soil before plowing.
The Rocco potato variety is demanding on moisture, so in dry summers, when growing vegetables, you need to ensure regular watering, at least 3-4 times a week.
To get a rich harvest of root crops, you need to fertilize using saltpeter or organic fertilizers. Potash fertilizers will help preserve the harvested potatoes.
Instead of ready-made fertilizers, you can use green manure plants, such as:
- lupine;
- mustard;
- clover.
They are planted before the potatoes are planted.When the plants grow, the field is plowed together with natural fertilizer. And there are no chemicals in the garden, and the potatoes receive the necessary nutrition.
After the bush has grown 15 centimeters, it needs to be hilled for the first time. Hilling is necessary for the development of stolons, on which potatoes develop. You need to re-hill the potatoes after about a week.
How to preserve the harvest without loss
Rocco potatoes, judging by the descriptions of the variety and reviews of potato growers, are an unpretentious plant that adapts well to any conditions of the surrounding world.
And what about the safety of grown root crops?
- If appropriate temperature conditions are created in the storage and a certain air humidity is maintained, then the preservation of potatoes approaches 100%.
- For storage, you can use wooden boxes with slots or nylon nets.
- Tubers are practically not damaged even when transported over long distances.
Peter 1 has nothing to do with the “importation” of potatoes to Russia. Under him, the earthen pear or “jerusalem artichoke” appeared, and potatoes were brought to Russia under Anna Ioannovna (1730 - 1740).
Hello. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia says the following: “The Free Economic Society associated the appearance of potatoes in Russia with the name of Peter I, who at the end of the 17th century. sent a bag of tubers from Holland. The beginning of widespread potato cultivation was laid by a Senate decree in 1765 and the importation from abroad of a batch of seed potatoes sent throughout the country.” A number of other sources also talk about this. Potatoes actually became widespread later, but the article deals specifically with their first appearance. If you do not agree with this, please indicate your sources, we will definitely study them and, if necessary, make clarifications in the article.
An excellent productive variety. When digging there was no limit to joy. The taste is excellent (does not turn black). On a one hundred point scale, 100 points.