Content
The Early Morning potato is a fairly “young” variety, but it has already been appreciated by amateur gardeners, professional farmers, and even large agricultural holdings. Outstanding taste qualities and consistently high yields are successfully complemented by the presence of a “protection mechanism” against the Colorado potato beetle, generally good immunity and endurance, allowing the plant to withstand the negative influence of climatic and weather factors.
History of appearance
The Early Morning potato was developed in Chelyabinsk in 2013. The authorship of the variety belongs to V.V. Stepanov, E.P. Shanina, I.N. Suraikin. The originator is LLC NPO "Garden and Vegetable Garden". It has been listed in the Russian State Register of Selection Achievements since 2016.
The “basis” for the breeders’ experiments was the long-known and well-known domestic potato variety Utro. The primary goal was to improve the taste of the tubers and reduce the ripening time of the crop.
Description of potato variety Early Morning with photo
There is nothing outstanding or original in the “appearance” of the Early Morning potato. This applies to both the plant itself and the tubers. Its main advantages are varietal characteristics that are important for gardeners.
Bush
The root system of plants is relatively powerful and developed. Stems are intermediate, semi-erect. The leaves are medium sized, fully expanded, and have a dark green color typical for the crop. The corollas are large, the flowers are lilac-pink, sometimes almost lavender.
Early morning potato bushes are quite tall (65-70 cm), but not spreading
Tubers
The tubers are regular elliptical in shape. Sometimes there are almost spherical specimens. The peel is thin, but dense, pink-crimson or reddish, “mesh”.
The pulp is pale yellow, the color of butter. It is dense, not watery, with a fairly low starch content (14.6-16.4%), so it does not “fall apart” during heat treatment.
The weight of the tubers varies greatly (100-190 g). Specific numbers depend on the region where it is grown, the weather in spring and summer, the quality of care, and other factors.
The “eyes” on the tubers are small, superficial, there are not many of them, this makes peeling potatoes much easier. Early morning
Important! The percentage of “marketable” tubers when harvesting potatoes early in the morning is 70-90%.
Characteristics of potatoes Early morning
Morning Early is an early-ripening table potato variety. These are the “basic” varietal characteristics, but there are other nuances that you need to pay attention to when choosing.
Taste qualities
The taste of early morning potatoes is officially characterized as “excellent”. The purpose of the tubers is universal: according to the “culinary” classification, they belong to type AB.That is, they are suitable for boiling, frying, baking, stuffing, and any first and second courses.
Professional tasters rate the taste at 4.5-4.7 points out of five possible
Ripening time
The name of the variety clearly hints at the timing of its ripening. It belongs to the category of early ripening. In the Ural region, for which it was originally created, the first bushes are dug up already 45-50 days after the germination of planting tubers. “Mass” harvesting begins 2-3.5 weeks later.
Productivity
The yield when grown on an industrial scale is 140-320 centners per hectare. At official state variety trials, for this indicator, the Morning Early potato greatly (by 50-100 c/ha) outperformed the Zhukovsky Ranniy and Vesna Belaya varieties taken as the standard. Record figures (344 c/ha) were recorded in Bashkortostan.
From one plant you get 5-10 tubers, respectively, when growing, you can count on 2.5-3 kg of potatoes Early morning from 1 m²
Growing regions
Officially, the Early Morning potato variety is recommended only for cultivation in the Ural region. However, the experience of gardeners shows that it is able to successfully adapt and stably bear fruit in other climatic conditions. There are positive reviews of attempts to grow Early Morning potatoes in both Belarus and Ukraine.
Disease resistance
One of the most significant advantages of early morning potatoes in the eyes of gardeners is the impossibility of plantings being damaged by the Colorado potato beetle.But for the same reason, some are afraid to grow it, believing that such “improvement” is impossible without genetic modifications. However, the “protection mechanism” is fundamentally different: the leaves of the plant are covered with a layer of short, thick “lint,” and the stems are covered with frequent, hard “hairs.” Therefore, the pest is not able to lay eggs on them.
The Colorado potato beetle does not attack potatoes. Early mornings even during seasons of mass invasions of garden plots
In general, the resistance to pathogenic microflora and harmful insects in Early Morning potatoes is not bad, with some exceptions. According to the description given in the State Register, it can be affected by golden potato nematode and late blight. In the latter case, the pathogen affects both the aboveground part and the tubers.
Advantages and disadvantages
In optimal climatic conditions, you can get two early morning potato crops per season. But in his homeland this is almost impossible.
Early Morning potatoes acquire their maximum richness and characteristic “creamy” taste when they are fully ripe.
Pros:
- “plasticity” and “stress resistance”, allowing adaptation to the climatic characteristics of different regions;
- consistently high yields regardless of the weather in spring and summer;
- suitability for planting both on personal plots and in large farms;
- ease of cultivation even for inexperienced gardeners;
- the presence of “innate” immunity against the Colorado potato beetle, high resistance to most other pests and pathogens typical of the crop;
- keeping quality and transportability of tubers;
- external presentability, outstanding taste and versatility of the purpose of potatoes. Early morning.
Minuses:
- tendency to be affected by late blight;
- lack of immunity against potato nematode;
- demanding storage conditions;
- the need to ensure a sufficiently high nutritional value of the substrate in the garden bed;
- a relatively low percentage of “marketable” tubers at harvest.
Landing rules
In the Urals, Early Morning potatoes can be planted in the second half of April, when the substrate warms up to about 10 °C. The selected area is dug up deeply in the fall and humus or rotted compost is added. The place should be open, well lit by the sun.
3-5 days before planting, the bed is loosened and leveled. At the same time, you can “enrich” the soil with complex fertilizer. It is also advisable to introduce special long-acting preparations that protect potatoes early in the morning from nematode damage.
Seed material also needs preliminary preparation. To prevent late blight infection, potatoes are treated early in the morning in a solution of any fungicide. To increase germination and overall endurance, they are treated with a biostimulant. It will also help protect the tubers from rot and the negative impact of possible return frosts. Tubers need germination - it takes 20-25 days for strong sprouts to appear.
Early morning potatoes are planted according to the 60*40 cm pattern. The approximate depth of the hole is 12-15 cm. You can throw about a handful of humus and a tablespoon of sifted wood ash to the bottom.
If the substrate is very “heavy”, it is advisable to provide drainage when planting
How to care
Early morning potatoes require only “basic” agrotechnical measures:
- Watering. The variety is drought-resistant and is quite capable of making do with natural precipitation. But to increase the volume of the harvest and improve the quality of the tubers, it is recommended to water the potatoes three times early in the morning: when the seedlings grow to 10-12 cm, in the bud formation phase and at the moment the above-ground part of the bush begins to wither.
- Fertilizer application. If the substrate is sufficiently fertile and the bed is prepared correctly, fertilizing the potatoes early in the morning during the season can be neglected. Otherwise, it is fertilized 2-3 days before the first hilling. Both natural organic matter, folk remedies, and complex store-bought fertilizers are suitable.
- Hilling. It is advisable to carry it out once every 20-25 days, combining it with weeding. Hilling is necessary for normal soil aeration and “maintaining” the tops in an upright state. If it becomes lodged, plant care becomes significantly more difficult and the risk of developing diseases increases.
Early morning watering during the active growth stage and immediately after flowering has a negative effect on the keeping quality of potatoes.
Harvest and storage
Potato harvesting begins early in the morning when the stems completely dry out and fall to the ground.At this point, the taste qualities of the tubers are “revealed” completely. On personal plots, potatoes are dug up using a shovel or pitchfork, but the Early Morning variety is also suitable for mechanized harvesting.
For harvesting, choose a dry, fairly warm day.
As to whether it is worth mowing the tops beforehand (15-20 days in advance), gardeners do not have a consensus. The main argument in favor is the reduction in the risk of infection of collected tubers with diseases that will quickly appear during storage. “Cons” – difficulties in determining the location of plants in the garden bed, which almost inevitably leads to a higher percentage of “substandard” due to mechanical damage.
Immediately after harvesting, the potatoes are sorted early in the morning, discarding all tubers that are clearly unsuitable for long-term storage. Planting material for next year is set aside separately. The harvest is dried in a room with good ventilation or in the open air, protected from the sun, for at least 2-3 hours.
Potatoes Early in the morning are demanding when it comes to storage conditions. The following criteria are critical:
- air humidity at 70-85%;
- temperature 2-3 °C;
- lack of light;
- constant access of fresh air (but not cold drafts).
If storage conditions are not optimal or change frequently, the death of most or all of the potato crop is almost inevitable. Early morning. Mold and rot develop quickly, and tubers sprout.
In the room where potatoes are stored Early in the morning, it is recommended to install a thermometer and hygrometer
Conclusion
The Early Morning potato has not yet become widespread, but has successfully passed state variety tests, therefore, there are prerequisites for this. The plant is easy to care for and is quite suitable even for novice gardeners. Potatoes consistently produce good yields, despite the peculiarities of the regional climate and the vagaries of the weather during the summer. And its outstanding taste is noted even by professional tasters.
Reviews from gardeners about potatoes Early morning
