Characteristics of Bellarosa potatoes
Growing potatoes on the site is troublesome, especially if the plant is susceptible to diseases and pests. The Bellarosa potato variety compares favorably with other representatives of this culture for its unpretentiousness and high immunity to most pathogens.
Characteristics of Bellarosa potatoes
If you follow all the rules of planting care, you can get an excellent crop of tubers with bright pink skin. This vegetable is good in any dish.
Features of the variety
Bellarosa potatoes are an early variety.
The period from the appearance of the first shoots to technical ripeness is about 55-60 days, but a young vegetable can be dug out as early as 40 days. The tubers have pink skin and soft creamy flesh. For an early variety, Bellarosa is quite large. The average weight of a root crop is 100-120 g.
Advantages and disadvantages
The fact that the variety has become very popular over the past 10 years proves its superiority over other representatives of the nightshade. According to the description, with proper care, the yield of the variety is 35-37 tons per hectare of land. The price of such potatoes on the market is also high, due to its taste and pleasant appearance.
Bellarosa's early potatoes have a number of advantages:
- High palatability and moderate starch content makes this variety suitable for frying, boiling, and mashed potatoes. When boiled, the variety cracks, but does not crumble or darken.
- The skin of a potato has a rough, structure-dense surface. This protects the tubers from damage during transportation and lengthens their shelf life.
- Drought tolerance makes the vegetable an excellent option for gardeners who rarely visit their gardens. Tubers form normally even with a strong drying out of the earthy coma.
- The bush does not need strong hilling. It is enough to carry out the procedure 1-2 times. This saves a lot of time and effort.
- Unpretentiousness to the composition of the soil also makes the variety very popular. Tubers grow equally well in all types of soil, except loam. It's too heavy for potatoes.
- The variety has resistance to the causative agent of late blight, dry rot, black leg, rhizoctonia, spotting. Pre-treatment of tubers from these diseases allows the gardener to save on pesticides.
Despite the fact that Bellarosa has such a list of positive qualities, it also has disadvantages. The main disadvantage is exposure to pests. Shoots are often eaten by Colorado beetles and their larvae. Tubers become a delicacy for cyst-forming golden nematodes and wireworms. Often the potato spoils the bear.
Another downside is that there are many varieties that look similar to Bellarose. Their varietal characteristics do not meet expectations.
Planting potatoes
You can plant this variety already in April.
According to the characteristics, the Bellarosa variety requires early planting of the crop. This happens already in mid-April, when the soil warms up to a depth of 10-12 cm. If the weather conditions leave much to be desired, planting should be postponed a little.
Potatoes are grown in several ways. The most common option is to plant tubers or parts thereof in the ground. Another, less popular method is seed growing. For this, potato seeds are planted in seed boxes, in May the seedlings are sent to a permanent place of growth - in the open ground.
The best tubers are chosen for planting, at the end of February it is laid out in one layer in a warm, well-lit place. From time to time, the potatoes are sprinkled with water and turned over.
Soil preparation
In the fall, before ending the summer cottage, they are determined with the place of growing potatoes next year. The soil is fertilized with rotted manure. To do this, it is scattered on the ground, and then dug up
It is not worth breaking up large clods of earth. So the soil will freeze better, and with it weed seeds and pest eggs. In mid-September, you can sow the beds with siderates - cereal grasses that enrich the soil with useful substances in the process of decay. For these purposes, use:
- wheat;
- rye;
- mustard;
- rape;
- barley.
When young green shoots reach a height of at least 10 cm, the earth is dug up with them. This method of fertilization is the simplest and most environmentally friendly. In addition to manure and green manure, ready-made chemical fertilizers can be applied.
In the spring, when the soil thaws, they begin to cultivate the site. Complex mineral fertilizers are introduced into the soil during digging.
Planting potatoes
At the end of April, they start planting potatoes in the ground. When planting tubers, at least 40 cm is left between the holes. This is the optimal distance that allows the tubers to develop normally and receive nutrients in abundance. The seeding depth depends on the density of the soil, on average it is 15-18 cm.
If the Bellarosa variety is planted in trenches, the planting depth of tubers is reduced to 10-13 cm. The distance between the rows is 90 cm. Nitrophoska or any other phosphorus-containing fertilizer is poured at the bottom of the rows. This is important for early potatoes.
Potato care
Proper care will speed up the ripening period
The ripening time largely depends not only on the air and ground temperature, but also on the quality of crop care. Despite the fact that the plant is unpretentious and calmly tolerates dry periods, it is impossible to completely abandon watering and fertilization.
Watering
According to the description, regardless of the planting method, it is necessary to water the potatoes at the root, and not pour water on top of the tops. Since the culture is susceptible to late blight, waterlogging threatens the development of this disease.
It is recommended to start watering not earlier than the beginning of flowering, because. at this time, the first phase of the formation of tubers occurs. After the garden bed, water it another 2-3 times. A week before digging the crop, watering is stopped.
Fertilizer
Top dressing plays an important role in obtaining a bountiful harvest of Bella Rosa potatoes. A plant that is deficient in nutrients develops poorly, forms small tubers and is often sick. An excess of them also does not lead to anything good, therefore, before using this or that type of fertilizer, you should familiarize yourself with its description and instructions for use.
There is a universal feeding scheme for all types of potatoes:
- After the appearance of the first green shoots, the plant is watered with infusion of mullein or bird droppings. To do this, 1 kg of excrement is poured into 5 liters of water and left for 10-14 days. From time to time, the slurry is stirred for a better oxygen supply.
- During the flowering period, the bushes are fed with urea and ash. For 10 liters of water, take no more than 2 tbsp. l. chemical. Ash is poured into the barrel during hilling.
- When the potatoes have bloomed, they are fertilized with an infusion of herbs. The weeds are finely chopped before seed formation begins and placed in bottles, cans or barrels.The container is poured with water and left to sour for 2 weeks. After that, add 1 liter per 10 liters of water to the infusion and pour it under the root.
The peculiarity of all dressings is that the beds are pre-watered abundantly. Fertilizer left on dry soil is not only not beneficial, but even burns the roots and lower leaves.
Pest control
The plant is highly susceptible to pests, then you need to take care of its protection. Colorado beetles and their larvae eat leaves and shoots, and nematodes and wireworms damage tubers.
It is recommended to carry out processing not during the ripening period of the tubers, but before planting them. For this:
- the tubers are laid out in one layer on a tarp or oilcloth; this is necessary so that chemicals do not get into the ground;
- if the drug requires dilution in water, the tubers are sprayed from a spray bottle or soaked in a container with a chemical;
- if the preparation is used in dry form, it is mixed with ash and the tubers are powdered from all sides. It is more convenient to do this with a sieve over the oilcloth.
In addition to spring treatment, spraying of shoots is practiced to combat the Colorado potato beetle. This must be done before or after flowering. Sometimes rainy weather interferes with this: precipitation will wash the chemical off the leaves.
Conclusion
Bellarose potatoes have an enviable yield even with minimal maintenance.
Planting material is recommended to be bought in proven agricultural firms: with a diseased tuber, you can bring in a lot of diseases, as well as pest eggs. Poor-quality potatoes bought in the fall will not last until they are planted in the soil.