The legendary American potato variety, time-tested and adored by farmers

Potatoes are a vegetable without which most people cannot imagine their diet. This is an important part of many second and first courses. The taste of the dish largely depends on the quality of the root vegetables.

American potatoes have been a favorite of domestic gardeners for decades. Its taste is recognized as a reference. What are the disadvantages and advantages of this variety and how to grow it on your site, read on.

What kind of potato is this?

American is an old potato variety, bred in 1861. Its creator is the American breeder Albert Bresi.

In 1931, the variety was included in the Russian State Register. At that time, it was actively grown on collective and state farms in Moscow, Ukraine and all countries of the USSR.

American is also known as: Early rose, Latvian, Dovzhik, Olkhovka, Skorospelka, Yanovka, Turka, Monthly.

Distinctive features

American Feature: excellent taste characteristics. This variety is recognized as the standard of potato taste. It has tender, slightly sweet and crumbly flesh. It does not fall apart when cooked, but at the same time it produces a tasty and airy puree.

Despite the fact that this variety is about 150 years old, its yield exceeds that of many others. One plant produces up to 15 large tubers.

The appearance of the root crop is also attractive. Potato has an oblong, flattened shape, thin light pink skin. The variety is early ripening. The first potatoes are ready for harvest in July.

A negative feature of the American woman is considered to be low immunity. This variety is resistant to many nightshade diseases, but susceptible to late blight and bacterial cancer.

General characteristics of the plant

American still remains the most popular potato variety. Due to its high taste characteristics and excellent yields, many gardeners prefer it to many more modern options.

Description of the variety is presented in the table:

Agricultural technology American

Potatoes are grown without seedlings. Tubers are planted immediately in open ground. In cool regions, the crop is first grown under film.

In the southern regions, potatoes are sown in the ground in early April. In cities with a temperate climate - in the second half.

Advice! Planting material is prepared a month before it is placed in the ground.

Preparation of planting material

To speed up the emergence of seedlings, protect plants from diseases and negative environmental factors, planting material is prepared in advance.

This procedure consists of several stages:

1. For planting, select tubers without damage. They should be the size of a chicken egg. Selected root vegetables are left at room temperature for 3 days.
2. After this they are disinfected. Wash with a solution prepared from 1 tsp. copper sulfate and 3 liters of water. Then the planting material is dried for 5 days.
3. The potatoes are washed in a solution prepared from 3 liters of water and half a teaspoon of boric acid. The tubers are left to dry for 5 days.
4. To stimulate growth, planting material is washed in “Solution” or “Superagro”. To prepare it, 1 tsp. The drug is added to 3 liters of water. The tubers are dried again for 5 days.

Other potato varieties:

Consistently productive potato variety Impala

Potatoes "Crimean Rose" for hot climates

Early table potato variety "Tiras"

The potatoes are then stored for a month at +17°C. The room is ventilated daily, and the tubers are sprayed with water at room temperature from a spray bottle.

When many sprouts form on the tubers (after a month), they are placed in a room with a temperature of +10°C for 2 days. After this they are ready to disembark.

Advice! To save planting material, some gardeners cut the sprouted tubers into several parts. If you do this, make sure there are sprouts on each piece.

Soil preparation and planting potatoes

Potato beds begin to be prepared in the fall. Choose a plot of the garden that is in full sun. No other nightshade crops should grow on it for the past 2 years. They are not planted near potato beds either.

In autumn, the soil is dug up to a depth of at least 20 cm. Then they level it with a rake and remove all the larvae from it.

Fertilizers are applied to the beds. 6 kg of cow dung or humus is scattered on each square meter. If the acidity of the soil is increased, scatter 1 tbsp. dry lime per 1 m². Fertilizers are thoroughly mixed with the soil.

Advice! After harvesting in August or September, it is recommended to sow in an area where potatoes, legumes, oats or rye will be grown. This will increase the nutritional value of the soil.

In the spring the beds are dug up again. They are cleared of weeds and watered with copper sulfate. Apply 3 tbsp per 1 m². l. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate.

Holes 10 cm deep are dug in rows in a checkerboard pattern. The distance between the rows should be 35 cm, and between the recesses - 60 cm.

A handful of ash and onion peels are poured into each hole.Many gardeners also send long-acting complex mineral fertilizers there.

Place 1 tuber in each hole. They are covered with earth without compacting it. The beds are watered with warm water.

Basic rules of care

Before the first shoots appear, the potato beds are loosened 2 times, removing all weeds. As a result, the earthen crust is destroyed, which prevents the tubers from rotting.

Potato beds water as the soil dries out. Use settled warm water. After each watering and rainfall, the soil is loosened. This is done carefully so as not to damage the tubers, thereby increasing the risk of infection. During the loosening process, the beds are cleared of weeds.

Potatoes are hilled twice per season. The first time is when the bushes reach a height of 20 cm, and repeat after 2-3 weeks. This promotes the formation of new roots and an increase in the number of tubers.

Advice! After heavy rains, additional loosening will be required.

Over the entire period of potato growing, it fed three times according to the following scheme:

1. The first fertilizing is applied 2 weeks after emergence. To do this, use a product prepared from 10 liters of water and 1 kg of chicken droppings or rotted cow manure.
2. After the formation of the first bud, fertilizer is applied a second time. To do this, prepare a remedy from 1 tbsp. wood ash and 1 bucket of water.
3. The last time the plants are fed is during the period of mass flowering. To do this, pour 0.5 liters of a solution prepared from 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp. mullein and 2 tbsp. l superphosphate.

Important! Before each application of fertilizer, the beds are watered with clean warm water.

Tips from gardeners

To avoid problems when growing potatoes, use the advice of experienced gardeners:

1. Agree with your neighbors to process and collect the Colorado potato beetle from all nightshade plants on the same day. In this case, a repeated “invasion” of insects will not happen.
2. Water and feed potatoes early in the morning or at sunset. If you do this when the sun is active, the tubers will simply “cook” in the soil.
3. American bushes grow strongly, which increases the risk of plant infection with late blight. Remove a few leaves from the bottom of the bush.
4. To get the largest possible tubers, it is recommended to apply foliar fertilizing 10 days before harvest. To do this, the bushes are simply sprayed with superphosphate.
5. Mulch potato beds and soil between rows. This will protect the plants from diseases, pests and negative environmental factors.
6. To provide the potatoes with optimal moisture, they are watered not manually, but using an automatic drip method.
7. Mark the healthiest and most beautiful bushes with ribbons. It is from them that it is better to collect seed material.

Diseases and pests

Potato American resistant to most nightshade diseases, but some infections pose a danger to him:

1. Late blight. The stems and leaves become covered with brown spots, which turn black over time and cause the plants to wither. The disease spreads to tubers, leading to their rotting. For prevention, potato bushes are sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate 2-3 times during the entire growing period. The disease cannot be treated; affected plants are removed and burned, and the soil is disinfected.
2. Bacterial cancer. Dark formations resembling cauliflower grow from the eyes of potato roots. Such tubers are inedible. The disease cannot be treated.Affected plants are removed, and the soil on which they grew is disinfected.

Prevention will help you avoid contracting these dangerous diseases.. It consists of disinfecting garden tools, soil and tubers, following the rules of watering, hilling, and crop rotation.

Often potatoes Colorado potato beetle attacks. Pests are simply collected from plants by hand. If there are a lot of them, then use chemicals, for example, “Barrier”.

Wireworm attacks tubers potatoes. It will not be possible to notice and neutralize it in a timely manner. In this case, prevention is important. It consists of mulching, using slightly acidic soils and planting onions between rows of potatoes.

Collection, storage and use of crops

The American potato harvest is already harvested in July. The fact that the root crops have reached their maximum size and are ready for harvesting will be indicated by the withered and yellowed ground part of the bush:

1. It is recommended to dig up potato tubers not with a shovel, but with a pitchfork. This will reduce the amount of damage. Harvest only in dry weather.
2. To separate the tops from the root crops, just shake them.
3. The collected potatoes are laid out on newspaper and dried for 2-3 days. After this, the soil can be easily removed with a dry cloth.
4. The tubers are sorted and carefully examined. Damaged copies cannot be stored. They need to be eaten first.
5. Potato storage boxes are wiped with copper sulfate or a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate. The room is fumigated with sulfur.
6. American is stored in a room with a humidity of no higher than 80% and a temperature of up to +5°C.
7. During storage, the tubers are periodically sorted. Damaged copies must be removed.

American - a universal variety. It is suitable for boiling and frying.Some housewives claim that such root vegetables taste better when boiled or baked.

Read also:

Mid-early table potato variety "Romano"

Unique looking and great tasting Picasso potatoes

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Benefits of American Potatoes:

• high productivity;
• great taste;
• resistance to many diseases;
• ease of care;
• high shelf life and transportability;
• tubers do not degenerate for 20 years;
• early ripeness.

Among the disadvantages:

• lack of immunity to late blight and bacterial cancer;
• abundant green mass that attracts pests.

Farmer reviews

Reviews from gardeners they talk about the high quality of American fruits. Many of them grow this variety year after year.

Alice, Moscow: “My mother raised Americana. I, too, have not changed this variety for many years. Of course, he is not particularly resistant to disease. You have to regularly treat it with copper sulfate. I grow it because of its great taste. Any dish with it turns out simply excellent. I really like the flattened long fruits, just like in the photo. Convenient for stuffing with halves".

Gleb, Voronezh: “I remember the taste of American from childhood. This is perhaps the most delicious and beautiful pink potato. I would like to grow it at home, but planting material is not easy to find. This year I found it at the grocery market. I planted it, let’s see what happens.”.

Conclusion

The America potato is a variety that has been cultivated all over the world for over 100 years. It is distinguished by its versatility of use and excellent taste.

The American also has disadvantages. The variety is demanding on soil composition and is susceptible to diseases of nightshade crops.To get a rich harvest, the gardener will have to regularly care for the plants.