Early ripening, low-maintenance potato variety Latona with yellow tubers

In world agriculture, potatoes are recognized as the most important vegetable crop. In the overall ranking, it is second only to wheat, rice and corn.

Thanks to the work of Dutch breeders, the early-ripening Latona potato variety was developed. It is grown in the vast majority of regions of the Russian Federation. The plant produces an early harvest and is easy to care for. This variety is cultivated both for personal use and for industrial purposes.

Latona Potatoes

The Latona potato variety has tall bushes with large dark green leaves. The tops are thick, lush and spreading. When flowering, small inflorescences with whitish corollas form on the plants. The tops ripen and gradually die off, thanks to which moisture is retained in the soil for a long time. The culture withstands heat, dampness and cold.

Origin and development

The Latona potato was developed by HZPC-Holland in the mid-20th century. The variety was entered into the state register of the Russian Federation in 1996.

Chemical composition, trace elements and vitamins

Like any potato, the Latona variety contains proteins and carbohydrates (starch, fiber, glucose, fructose, sucrose). Vegetables also contain vitamins A, B, C, mineral salts (phosphorus and potassium) and organic acids - citric, oxalic, malic.

For your information. By consuming 300 g of potatoes per day, the body will be fully provided with the required amount of vitamin C.

When cooking Latona potatoes are overcooked.Vegetables are not suitable for frying, since they contain 16-20% starch. Its quantity is affected by the quality of the soil. The more nutritious it is, the more starch it contains.

Characteristics of tubers, description of appearance and yield

The vegetables are yellow in color and have beige flesh. The average weight of one potato is 100 g, but there are tubers that reach 140 g. About 10 pieces ripen under each bush.

The Latona variety has excellent taste characteristics and is in great demand both in professional and home cooking. The fruits ripen 65-80 days after planting. Vegetable growers harvest up to 460 centners of potatoes from 1 hectare.

For which regions is it best suited?

The Latona variety is recommended for cultivation in the following regions of Russia:

• North-West;
• Central;
• Central Black Earth.

Potatoes are also successfully grown in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.

What is the difference from other varieties

Latona potatoes grow well and produce abundant harvests in temperate climates. This variety is unpretentious and forgives mistakes in care.

The main advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The advantages of the variety include:

1. Relatively fast ripening time for vegetables. Young potatoes are dug up for testing 45-50 days after planting.
2. High yield. Table varieties rarely produce high yields, which cannot be said about Latona. Under favorable conditions, up to 460 centners are harvested from 1 hectare of plantings.
3. Drought resistance. The variety easily tolerates short-term heat.
4. Easy to grow. Latona is undemanding in care and soil type.
5. Resistance of vegetables to mechanical damage. This property allows you to easily transport crops over long distances.

Latona also has disadvantages.Vegetables are not suitable for frying due to their high starch content. Potatoes have relatively weak immunity, which requires additional care.

Features of planting and growing

In cultivation, Latona potatoes are not too different from other varieties. To obtain an abundant and high-quality harvest, it is important to properly prepare the seed material, choose the time for planting, moisten and fertilize the crop.

Preparing for landing

Before planting, prepare equipment. In a small area they can get by with an ordinary shovel, but if the area is large, they use a cultivator - this is a technique for loosening, plowing or planting seeds. It is also used to remove weeds and fertilize the soil.

The best soil for Latona is light sandy loam or black soil. Due to its unpretentiousness, this variety grows well on other types of soil, but produces less yield. To increase the quality and quantity of the crop per 1 m² of soil add:

• 1 liter of wood ash;
• bucket of sand;
• bucket of manure or compost.

In spring, the soil is loosened to a depth of 15-20 cm. This activity is carried out to get rid of excess moisture and enrich the soil with oxygen.

For your information. For more efficient aeration, tubers are planted in small ridges 10-15 cm high.

Before planting, the seed material is prepared. Even if the tubers have been stored correctly, they are dried in the sun and the spoiled seeds are discarded. For sowing, tubers weighing 50-60 g are used.

Dates, scheme and rules of planting

Potatoes are planted in well-warmed soil (+10°C or more). In most regions this is the end of March or beginning of April. In regions with cold climates, planting work is carried out around the end of April.If you plant tubers when there is still a threat of frost returning, the potatoes will develop slowly or die.

The holes are dug to a depth of 10 cm so that there is a distance of 40 cm between them and 65 cm between the rows. With dense planting, the risk of disease increases and care is more difficult.

Advice. The smaller the seed tubers, the larger the vegetables will form, and vice versa. Therefore, it is best to plant medium-sized seeds or cut large potatoes so that each part has several eyes.

Features of cultivation

Caring for potato bushes during the growing season consists of regularly removing weeds, fertilizing, hilling, watering, and protecting plants from diseases and pests.

On a note. To ensure that the potato rows are even, the holes of the first row are dug according to the markings, along the cord. This will facilitate further care of the plantings (loosening, weeding and hilling).

Nuances of care

During the entire growing season, the crop is weeded 3 times - the space between the plants is cleared of weeds. The third weeding is combined with hilling. When the bushes grow and close between the rows, the need for weeding disappears.

Hilling is carried out so that the height of the mound is about 20-30 cm. This promotes the formation of additional roots that cover the tubers from the scorching rays of the sun.

Watering

The crop is irrigated as follows:

• after planting, 1 to 2 liters of water are consumed per bush;
• in hot weather, water moderately, 2 liters of water per bush;
• Drip irrigation is also used using the same volume of liquid.

Top dressing

Vegetable crops are fertilized in several stages:

1. During landing Add 1 tbsp to each well. l. “Nitrofoski” and ½ tbsp. wood ash.
2. When the tops reach a height of 15-20 cm, the plants are watered at the root with mullein infusion (in proportion to water 1:10, the fertilizer is infused for 5-7 days). Use 0.5 liters per bush.
3. The following fertilizing is applied during flowering, also at the root. Apply 3 tbsp. l. ash infusion per 1 liter of water (infuse for 5 days) or 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water (per bush - 0.5 liters).

Disease and pest control

The Latona potato variety has average disease resistance. With improper care or negative climatic conditions, the risk of diseases increases:

1. Late blight – dangerous fungal infection. Provoking factors are high humidity and heat. The main peak of incidence occurs at the beginning of summer. Late blight appears as dark spots on the leaves and stem. If measures are not taken, there is a high risk of losing the crop, as the fungus quickly spreads through spores, infecting more and more healthy bushes. Late blight is combated with the drug “HOM” (40 g per 10 liters of water). The plantings are sprayed with the product.
2. Common scab is a fungus that infects the vegetables themselves, which subsequently leads to the loss of the commercial and taste qualities of potatoes. The tubers acquire a bland taste and do not last long. The disease is difficult to identify, since in the initial stages it does not manifest itself in any way and does not affect the above-ground part of the crop. For prevention, before storage, planting material is treated with Polycarbacin. The following procedure is carried out 14 days before planting the tubers in the ground. If the crop is already infected with scab, use the drug “Mancozeb” (1.2-1.6 kg of product per 1 hectare of planting, dissolved in water and sprayed).
3. The most dangerous potato pest is the Colorado potato beetle.. It eats not only tops, but also tubers, especially in spring.During this period, the beetle is controlled using traps. Shredded potatoes are used as bait. The Colorado potato beetle is also destroyed by spraying the bushes with a urea solution. 100 g of the substance is dissolved in 10 liters of water. Treatment is carried out in the morning or evening. Many vegetable growers use the product "Confidor" (according to the instructions).
4. Wireworm. This is the larva of a click beetle; it is a yellow-brown worm 2-3 cm long with a rather dense cover. Imago (adult) is a black beetle with an oblong body up to 5 cm long. The pest is controlled with nitrogen-containing fertilizers: ammonium sulfate (30 g per 1 m²), ammonium nitrate (20 g per 1 m²), ammonium chloride (30 g per 1 m²). The products are introduced into the soil, and pests smell a pungent odor of ammonia, which repels them. They also fight wireworms with the drug “Aktara”. It is dissolved in water to treat potatoes before planting (1 g per 10 liters of water), or dry powder is added to the wells.

To control pests, add onion peels, wood ash or mustard powder to the holes when planting.

Harvest and storage

Potatoes for summer consumption are harvested according to culinary needs or market demand. In the first half of summer, vegetables have not yet reached their maximum size. For consumption in autumn and winter, the tubers are collected when they are ripe, when the bushes turn yellow and become dry.

How and when to collect

Most often, Latona potatoes are grown for early harvest. Therefore, it is dug early, when the tubers reach a weight of more than 30 g, and the peel is still peeling off. Vegetables are harvested at the end of June or beginning of July. During this period, the bushes fade and begin to fade.

In the north, the harvest is harvested in the last ten days of September.The potatoes are dug up carefully, supporting the bushes on the side of the ridge with a pitchfork. The plant is pulled out by the tops, the tubers are collected and placed in buckets.

Storage features and keeping quality of the variety

Potatoes for storage are sorted and dried in the sun for no more than 2 hours. The crop is kept in a room with an air temperature of about +5°C and a humidity of no more than 90%. Most often, potatoes are stored in wooden boxes, bags, nets in the basement or cellar.

Vegetables are placed in boxes with small holes. The layer should not be more than 50 cm so that the lower fruits can be saturated with oxygen and excess moisture can evaporate. Containers with the harvest are placed on pallets or planks, leaving a small distance from the wall.

Every month the condition of vegetables is checked and spoiled fruits are promptly removed. The room is periodically ventilated. Latona has a high shelf life - 90%, if there is no condensation at the storage location.

What difficulties may there be when growing

It is not recommended to cultivate potatoes in single plantings, since in this case the soil becomes infected with pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungal spores) and nightshade pests, for example, wireworms. If possible, potatoes are grown in the same place with an interval of at least 3 years.

Good predecessors include:

• green manure (peas, oats, mustard, phacelia, rapeseed);
• pumpkin crops.

Undesirable plants are vegetables from the nightshade family (eggplants, tomatoes, peppers).

Advice from experienced gardeners and reviews about the Latona variety

Recommendations before spring planting:

1. Deeply planted tubers will produce small fruits and an abundance of tops.
2. To get large and tasty vegetables, the tops are slightly broken. At the same time, more nutrients are consumed for potato development.The procedure is carried out 1-2 weeks after flowering.
3. If plants begin to turn black from late blight, the affected areas are removed and burned.
4. Calendula, horseradish, and aromatic herbs are planted around the perimeter - they have a beneficial effect on the health of potatoes.
5. Tansy, catnip, marigold, coriander, and nasturtium repel the Colorado potato beetle. They are planted along the edge of potato beds.
6. Sunflower has a negative effect on potatoes.

Summer residents confirm that the Latona potato variety has an excellent taste and produces a high and stable yield. Many vegetable growers prefer this variety for its ease of care.

Vladimir, Rostov: “I am an experienced gardener. I grow Latona potatoes because of their ease of care. To get an early harvest, I mulch the beds with compost and water the plants with an infusion of organic substances from the manufacturer. I also remove foliage that begins to rot due to Colorado potato beetles or diseases. As the weed grows, I get rid of it.”

Vyacheslav, Yaroslavl: “Latona is a delicious potato variety, but it is not suitable for frying; it crumbles. We have been growing them in our summer cottage for over 10 years. Productivity has never failed. Some people don’t like that the crop blooms little. You shouldn’t pay attention to this, there will definitely be tubers. The variety also does not tolerate variable soil moisture. If first there is a drought and then a flood, the vegetables may burst, but this rarely happens. The fruits of the variety are filled in the last 14 days. For planting I use tubers from my own harvest. I select seeds from productive bushes while harvesting vegetables. The variety has not degenerated over the years.”

Conclusion

Latona is a relatively young potato variety, which is highly appreciated by culinary experts due to its high taste. The culture is used in many restaurants around the world. Vegetable growers choose Latona for its stable and high yield, ability to adapt to any weather conditions and ease of care.