If you need to get early potatoes or two harvests per season, Colette potatoes are better suited for this purpose than other varieties. It was bred jointly by Russian and German breeders for the preparation of French fries and is a table variety. Suitable for cultivation in the Central and North Caucasus regions. An entry about the variety in the State Register of Plants for cultivation in the Russian Federation was made in 2002.
Description of culture
Colette is an early-ripening potato variety; it takes 45 days from planting the tubers in the ground to obtaining mature potatoes.During this period it is dug new potatoes. When harvesting, 85 days pass during the drying period of the tops. The yield is high - if harvested after 45 days, you get 110-150 centners per hectare. When harvested on the 55th day after planting - 150–270 centners per hectare. The largest harvest of this variety was recorded in the Rostov region - 290 centners.
Plants of the variety are semi-spreading, the leaves are green, slightly grooved at the edges. Plants are resistant to potato cancer and nematode. Late blight affects leaves and tubers, but early ripening helps to avoid yield losses. The plant blooms with lilac flowers.
Description of the variety - the fruits ripen together, so when harvested, all tubers are the same size. The color of the peel is yellow, the flesh is also yellow-cream in color. There are a small number of eyes on the surface. The juicy potato pulp contains a small amount of starch - only 12-15%.
The shape of the potato is oval, slightly elongated, and there are barely noticeable brown spots on the yellow surface. The mass of the tuber reaches 130 grams. The variety has excellent taste. It is successfully grown for wholesale and large wholesale sales within the country and abroad.
Positive qualities of Colette potatoes
Since 2002, this variety has been grown in Russia, and during this time gardeners have identified the following positive qualities:
- high yield;
- early fruiting;
- excellent taste;
- disease resistance;
- friendly fruiting and ripening of tubers;
- the ability to harvest two harvests per season;
- smooth and beautiful tubers;
- has the ability to be stored for a long time without loss of quality.
There is also one drawback: the tubers ripen quickly and the potatoes produce a high yield on fertile soils with constant watering.
Growing Potatoes
To get a good potato harvest, you need to choose fertile soil on the site. Soil characteristics - light loamy or sandy loam soils are suitable for planting.
Preparing the soil for planting
Prepare the soil for planting in the fall. Before plowing the area, cow dung or compost is added to it. After removing weeds and fertilizing, the field is plowed and left to rest until spring. In the spring, before planting, the soil is plowed again and furrows are cut under planting potatoes.
This variety gives a good harvest when planted in an area where legumes, annual grasses and flax previously grew. You can plant potatoes together with beans; such proximity will not negatively affect the harvest, but, on the contrary, will improve it.
Preparing the achene
To obtain an early harvest, some gardeners germinate the achenes of the tubers before planting them. This will speed up the process of tops emerging and young tubers setting.
In order not to waste time, you need to select fertile tubers from the achenes. They should weigh about 80 grams, smooth and without signs of rotting. Larger tubers are cut in half.
Sprout potatoes before planting in a damp room. This result can be achieved by simply placing the potatoes in a warm but dark room.
There is another way of germination: the tubers are placed in wooden boxes in a damp room, the layers are sprinkled with a mixture of soil and sawdust, you can use hay or grass. Sprinkle the boxes with water and cover with film until germination. Then the film is removed and growth continues until planting in the ground.
Landing
Planting of the Colette potato variety as described is carried out depending on the weather conditions of the region from mid to late May - early June.The air should warm up to 24 degrees, the ground to 15 degrees. Plant potatoes in loose and slightly moist soil. There are three ways to plant potatoes:
- smooth;
- trench;
- ridge
The planting method depends on the characteristics of the site - the level of groundwater and the humidity of the region. If there is constant water on the site, then you need to plant the tubers using the ridge method, and if the site is plagued by constant droughts, then choose the trench or smooth method. The distance between the seeds is chosen depending on the size. So, a small achene is planted at a distance of 30 by 70 centimeters, the planting depth is 10 centimeters. After planting, it is necessary to take care of the plants to obtain a rich harvest.
Potato care
Caring for the beds is simple and consists of:
- weeding;
- loosening;
- watering;
- protection from pests.
Watering must be done at least once a week in dry weather. If it rains once or twice a week, then the field does not need to be watered.
Weeding is carried out during the entire growth of the fruit, otherwise the field will be overgrown with grass and the tubers will not grow. In this case, the plants are hilled up so that the tubers do not appear above the ground when ripe. You should know that in hardened soil, vegetables do not develop well, and nutrients go to weeds, not providing nutrition to the planted plants.
Pest control, mainly the Colorado potato beetle, is carried out throughout the entire tops growing season. Only after flowering and drying is the beetle not dangerous for the future harvest.
There are many chemical products sold on the market to protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle. Also, some gardeners use an old method that is safe for plants: collecting beetles by hand.In this case, you need to lift the leaves and tear off those on which yellow insect eggs are laid. If the field is treated with chemicals, the final treatment should be carried out no later than two weeks before harvest, otherwise the tubers will be contaminated.
Harvest and storage
Harvesting is carried out according to the following indicators:
- with faded stems;
- lightened and half-dried tops;
- depending on the size of the tubers.
The harvest is carried out in sunny weather; after digging, the crop is dried in the sun and sorted. Rotten and cut tubers are set aside, and whole ones are left for storage in the winter. Only dry crops are stored. Inspections should also be carried out during the winter. One rotten potato can ruin the entire harvest.
Review Reviews
This variety has been grown in Russia since 2002, so it has already received numerous reviews from amateur gardeners and agricultural professionals. Let's look at some of them:
Grigory Vladimirovich writes: “A neighbor described potatoes of the Colette variety and offered half a bag of achenes of the variety for growing. I planted them, the tubers grew beautiful, even, the potatoes are delicious when boiled and fried, and have a sweetish taste. Doesn't boil over. It grew in a garden bed, I never watered it in the summer, you just need to break up the grass so as not to choke the plants and kill the beetles. This variety does not require any more care. The harvest was good; half a bag of seeds yielded 5 bags of vegetables. Next year I will plant this variety again.”
