In short summer conditions, it is better to grow Lyubava potatoes in order to get tubers in 40–45 days. Early ripening varieties have, in addition to short ripening periods, other advantages. Vegetable growers value the taste qualities of potato tubers. You need to choose those varieties that are suitable for cooking and are well preserved until the next harvest, without losing their value. You need to know the features of growing potatoes, how to properly care for plantings in order to get high yields.
Biological characteristics of the vegetable
Potatoes are vegetables intended for consumption, the preparation of starch and alcohol, and for animal feed. It is table varieties of potatoes that summer residents grow in their gardens. Tubers of this type contain no more than 20 percent starch, and the rest consists of vitamins, beta-carotenes, and other useful elements. The Lyubava variety is a table vegetable. It is intended for preparing salads, frying, baking, and is ideal for soups.
The description of the variety includes the fact that Lyubava’s tubers:
- oval in shape with eyes located at medium depth;
- with red skin, rough to the touch;
- with white flesh;
- weighing from 109 to 210 grams.
The Lyubava potato variety is valued for its early ripening, 70–75 days from the date of planting. Proper care of a vegetable plant will lead to digging up 20 tubers from one bush.
The compactness of the bush is noted in the vegetable bred by Siberian specialists. The medium-height stems are covered with green leaves, slightly wavy at the edges. During flowering, the bushes look decorative. The potato field has an elegant appearance thanks to lilac flowers with a yellow center.
The variety is chosen for cultivation in the climatic conditions of Siberia and the Far East. He also pleases farmers with a harvest of 540 centners per hectare.
Advantages of growing early ripening potatoes
The early-ripening potato variety Lyubava is grown everywhere. In order for the vegetable to ripen on time, you need to:
- Before planting, the seed material undergoes vernalization. The tubers are placed on shelves in a bright room in two layers at a temperature of 12–15 degrees. For wet germination, planting material placed in boxes or baskets is sprinkled with sawdust, peat or humus moistened with a solution of mineral salts.
- The predecessors of potatoes can be legumes and pumpkin.The crops will enrich the soil with nitrogen, which is important for potato plantings.
- Tubers weighing 100 grams with short and strong sprouts are planted.
- The soil temperature at a depth of 10 centimeters during planting should be 6–8 degrees Celsius.
- 1–2 tubers are placed in a hole, planted in a square-cluster method of 70x70 centimeters.
- Together with the planting material, 200 grams of humus are added to the hole. 10 grams of superphosphate and 5 grams of potassium salt will not interfere with potato plantings.
- The tubers are buried 8–10 centimeters if the soil is heavy. On light soils, a planting depth of 12–15 centimeters is sufficient.
When planted correctly, the characteristics of the variety consist of:
- early harvest in mid-summer;
- preparing tubers for long-term storage and transportation;
- wonderful taste of potatoes;
- obtaining from one hundred square meters up to 40 kilograms of vegetables.
Even potatoes grown in a small plot will provide seven delicious meals throughout the winter.
Care rules for high yields
Particular care for vegetable crops includes watering, fertilizing, harrowing and hilling.
During tuber formation, Lyubava potatoes require a lot of moisture. When the summer is dry, you will have to water the field using 2-3 buckets per square meter. It is better to irrigate along the furrows.
Fertilizers used for garden plants consist of wood ash, organic and mineral substances. You can use mullein by diluting it with water in a ratio of 1:5. But bird droppings are fertilized in a low concentration of organic matter in solution - 1:12.
Of the mineral complexes, superphosphate (30–50 grams) with ammonium nitrate (10–15 grams) and potassium salt (15–20 grams) is useful.Fertilizers are better absorbed in liquid form. Therefore, they are filled with ten liters of water and the potato plantings are fertilized.
If the vegetable crop starts weakly, but the tops develop powerfully, then there is a lot of nitrogen and moisture in the soil. The situation is corrected by adding wood ash and fertilizers consisting of phosphorus and potassium to the ground between the rows of potatoes.
You can rid potatoes of the Lyubava variety from weeds by harrowing. It is useful to carry out the procedure after planting, loosening the soil to a depth of five centimeters. As soon as the seedlings reach ten centimeters in height, the rows are loosened in perpendicular directions. During the summer it is necessary to loosen 2-3 times.
Hill up potatoes definitely necessary. This will help develop additional underground stems and increase the number of tubers. Hilling is carried out when the ground is moist. The first time was during the period when the stems of the vegetable plant reached 20 centimeters. The second procedure is needed before flowering. Spud up to 15–18 centimeters.
To maintain the varietal advantages of potatoes, it is necessary to update planting material every 3–4 years. Then they try grow a potato variety from seeds, although this is a labor-intensive task.
Diseases and pests
Although the Lyubava variety is noted to be disease-resistant, if not properly cared for, the vegetable is susceptible to late blight. The fungus develops during rainy summers. Large brown spots are found on the leaves, and below there is a whitish coating where fungal spores are hidden. Symptoms of the disease, if not treated, spread to the stems and tubers. Potato fruits are covered with areas of brownish hard spots. After digging up the potatoes, diseased tubers are separated from healthy ones and destroyed.To prevent late blight from affecting vegetable plantings, it is necessary to hill the plants high.
Ring rot is known to attack the vascular tissue of tubers. Cream-colored ring-shaped stripes appear on potato fruits. And the surrounding tissues become glassy. Prevention of the disease is to dry the crop after harvesting. For planting, only healthy, carefully selected material is used.
From potato pest, the Colorado potato beetle is dangerous. There are many methods to combat it. These include chemical preparations and manual collection of beetles and larvae.
Growing potatoes is simple, but following the rules of vegetable farming.
Gardeners about the Lyubava variety
To learn about the variety in detail, one description of the Lyubava potato is not enough. When choosing a vegetable, you should rely on the opinion of gardeners who grow potatoes on their plots.
After reading the reviews, everyone will be convinced that the early ripening Lyubava variety should be grown. Vegetable growers unanimously note the unpretentiousness of the plant. Even under unfavorable climatic and weather conditions, high-quality tubers are obtained. The vegetable rarely gets sick. The only thing is that it is attacked by the Colorado potato beetle, like other potato varieties. The variety is also valued by farmers. The smooth, rounded tubers are distinguished by excellent presentation and are not damaged during transportation. Anyone who has planted Lyubava at least once leaves seeds for planting next year.
