Potato Sorokodnevka is the name given to ultra-early varieties that are ready for consumption 40 days after planting. The first potatoes are considered the most delicious, and young tubers are not as fragrant as late ones. The development of ultra-early ripening varieties is associated with a short period of heat in some regions of Russia, as a result of which the vegetable crop does not have time to reach maturity.
Description of the variety
The growing season of ultra-early potatoes is about 40 days, with minor deviations.
Brief description of the most common varieties:
- Alyona.Tubers weighing from 100 to 160 g are covered with a pink skin, under which lies white pulp with an average starch content.
- Scarlet. Starchy root vegetables weighing 150 g have yellow flesh. The variety is not affected by bacteria and viruses.
- Impala. Early ripening oval tubers are white, highly starchy.
- Sturdy. Light yellow potatoes reach a weight of 140 g.
- Kholmogorsky. The variety is intended for processing, not for storage. Bulbs weighing 110–130 g have an early ripening period.
- Lapis lazuli. Potatoes with yellowish-cream, tasty pulp and a weight of one root crop of 130–150 g.
- Caprice. Round tubers with dense white pulp and rich taste, weighing up to 150 g. Nematode-resistant variety.
- Ariel. Ultra-early ripening of oval tubers weighing 135 g makes it possible to replant. Not afraid of late blight.
- Prior. High-yielding, hybrid Dutch potatoes with early formation of fruits weighing 120 g.
- Spring. It is recommended to deep-fry the oblong pink root vegetables weighing 150 g.
- Leader. The tubers are medium-sized - up to 120 g, rich yellow in color, and do not become infected with scab.
- Romano. White magpie potatoes of Dutch origin grow up to 160 g.
- Early ripening. Light cream flesh. Weight up to 110 g. Resistance to late blight.
- Zhukovsky. Small size: 80–120 g. Pink-violet color of the peel, pulp of dense structure, starchy.
- Kamensky. Smooth small fruits weighing 110–130 g are commercially intended. The variety is unattractive to the Colorado potato beetle.
- Luck. White tubers are not susceptible to rotting. Medium size, weight up to 130 g.
Growing
The forty-day potato variety has an accelerated growing season, so the soil for planting must be prepared in April.
Do not rush to place root vegetables in open ground, as they do not tolerate frost well. If an early variety is planted in May, harvesting can begin in June.
Activities to prepare a site for planting potatoes include adding humus and digging up the soil.
Early ripening potatoes forty days old love such precursors as cereals, pumpkin, legumes, parsley, dill, but cannot tolerate nightshades.
Rows are formed on the site at intervals of 70–80 cm, inside which holes are dug, deepened by 8 cm, with a distance of 30 cm between them.
Features of care
At the end of April - beginning of May, when warm weather has settled, you can plant early potato seeds in the ground, following simple rules:
- Harden the planting material by keeping it in the open air for three days.
- Place the root vegetables into the holes one at a time.
- Cover with fertile soil 3 cm thick.
- There is no need to water the plantings, since the spring soil is saturated with moisture.
- Sprout formation is slow due to cool weather. Two weeks after germination, the soil is loosened.
- When there is a risk of night frost, the beds are covered with film or spunbond.
- Hilling and fertilizing of the vegetable is required when the sprouts form at least six leaves.
- Regular removal of weeds that take away new potatoes useful material. It's not so scary after the bushes bloom.
- Three weeks after planting, a second feeding is carried out, mainly with nitrophoska, and hilling.
Advantages and disadvantages
Positive characteristics of the variety:
- Ultra early ripening.
- Delicious tubers.
- Stable yield.
- Easy to care for.
- Drought resistance.
- Immune to temperature changes.
- The universal purpose of root vegetables.
- Long-term preservation of the properties of seed material.
- Resistance to common potato diseases.
For all their advantages, forty-day varieties are not free from disadvantages. For example, a short shelf life and thin skin, due to which the tubers have to be dug out only by hand.
Diseases and harmful insects
It is advisable to treat the seeds before planting, despite their resistance to viral diseases, cancer, scab, and golden nematode.
Protection from diseases and increased productivity are achieved by growing forty-day-old potatoes in different places on the site.
There is a danger of attack on young plants:
- Aphids. The underside of the leaves can be strewn with whole hordes of insects that secrete toxins, due to which the shape of the plant organs changes. The foliage curls, the buds dry out, and the flowers become curled. An infected crop does not form a tuber. Yellow spots and mesh may form on the leaves. They do not receive enough lighting, become dirty, and pick up black sooty fungus. Affected sprouts weaken and freeze in cold weather. Some species of aphids form ulcers and tumors on seedlings. A plant infected with aphids is susceptible to more than ten viral diseases.
- Wireworm. Beetles eat plant roots and make tunnels in fruits, which leads to loss of presentation and a decrease in protective forces against pathogens and rot. The wireworm can attack the tubers immediately after planting and penetrate deeply, easily gnawing through the thin skin. This is why potatoes acquire an unsightly surface, rot and deteriorate from the inside. Young root vegetables are to the taste of the insect pest larvae. Thus, potato harvest may be destroyed at the root.
- Colorado potato beetle. If the weather is warm, insect larvae appear at the end of May. For early ripening crops, they no longer pose a danger, since only 2–3 weeks remain before ripening. However, insects can attack later potato varieties, so it is best to get rid of the pests. In a small area, larvae and adults are collected manually, always paying attention to the underside of the leaves. Large plantations need to apply chemicals no later than two weeks before digging potatoes. The Colorado potato beetle does not attack some varieties of Magpie; if possible, it is advisable to purchase such seed material.
Prevention of the appearance of pests on potatoes is modern weeding and removal of weeds from the garden.
Large-scale lesions require the use of insecticides, which should be treated before the bushes flower. Effective remedies for the Colorado potato beetle: Commander, Regent, Lightning, Apache, Corado.
Harvest and storage
Already in early June, the potato tops acquire a rich green color and spreading nature. Despite the fully ripe appearance, preparations for harvesting should be made after 10 days - not earlier than mid-June.
Bushes intended for seeds for sowing for the next season remain unharvested.
Cleaning is carried out in two ways:
- Traditional. The bush is pulled out, and root crops are collected from it and from the soil.
- Lingering. Without pulling out the plant, large potatoes are torn from the plant, while small ones are left to ripen and gain mass. Within 2-3 weeks the fruits will grow and double the harvest.
Forty-day potato varieties are intended mainly for short-term use as food. Processing should be carried out literally immediately after collection. After a couple of weeks, the tuber skin will be difficult to peel, and the roots will begin to wither and rot.
Potatoes left in the garden for the purpose of obtaining seeds are dug up at the end of June and stored in a dry room with ventilation. During ripening, the potato skin becomes dense.
In ultra-early potato varieties, fruiting and harvesting occur within a month. The freed space is used for sowing green crops and lettuce. In regions with a warm climate, they have time to collect an additional harvest of Sorokodnevka.
