Despite the fact that the Impala potato was bred more than 20 years ago, it has not lost its popularity among gardeners, since it is adapted to different climate conditions and has good productivity. This early Dutch potato variety is grown in Moldova and Ukraine, planted both in the northwestern and central regions of Russia, and in the southern regions, Kalmykia, Chuvashia, and Udmurtia.
Description of the variety
Potatoes occupy a special place on the table. It is added to soups, borscht, salads, fried and boiled, baked, and consumed all year round. This vegetable contains a lot of:
- vitamins;
- microelements;
- starch;
- folic acid.
Potatoes help reduce lipid plaques and are used as a dietary dish for arthritis, kidney disease, and metabolic disorders. Impala is considered one of the the best varieties of potatoes. The one who grew it writes only positive reviews, since he did not notice any negative sides. The vegetable is also adapted to the arid climate of the Volga region and tolerates cool and humid weather.
Based on the description of the Impala potato, about 20 tubers are dug from one bush, each of which has:
- excellent taste;
- yellowish pulp;
- weighing up to 150 g;
- oval shape;
- thin and dense peel.
Dense, erect bushes of this variety branch into 6 or 4 shoots and rise 70 centimeters in height. The small leaves have a dark green tint. The flowers of the plant, which are collected in clusters, are white with an orange center.
The tubers do not become overcooked and do not darken after cooking. The percentage of starch in them exceeds 14.5%. Potatoes practically do not spoil until spring, do not germinate, and are easily transported over any distance.
Main characteristics
Impala ripens on average 60 days after planting, so gardeners in the northern regions, where summer ends quickly, are happy with it. The one who grew this variety managed to dig up the tubers before the onset of prolonged rains.
In the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine and even in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, potatoes can be consumed after just a month and a half. The vacated holes are watered with water and the root crops are placed again. Summer residents grow a second crop in the garden, selecting garlic from it.
The Impala potato variety is rarely affected by:
- fusarium rot;
- ordinary scab;
- Alternaria blight;
- black leg.
In the first planting, about 370 centners of root crops are collected per hectare of land, in two - up to 600.
The characteristics of the variety were able to attract farmers in the southern regions, since the ability to have 2 harvests significantly increased profits. Summer residents like the taste of potatoes, especially young ones, when the thin skin peels off on its own.
Impala grows on any soil, tolerates both drought and high humidity, and is resistant to nematodes, potato viruses and cancer.
Recommendations for planting
Tubers left for sowing do not need to be germinated. The sprouts sprout in the ground, but do not develop as quickly as many gardeners would like. For those who dream of an early harvest, boxes of potatoes should be placed for a month in a room where the temperature is at least 18 degrees.
If you want to dig up root crops very early, then the tubers are planted in pots in the second decade of March, covered with plastic wrap, which is removed when the sprouts emerge. The bushes are moved into the warmed ground along with the soil.
The one who planted the Impala variety claims that you can count on a good potato harvest if you do not ignore certain requirements:
- Tubers should be free of cracks and spots; medium-sized root vegetables with a diameter of 50 ml, which have many eyes, are selected.
- Potatoes are soaked for half an hour in a solution of boric acid or potassium permanganate. Such substances prevent the development of scab and fusarium.
- If sprouts have already appeared, you cannot pick them off. The bush will get sick, the harvest will be smaller.
- The bed for the crop needs to be laid out, where legumes, cereals, and mustard were previously planted. Bad predecessors for potatoes are tomatoes, bell and bitter peppers, and eggplants.
- The same variety is returned to its original place only after several years.
In the fall, the soil is fed with ammonium nitrate, which contains water-soluble nitrogen. Rotted manure improves its structure. Excess fertilizer worsens the taste of potatoes.
Disembarkation and care
In April or early May, holes are made in warm soil at a distance of 30 cm. Dig them to a depth of 8 centimeters. Place a glass of wood ash in each hole, potato tubers placed so that the eyes are on top. The holes are sprinkled with soil to form a small ridge.
As the sprouts begin to emerge from the ground, which is usually observed after 2 weeks, the beds, which should be planted every 50 cm, begin to spud.
In the northern regions there is no need to water Impala potatoes. In the southern regions, moistening is carried out 14 days after the sprouts appear, during flowering and then 2 weeks later. Having finished watering, start fertilizing. The first time ammonium nitrate is applied, the second - fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium, then a complex of minerals. After each moistening or rain, you need to pull out the weeds with their roots and loosen the soil.
The leaves and stems of potatoes are loved by the Colorado potato beetle. This seemingly harmless insect destroys entire fields of nightshade crops in a short time. Traditional methods in combating the pest do not bring success, and voracious larvae appear along with the first shoots. It is impossible to collect them manually.
To save potatoes from beetles, the bushes are sprayed with biological agents such as “Bitoxibacillin” or with chemicals “Desis”, “Karate”, “Calypso”, “Aktara”.
How to increase productivity?
In order for a bush to have at least 20 large potato tubers, loose and fertile soil is needed. It is necessary to dig a garden or plow a field deeply.Experienced vegetable growers recommend placing potato furrows towards the south. Then the sun will shine on the bushes all day, and they will be warm.
The roots of the plant develop already at 7 degrees plus, but in order for them to grow quickly they need at least 22. The optimal temperature for flowering is 18–20. Impala potatoes are adapted to hot and dry weather, but for the harvest to be successful, the soil must be moist, and if only 250 mm of rain fell during the season, the beds have to be watered.
Spraying the leaves with “Fitosporin” helps to increase the immunity of the crop and prevent damage to potatoes by fungal diseases.
It is advisable to change tubers for planting at least once every 5 years, otherwise the variety degenerates and the yield decreases. You can prepare potatoes for seeds yourself, but it is better to buy them in a store or order them online. Root vegetables will be larger if the flower clusters are cut off.
After reading the description of the Impala potato variety, some summer residents living in the central regions hoped to get a second harvest. However, only gardeners in the southern regions, where there is a lot of sun and long summers, can plant crops in order to count on 2 harvests of tubers.
Subject to agricultural practices and timely pest control, farmers grow large potato tubers, from which they have excellent profits, and summer residents provide themselves with the product until next spring.
