Zorachka potatoes are planted in Russia, Ukraine and at home. Bred by breeders from Belarus, it takes root on any soil and produces a good harvest. Summer residents like this variety because it allows them to use the tubers for frying, making soups and borscht, casseroles, and salads.
Boiled new potatoes serves as one of the most favorite dishes in many families. The vegetable is rich in pectin substances, contains proteins, glucose, vitamins, and amino acids. The pulp contains about 14% starch.
Description of the variety
Potatoes of the Zorachka variety begin to be dug up 45 days after the sprouts emerge from the ground.If the harvest is harvested after 2.5 months, the tubers do not rot, do not lose their taste, and during transportation they retain their presentation until mid-winter.
This characteristic of the Zorachka variety allows you to plant potatoes not only in small summer cottages for your own consumption, but also in spacious fields. Farmers grow root crops for sale.
From a low, erect bush with thick dark green leaves, 10 or even 12 tubers are dug up, each of which has:
- oval shape;
- smooth peel;
- small eyes;
- yellow pulp;
- rich taste.
One root crop weighs up to 120 g, and it is possible to collect 250–350 centners of crop per hectare, with proper care about 700. The Zorachka potato variety is resistant to some diseases, but does not tolerate heat and drought. The climate most suitable for the culture is one where there are no high temperatures and sufficient moisture.
Growing
The Zorachka variety has gained popularity among summer residents in a short time. It is mainly planted for the sake of tasty young potatoes, which can be consumed as early as the beginning of June. The crop will delight you with productivity only with careful selection of seed material. The size of the tubers should be no larger than an egg, and there should be no rot or damage. Keep the potatoes in a warm place until they dry out. Then they are sent to the cellar, where they are stored separately from the harvested crop.
To check germination, tubers are placed in a solution prepared from 10 liters of water and 0.5 liters of urea. If they do not float up, these potatoes can be planted in the garden.
Site preparation
About 10 days before planting, the root crops are placed in boxes and sprinkled with wood shavings. Wooden containers are placed in a room where the temperature is at least 20 degrees. Sprouted tubers are treated with fungicides or a solution of potassium permanganate.A bed for Zorachka potatoes is prepared in the place where they used to grow:
- cucumbers and cabbage;
- beans and legumes;
- carrots and mustard;
- lupine and cereals.
In the fall, a bucket of peat and humus is added to the clay soil. If you carefully read the description of the variety, it will be clear that these potatoes do not grow well in acidic soils. In this case, you will have to add lime to the soil. Sandy soil can be slightly diluted with clay and mixed with humus.
Holes are marked every 40 cm, leaving half a meter between rows. Pour into a hole 10 cm deep:
- superphosphate;
- ash;
- peat.
The first 2 components are put on a spoon, the third is 150 g. To prevent the potato tubers from becoming smaller, the crop rewards with a decent harvest, it is necessary to apply fertilizers. Fresh manure is not suitable for this purpose; root crops will grow tasteless.
Top dressing
When sprouts appear, you need to stir 20 grams of urea and 60 grams of a special additive in a bucket of water, and pour this solution over each bush. When buds form, potassium sulfate and ash are added to the soil under the crop.
When Zorachka potatoes are flowering, nitroammophosphate and superphosphate are used for feeding. Such fertilizers are sold in markets and specialized stores.
A couple of times a season, the bushes of the plant are sprayed with a solution, which is prepared by mixing Bordeaux mixture and potassium sulfate.
Features of care
The bushes will quickly develop and grow if they are hilled up in time and the soil is moistened. To reap an excellent harvest of Zorachka potatoes, it is advisable to study the description of the care rules thoroughly:
- Seven days after planting the seed, you need to go through the garden bed with a rake, loosening the soil.
- When shoots appear, weeds must be removed with a hoe.
- When the bush rises 20 cm, it is covered with soil. This work is carried out twice a season after rain or watering.
The Zorachka variety has its own characteristics. It does not tolerate drought. On a hot day, the leaves curl and wither. In the middle zone, abundant moisture is necessary when the potatoes sprout, put out buds and bloom. Each bush needs 3 liters of water. It is poured into the holes or between the rows. When the soil dries out, begin loosening. This type of moistening is preferable to sprinkling, since it prevents the crop from becoming infected with fungi.
Farmers and many summer residents install drip irrigation, which is most suitable for growing Zorachka potatoes. Thereby:
- roots develop faster;
- leaves are not affected;
- moisture is saved;
- the water heats up well.
Excessive watering also negatively affects the condition of plants. Spots with a whitish coating form at the bottom of the stems. Root crops are affected by rot, and their taste characteristics deteriorate.
Advantages and disadvantages
Summer residents who prefer to plant Zorachka note the excellent taste of new potatoes, the lack of wateriness, and the ability to use them for boiling and frying. Important advantages of the variety include:
- early maturation;
- easy care;
- excellent keeping quality;
- excellent taste;
- unpretentiousness to the soil.
The bushes are not affected by nematodes. The plant is not afraid of late blight and does not suffer from potato cancer. A serious disadvantage of this nightshade crop is its special watering requirement.
Diseases and pests
In order to grow large root vegetables with smooth skin, it is necessary to fight insects. The mole cricket makes tunnels in the tubers, making them unsuitable for consumption. It is not easy to deal with it, but it is quite possible by filling the places of movement with laundry soap and placing prickly needles in the holes.
Causes enormous damage to crop yields:
The voracious striped insect eats both leaves and tops. You can destroy larvae, eggs and adults by spraying the bushes drugs Mospilan, Karate, Calypso. To cope with potato moth, plants are treated with the insecticide Bankol. Carefully digging out the roots of previously planted crops and weeds from the bed helps prevent spider mites from appearing.
Tubers of the Zorachka variety begin to rot if the plant is affected by scab and late blight. To prevent potatoes from getting sick when planting, you need to adhere to the rules of agricultural technology, treat the seed material with fungicides or potassium permanganate.
Harvest and storage
Tubers of the early variety Zorachka for young potatoes are dug up a month and a half after the growing season. Farmers sell it in the market, making a good profit. Before harvesting for storage, which is done after another 30 days, the tops are cut off and left on the most developed bushes, from which seed material is harvested. Potatoes dug up at this time are dried and placed in a basement or cellar.
Summer residents and gardeners love to grow the Zorachka variety, because it is quite unpretentious in care, undemanding to the fertility of the soil, the tubers have an excellent taste, ripen quickly, and are good for both cooking and frying.
