All About American Potatoes - Variety Description, Planting, Care And Other Aspects + Photo

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

American - the legendary retro potato variety

Seeing the large fruits of the American potato in the photo, vegetable growers think about cultivating this variety on their site. Good taste, early ripening, undemanding care - the description of the qualities of the variety make it even more attractive.

Content

• 1 Description of the potato variety American

  1.1 Advantages and disadvantages - table

• 2 Planting potatoes

  • 2.1 Preparation of planting material
  • 2.2 Preparing potatoes for planting - video
  • 2.3 Scheme and landing time

• 3 Care

  • 3.1 Hilling and loosening

    3.1.1 Hilling potatoes - video

  • 3.2 Watering
  • 3.3 Top dressing

• 4 Diseases and pests characteristic of the American variety

  • 4.1 Diseases inherent in the potato variety American - table
  • 4.2 Diseases threatening the American woman - photo gallery
  • 4.3 Pests of the variety
• 5 Harvesting and storage
• 6 Reviews of vegetable growers

Description of potato variety American

The bush is high (more than 0.5 m), but does not crumble to the sides, stretches up. During the flowering period, large white inflorescences appear on the American. The leaves are not very large, they are elongated and thin.

Potato tubers American - elongated, slightly flattened

One bush gives up to 15 potatoes weighing from 30 to 140 g. The shape of the root crops is elongated and slightly flattened. The rind is light in color with pink streaks, smooth and thin. On its surface there are numerous shallow ocellular dimples.

Raw tubers are juicy. The pulp is light cream in color and does not darken when cut. The taste is high. The tuber of the American potato variety becomes crumbly during heat treatment. The starch content ranges from 12 to 18%. Fruits tolerate minor mechanical damage during transportation well.

Juicy raw tubers become crumbly during heat treatment

On nutrient soil in a temperate climate, 400 centners of this type of potato can be obtained from one hectare. The vegetative period of the American woman is no more than 90 days.

Advantages and disadvantages - table

Benefits	disadvantages
Short ripening times.	Abundant bushy greenery that attracts Colorado beetles.
High taste.	Average resistance to viruses.
Resistance to mechanical damage.	Susceptibility to potato cancer and late blight.
High adaptability to adverse conditions.
Does not degenerate, retaining maternal qualities.
Scab resistant.
It tolerates drought and heat well.

Planting potatoes

For an American, you need to choose a well-lit area with light sandy soil. A prerequisite is that there should be no stagnant water.

Green manure plants will be a good fertilizer for the soil

In spring, mullein or horse manure is used as soil fertilizer, which is spread evenly over the garden bed, after which the earth is dug up.

Preparation of planting material

American tubers are prepared three weeks before planting as follows:

1. They take them out of the cellar or other storage place and sort them out, leaving only healthy fruits for planting, the size of an average chicken egg.

2. Long white shoots must be broken off - they are weak.

   

   Long shoots break off because they have no strength

3. At a temperature not lower than 20 ° C, the tubers are left to lie for several days to warm up.
4. Then the potatoes are transferred to a cooler room, where there is no direct sunlight. The fruits are laid out in one row.

5. It is imperative that the tubers should be sprayed with cool water from a spray bottle every few days. If the room has poor ventilation, it should be ventilated daily to prevent rotting of the tubers.

   

   In a cool room, strong sprouts appear on the tubers

Preparing potatoes for planting - video

Scheme and landing time

When the spring frosts have passed, and strong sprouts have appeared on the American tubers, you can start planting. Many gardeners first treat potatoes with fungicidal preparations according to the instructions. Next, the tubers are carefully folded into a box and taken out to the planting site.

Potatoes are planted when the threat of return frosts has passed

Potato tubers grow wide in the soil, and do not go deep, so you need to provide them with room to grow. The most acceptable planting pattern is 40 cm between bushes and 60 cm between rows. The holes are dug up separately or create a solid furrow up to 10 cm deep, put potatoes in them, sprinkle with earth.

The depth of the potato hole is about 10 cm

The optimal planting time for American women for the middle strip is late April or early May.

Film or agrofiber will protect the shoots from frost

Care

Caring for potatoes includes such simple measures as watering, hilling, fertilizing and preventing diseases.

Hilling and loosening

Aeration of the soil is the key to the correct and active development of the plant. It can be achieved by periodic loosening. When the green part of the potato rises 20 cm, you can start the first hilling. This removes the weeds.

Hilling improves soil aeration and supports the bush

In the middle of the growing season, one more hilling is needed. It makes no sense to loosen the potatoes more than twice, except in cases when heavy rains have passed and it is necessary to break the crust formed on the ground.

Hilling potatoes - video

Watering

The plant does not need abundant irrigation. As a rule, during the season, it is required no more than 3 times to well shed potato bushes under the root. With increased humidity, the likelihood of phytophthora on the bushes increases, and it is to this fungal disease that the American woman is weakly resistant.

Top dressing

For potatoes, three additional dressings are required for the entire growth period.

1. If the tops stretch up, and its color is light green, then the plant does not have enough nitrogen. You need to dilute 500 g of mullein or 300 g of poultry droppings in 10 liters of water. Water at the root on damp ground.
2. During the appearance of buds 1 tbsp. wood ash is bred in a bucket of water. Watered on damp ground at the root.
3. The third feeding is the most important. It is carried out when mass flowering begins on the potatoes. This is the period of tuber formation. 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. mullein is bred in a bucket of water. The bush accounts for 0.5 liters of solution.

Diseases and pests characteristic of the American variety

The variety is resistant to scab, but is affected by late blight and potato cancer.

Diseases inherent in the American potato variety - table

Disease	Characteristic signs	Control methods
Potato cancer	On the tuber from the eyes, growths of a dark color appear, resembling cauliflower, from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters.	The infected bush does not respond to treatment. It must be removed from the soil, burned. And the place of growth should be disinfected with special preparations.
Late blight	With high humidity, a fungus appears in the form of black spots, affecting first the green part of the potato, then the tubers.	When a disease occurs, there is no remedy for its treatment. The bushes are dug up and burned. Preventive measures against late blight: copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid. The preparations are diluted in water according to the instructions and the plants are sprayed several times during the growing season.
Blackleg	The leaves begin to turn yellow and curl. On young seedlings, rot appears at the base of the green part of the plant.	If the disease is detected in time, it can be completely eliminated. For this, the plant is sprayed with Fitosporin, and after a few days it is sprinkled with wood ash.
Dry rot	This is an insidious disease that manifests itself 2 months after harvest. Dry dark areas appear on the tubers during storage, gradually affecting the entire fruit.	There are no methods of dealing with already infected tubers. To avoid the disease, you need to choose high-quality planting material, carefully examine it.

Diseases threatening the American woman - photo gallery

Potato cancer - a fungal disease

Phytophthora affects first the stems, then the tubers

Black leg leads to the death of the bush

Dry rot may only appear several months after harvest

Variety pests

An American woman is rarely affected by pests unusual for potatoes. As a rule, this is the Colorado potato beetle, which eats the green part of the plant, and the wireworm, which feeds on juicy potato tubers, creating a lot of small holes in it.

The Colorado potato beetle is a real threat to potatoes around the world, so many special preparations have been developed to combat it. The fight against the pest should be started when the first individuals appear on the plant. The tops are sprayed with poison, from which the beetles die.

Colorado potato beetle is one of the most common pests of potatoes

The wireworm is much more difficult to fight. This is a click beetle larva with good survival rate. If there is a lot of wireworm on the site, this indicates an increased acidity of the soil, which can be reduced by scattering wood ash over the site at the beginning of the garden season. Also, the wireworm does not tolerate the smell of onions, therefore, this plant can be planted in the aisles. The most effective prevention of the appearance of a pest is crop rotation.

Wireworm gnaws holes in potato tubers

Harvesting and storage

Withering tops speaks about the maturity of tubers. It is during this period that it is time to start harvesting.

Dried tops are a sign of tuber maturity

The potatoes are transferred to a shaded place, protected from possible rain, and left to dry for several days. Then the tubers are sorted out, laying aside the damaged ones. Sorted by size, immediately selecting seed for the next year.

In a permanent storage place - a cellar or basement - the tubers are placed in boxes. This must be done so that they "breathe" and do not start to rot. Potatoes should be stored at a temperature of no more than 10 ° C, otherwise they will start to germinate prematurely, losing their taste and presentation.

Potatoes stored in boxes keep well

Damaged tubers, for example, cut with a shovel, are best used immediately for processing, since they can cause rot and ruin the rest of the crop. American is suitable for different dishes: roast, soup, mashed potatoes, but fried potatoes with an appetizing crust cannot be made from it due to friability.

Loose American pulp is great for making puree

Reviews of vegetable growers

For the second century, American potatoes have been very popular among gardeners. High resistance to fungal diseases contributes to a good and healthy harvest. Excellent taste and rich harvest are the main features of the variety, which does not degenerate over time.