Riviera Potatoes - Description Of The Variety With Photos, Planting, Care And Other Aspects + Video And Reviews

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

Riviera: an early potato variety for your garden

Riviera potatoes give good yields even in dry years. It crumbles during cooking. The tubers are covered with a thick skin that is resistant to mechanical damage. The variety can be affected by scab, and if you delay the collection, then late blight. According to gardeners, the Riviera is rapidly degenerating, that is, the seeds accumulate diseases, the yield is falling.

Content

• 1 History of the Riviera variety
• 2 Description and characteristics of potatoes
• 3 Advantages and disadvantages of the variety - table

• 4 Planting Riviera potatoes

  • 4.1 Site selection and soil preparation

    4.1.1 Video: Restoration of soil fertility with green manure

  • 4.2 Preparation of planting material, scheme and timing of planting

    4.2.1 Video: Another way to prepare potato seeds

• 5 Care for Riviera potatoes - table

• 6 Diseases of the Riviera potato - table

  6.1 Photo: Riviera diseases

• 7 Fruit pests - table

  7.1 Photo gallery: the most dangerous pests of potatoes

• 8 Harvesting and storage
• 9 Reviews of gardeners about Riviera potatoes

Riviera history

The author of the variety is the Dutch holding Agrico. In fact, it is a cooperative uniting thousands of farmers who specialize in growing potatoes. Hundreds of thousands of tons of seed tubers are cultivated in their fields. The company has existed since the 80s of the last century. Dozens of varieties have been bred, among them Riviera and no less popular: Santa, Ariel, Marlene, Romano and others. In Russia, the official representative office of Agrico Eurasia operates under license, which not only deals with seed production, but also supplies agricultural equipment and machinery to farmers.

The originator of the Riviera is the Dutch firm Agrico

Description and characteristics of potatoes

The Riviera has oval and round light yellow tubers with shallow eyes

The Riviera is a welcome potato in any household: farm or personal. The Dutch variety has become widespread in Ukraine, Moldova and Russia. Riviera - early potatoes, ready to harvest in 50-60 days. In this case, the tubers can not only be used for summer consumption, but also stored throughout the winter. This feature is explained by a dense thick skin that protects against mechanical damage, which means - from various rot, many pests and diseases.

One bush gives 10-14 tubers, with an average weight of 100-170 g each. The peel is white-yellow rough, the shape of the potato is oval and round, the eyes are shallow. The pulp is grainy, beige, crumbles during cooking. Experts estimate taste on a 5-point system at 4.8.

Riviera tops are dark green, densely leafy

Bushes during growth are also commendable. Seedlings emerge evenly, which greatly facilitates care, that is, weeding, hilling can be done all over the field at once, and not selectively. The appearance of the bush is very decorative. Stems are erect, strong, leaves are dark green with wavy edges, densely planted on the stems. The flowers are red-purple, but the variety does not have time to bloom, more often only the buds can be seen.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety - table

Benefits	disadvantages
delicious, crumbly potatoes	disease prevention is required, the variety is affected by scab, with late harvest - late blight
small eyes - easy to clean	does not bloom, you cannot admire a flowering field, you cannot get your own seeds from berries (bulbs)
early ripening variety suitable for storage	yields good yields on loose and neutral soils
in the southern regions 2 crops can be grown over the summer	high price for seed tubers
resistant to mechanical damage and disease
productive even in dry summer
friendly shoots

Planting potatoes Riviera

Site selection and soil preparation

The Riviera needs to be open on the south and sheltered on the north. That is, the optimal conditions are a flat, well-lit area for most of the day, sheltered from cold winds. In the shade, the tubers, if they grow, are small. Shady places are bad because water stagnates in them, the earth never dries out, the roots do not breathe. The ground part stretches towards the light and lays down, it becomes infected from damp soil with various fungi. There is also a great risk of receiving less crops due to diseases in the case when crop rotation is not observed. Potatoes cannot be grown after crops that are affected by the same diseases, and these are: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, garden strawberries. Best predecessors: legumes, cabbage, pumpkin, grains, greens. You don't need to plant the Riviera next to apple trees, which often get sick with scab.

The classic way to prepare the soil is to dig the area onto the bayonet of a shovel, turning over but not breaking the lumps. The technique is especially effective if performed when the temperature during the day no longer rises above +10 ⁰C. Pests, immobile in the cold, are in hibernation, once on the surface, they cannot hide and freeze out. So, the field can be freed from the Colorado potato beetle, wireworm, grub larvae, etc.

Before digging over the surface, scatter 1 m²: 2 buckets of humus or compost and 0.5 liters of ash. But now organic fertilizers are in great shortage, so there is another more economical option: fertilizers are applied in the spring, directly at planting, in each hole.

Video: Restoration of soil fertility with green manure

Preparation of planting material, planting scheme and timing

To get an early harvest, seed potatoes are prepared 40 days before planting in the ground. The optimal weight of one tuber is 70 g, for one hundred square meters it will take 32 kg with a planting scheme: 30 cm in a row and 70 cm between rows.

Seed preparation stages:

1. Spray tubers with Fitosporin-M solution. To do this, dilute the paste with water in a 1: 2 ratio. For 1 liter of water, take 4 tbsp. l. the resulting concentrate.
2. Allow to dry and transfer to a warm (room temperature) and dark room for 10 days. During this time, the buds should wake up and small sprouts should hatch.
3. Transfer the seeds to a bright room for 30 days with a temperature of + 15… +18 ⁰C. Turn the tubers once a week and spray with clean water. As a result, short (1–2 cm) and strong shoots should form.
4. Before planting, immerse all seeds in a solution of Fitosporin and Borogum-M for 30 minutes. Pour 5 liters of water into a bucket, add 100 ml of Borogum and 300 ml of Fitosporin concentrate. Due to the high boron content in the solution, Riviera will receive excellent prevention of scab and other diseases, and its immunity will increase.

Video: Another way to prepare potato seeds

Potatoes can be planted on the site next to the house even earlier, when there are still rare spring frosts. Early emerging seedlings can be noticed in time and covered with earth. If the field is far away, and you visit it 3-4 times per season, then you need to plant it a week before the threat of return frost passes. For a week, potatoes, even sprouted, are guaranteed to sit in the ground. In the middle lane, they start planting from May 15.

If fertilizers have not been applied since autumn, then a complex nutrient mixture should be poured into each hole, for example: 1 handful of Gumi-Omi for potatoes, 2 handfuls of Bionex and 2-3 handfuls of humus or compost. A hole is made 15 cm deep, fertilizers are mixed with soil at the bottom, sprinkled with earth so as not to burn the roots, on top, on such a nutritious pillow, a tuber is laid and covered with earth with a layer of 6–7 cm.

Riviera potato care - table

Growth phase	Care activities
germination height 3 cm	weeding	cover seedlings with soil with a layer of 3 cm
germination height 15 cm	weeding	hilling bottom 10 cm
beginning of budding	weeding	top dressing - 1 handful of Gumi-Omi under a bush	watering at a rate of 2 liters under a bush	hilling bottom 20 cm

Riviera is an early maturing and drought-resistant variety. When sowing in May, the crop is ready for harvest in July, and in the southern regions it is dug at the end of June. Therefore, one watering and one top dressing is enough, in contrast to mid-season varieties, which in July, after flowering, are fed and watered again. Before each hilling, the weeds are cut, then removed or allowed to dry in place. If this is not done and immediately spud, then the weeds will again find themselves in moist soil and begin to grow with a vengeance.

Also, before hilling at the beginning of budding, watering and feeding are done. If dry fertilizing is applied, as in our case, then it is watered over dry fertilizers. Liquid, on the contrary, is poured on wet ground. As liquid dressings, you can use: infusion of mullein 1:10, bird droppings 1:20, nettle 1: 5. Add 2-3 glasses of ash to a bucket of infusion. Under one bush, 1 liter of solution is consumed.

Weeding is done more often than 3 times per season, it all depends on the infestation of the site with weeds. It is important to keep the soil in the aisles always loose, to break the crust after each rain.

Riviera potato diseases - table

Diseases	Symptoms	Methods of prevention and control
Scab	Rough spots form on the surface of the tubers - ulcers, they grow, they can cover the entire tuber. The starch content is almost halved, the taste deteriorates. Potatoes are poorly stored in winter, they are affected by rot. Weak shoots grow from the eyes on the affected areas, the yield drops.	All fungal diseases enter plants from infected seeds, from the soil, as well as from infected plants growing in the vicinity. Observe the crop rotation, plant potatoes after the "correct" predecessors. If potatoes are grown for many years in one place, immediately after harvesting and in the spring, before planting, sow the field with fast-growing green manure, thus creating a crop rotation. Siderates are suitable: mustard, rapeseed, peas, vetch, colza, etc. In the summer they can be sown in the aisles. Before planting, reject all seeds with signs of disease and pest damage, treat the remaining with Fitosporin and Borogum-M. The rows should be arranged from north to south so that the bushes are well illuminated by the sun. Keep the soil always loose, weed weeds that compete with potatoes for food and a place in the sun. For prophylaxis, during budding, treat with Fitosporin solution, repeat every 2 weeks. At the first sign, spray with any copper-containing preparation: HOM (40 g per 10 l of water), Bordeaux mixture (100 g per 10 l), copper sulfate (100 g per 10 l). Repeat every 15 days. Dig up heavily infected bushes and remove from the site, treat the soil with a copper-containing preparation. In autumn, collect and remove the tops and all small and rotten tubers from the site. No need to leave on the ground and wait for the tops to dry. In this case, the fungi will transfer to the soil.
Late blight	The leaves are covered with brown spots, curl and crumble. The disease spreads to the tubers, brown seals appear on their surface. The spots grow inward, affecting the entire tuber.
Fusarium	All leaves turn yellow, curl inward, the reverse side of the leaf becomes visible, which takes on a purple hue. The whole bush dies without yielding a crop, or the tubers are very small.
Alternaria	All leaves turn brown and hang in 2-3 days, the bush dies.

Photo: Riviera diseases

The tubers are covered with ulcers - lenticels with spores

Brown spots on the leaves are a sign of late blight

Fusarium potato wilt

Alternaria destroys the bush in 2-3 days

Fruit pests - table

Pests	Description	Control methods
Colorado beetle	An adult beetle looks like a ladybug, but with a different color - a longitudinal black-yellow strip. The larvae are bright orange. On the same plant, you can see different stages of development: eggs, larvae of different sizes and beetles. In such a neglected state, the bush is destroyed by pests in a couple of days, only bare stems remain. Beetles hibernate in the ground.	Before planting, spray the tubers with Tabu solution (8 ml per 1 liter of water). One liter is enough for 100 kg of tubers. When planting, spread the potatoes in holes or furrows and spray Tabu, but with a different concentration: 4 ml per 10 liters. The volume is enough for 1 hundred square meters. During the growing season for prophylaxis (seedlings have grown up to 15 cm) or at the first signs, treat with preparations from the set "Gumi + BTB potatoes" or Gumi + BTB + LPTs. The mixture is made from 5 liters of water, 1/3 Gumi and 1/3 BTB or 5 liters of water, 1/3 Gumi and 1/3 LPTs.
Wireworm	Wireworms are the larvae of the Nutcracker beetle. The beetle has an elongated brown, gray or black body about 3 cm long, some species grow up to 6 cm. The worms are orange, tough, for which they got their name. Wireworms bite into potato tubers, feed on pulp, make numerous moves in it.
Medvedka	A large orthoptera insect 6 cm long was named for its brown color, clumsiness and claws on its front paws, similar to those of a bear. Other names: spinning top - for the gray color of the larvae, earth crayfish - for the presence of claws and cabbage - for addiction to cabbage. For wintering, the insect digs vertical shafts up to 120 cm deep. The pest can be found in holes 1–2 cm in diameter and in piles of earth nearby. In summer, in search of food, the bear makes horizontal passages at a depth of 3–5 cm and eats everything that comes in its way: tubers, stolons, roots, stems.	Do not feed with fresh manure and do not bring it in during digging, the bears go to its smell, they like to settle under dung heaps. Plow the soil in the spring and loosen it throughout the summer, destroying the passages. It will be difficult for the pest to find food. In autumn, when the daytime temperature is kept at + 8 … + 10 ⁰C, arrange trapping pits 50 cm deep, 2 per hundred square meters. Cover with old foil and stuff with manure. Medvedki will climb there for the winter, when frosts come and scatter manure over the field. The pests will freeze. In the spring, spread heaps of manure across the field and collect the bear that has climbed under them. Fill the vertical hole with soapy water. Medvedka will suffocate or get out. Chemical preparations are toxic, but if the above methods do not help, then decompose the poisonous Thunder bait into the holes, sprinkle with earth and water. The soft pellets are easier for the insect to eat. You can also use Medvetox, Grizzly, etc.
Beetle or beetle larvae	May beetles are large flying insects that live in tree crowns and fly into the light at night. Large harm to root crops and potatoes is caused by their larvae. These are light-colored worms 4–7 cm long with a brown head and legs in front of the body. The main feature is that the larvae are always curved in the shape of the letter "C". Pests eat the flesh of the potato along with the skin. The tubers look like apple cores.	Like the bear, the beast loves fresh manure. You cannot store it on the site. If delivered, and the larvae are already there, then use this fertilizer as traps and baits, and not scatter all over the field. Fertilize only with rotted manure! To fight against beetles that feed on tree leaves, birches are especially fond of - remove these trees from the garden, and spray fruit with chemicals (Karbofos, BTB, etc.). As a siderat, grow lupine, which is poisonous for the larvae of the beetle. Use the same poisonous baits as for the bear: Thunder, Medvetox, etc.

Photo gallery: the most dangerous pests of potatoes

The Colorado potato beetle is shaped like a lady's crust.

Colorado potato beetle larvae eat potato bush

Often during weeding, you can see the Nutcracker running through the garden

Potato Perforated by Wireworm, Nutcracker Maggot

The bear is clumsy and brown like a bear

Khrushch and its larvae love soil fertilized with fresh manure

Harvesting and storage

The Riviera is fully ready for harvest 50-60 days after germination. Even if the bushes are still green by this time, it is impossible to hesitate in harvesting. Tubers larger than they should still not grow. In addition, in the second half of summer, various fungal diseases usually progress, pests feed heavily on potatoes, cool nights and rainy days come.

It would be nice to cut the tops and remove from the field a week before the expected harvest. Such a technique will prevent the transfer of diseases to the tubers, and also allow the potatoes to ripen in the ground and form a strong skin. Dig up potatoes on a sunny day. Tubers are scattered over the soil in a small layer for 3-4 hours to dry out in the wind. Then the entire crop is transferred to a barn, garage or under a shed for 2 weeks. During this sanitary period, the disease should manifest itself: scab ulcers, brown spots of late blight will appear. Sick tubers are harvested, and the remaining ones are sprayed with the biological product Antignil. It is ready-to-use, sold as an aerosol. He can also process the walls in the cellar. Healthy tubers are dried and sent for storage, the sick are sent for processing.

Optimal conditions for storing potatoes: humidity - 86–90%, temperature - + 2… + 7 ⁰C. Riviera crumbles during cooking, therefore it is suitable for frying, as well as for making mashed potatoes, pancakes, pancakes, casseroles.

Gardeners' reviews about Riviera potatoes

The Riviera is popular with lovers of crumbly potatoes and those gardeners who want to harvest quickly and with minimal effort. For 50-60 days, only one feeding is needed, and in the absence of rain - only one watering. If you pickle seeds and prevent diseases and pests, you can grow an average of 14 healthy tubers per bush.