The Ermak potato variety, which at one time became the main competitor to many Dutch varieties, is known to all Russian farmers and most gardeners. It was bred on the basis of the Early Rose by clone selection back in the mid-70s of the last century. The specialists of the Omsk ANC did not stop there, and on testing they received a new variety of this culture, which Yermak called the improved one. Under this name, the variety was entered in the State Register in 1978. It quickly crossed the boundaries of recommended growing regions and spread throughout the country.
With the advent of new domestic hybrids, they began to gradually forget about Ermak, but in the XNUMXst century he loudly reminded of himself again. One of the summer residents managed to grow tubers of this variety of simply huge sizes, after which he again found himself at the peak of fame. For the unprecedented size of tubers, the people began to call him Laptem. Today, many do not even suspect that a potato with this name is in fact that very Ermak – one of the best achievements of Siberian breeding at the end of the XNUMXth century. Why did potato growers love him so much, what is the secret of his “longevity”? You will find the answer below.
Description of the plant
Ermak potatoes are easy to distinguish from others by their characteristic visible signs. His bushes are erect, weakly branched. During the flowering period, beautiful flowers of a red-purple hue appear on them. Medium to large oval tubers are covered with a smooth pinkish skin. The eyes are not numerous, superficial.
The white pulp of Ermak tubers is distinguished by well-visible red blotches in the area of the eyes. After cleaning and heat treatment, it does not darken, and does not boil during cooking. The taste is just great.
Main characteristics of the variety
Ermak belongs to the early ripening varieties for table purposes. The tubers reach technical ripeness approximately on the 90th day from the moment the first shoots appear. You can dig in young potatoes after 70 days.
The yield, depending on the growing conditions and care, ranges from 350 to 470 centners / ha (1-2 kg per bush), which is considered a fairly high indicator. In one bush, up to 20 tubers weighing 90-120 g are formed. The starch content is average – 10-12%. Marketability is 88-90%. These potatoes keep well. If all storage rules are observed (creating the necessary conditions in the storage), 94-95% of the harvest will last until the next season.
Ermak is able to withstand prolonged droughts, but the lack of moisture negatively affects the yield. Timely watering and feeding will help to increase it. The variety is resistant to many fungi, viruses and bacteria that infect potatoes, it has good immunity to the scourge of the culture – scab. A problem in growing Ermak can be potato cancer, to which he has very low resistance. Despite this danger, many farmers and gardeners continue to plant this variety in their fields and plots. The risk is compensated by a good harvest of selected potatoes with excellent taste. It makes excellent mashed potatoes, potato casseroles, salads, french fries, chips and other delicious dishes.
Peculiarities of growing
Landing
To guarantee a high yield of Yermak potatoes, it is necessary to properly prepare the planting material. For planting, select healthy intact tubers weighing 70-90 g. They should not have any defects: spots, growths, rot, ulcers, and so on. The planting material is subjected to the so-called vernalization – laid out in a well-lit, warm room about a month before the planned planting. All this time, the selected tubers are regularly sprayed with water to maintain the necessary moisture level, due to which the sprouts will be uniform and strong. Vernalization allows you to reject weak potatoes with thin filamentous sprouts and get a high-quality early harvest.
Planting is carried out when the soil warms up to 8-10 degrees. In central Russia, they are usually planted in early May, in the southern regions – two to three weeks earlier. You can navigate by natural signs. If the first leaves began to appear on the birch, it means that the time has come to plant early varieties of potatoes in the ground, including Ermak.
The best planting method for this variety is two-line planting with a row spacing of 50 cm and aisles 80-100 cm wide.Tubers in a row are laid close enough to one another – after 15-20 cm.The recommended planting depth is up to 10 cm.This scheme will provide access light to each plant and normal aeration will greatly facilitate maintenance work.
When planting in depleted soil, it is advisable to add a little fertilizer to the holes. You can throw a handful of wood ash or humus under each potato to support the early growth.
Care of plantings
This crop is looked after in the same way as other varieties of potatoes. The complex of care measures includes hilling, weed removal, watering, feeding, protection from pests and diseases.
Hilling of bushes plays a very important role. Thanks to this agrotechnical technique, weeds are removed from potato plantings, the topsoil is loosened and saturated with oxygen, and moisture is well retained. The higher the bush, the more a hill should be poured around the stem. As a rule, the earth is poured up to a third of its height.
For potatoes of the Ermak variety, two hilling at the beginning of the season is quite enough. The first time is spud when young plants reach 15 centimeters in height, the second – one or two weeks before flowering. By this time, the bushes have not yet had time to close in the aisles. The event is recommended to be carried out after heavy rain, and in case of dry weather, after abundant watering.
The variety responds well to additional irrigation, especially during the germination of planting tubers and during the flowering period. Maintaining optimal moisture levels will help you get the highest yield possible. On large areas, it makes sense to organize automated watering.
It is useful to combine irrigation of plantings with top dressing. The plants are fed with an infusion of chicken manure, manure and ash or a herbal cocktail – weeds infused in water until a specific smell appears. Dung and ash are also added to the cocktail.
Fighting diseases and pests
As for the fight against the main crop diseases and insect pests, it is better to prevent a problem from arising than to save the crop by all means and means. As mentioned above, the Ermak variety most often suffers from potato cancer. For the prevention of this disease, Fitosporin solution is used. If bushes with obvious signs of illness nevertheless appear in the garden, they must be uprooted and burned. To eliminate a large focus of infection, they resort to the help of strong pesticides (for example, Nitrofen). Processing is carried out exclusively by specialists. The treated area “rests” for 3 years, after this time it will be possible to grow crops on it again.
Of the insects, the Colorado potato beetle inflicts the greatest harm on Yermak potatoes. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to prevent its appearance on plantings, unless it is only constantly “flood” them with insecticides. Nobody does that, of course. Gardeners fight harmful insects in two ways:
- laborious old-fashioned – manually collect and destroy adult beetles and larvae laid by them;
- lighter – during the period of a mass attack of insects, plantings are sprayed with one of the most effective modern biological products (Fitoverm, Agrovertin and their analogues).
If these methods turn out to be ineffective, then “heavy artillery” is used – systemic insecticides of intestinal action Mospilan, Confidor or Aktara.
Collection and storage
Experienced potato growers advise mowing the tops about a week before harvest. Without the aerial part, the tubers will take all the nutrients from the soil and will ripen better. In addition, it will greatly simplify the cleaning work. The dug out potatoes are left in the fresh air (in a shaded place) to dry, then they are sorted with the obligatory rejection of diseased (infected) tubers.
So that Ermak potatoes do not lose their taste and presentation during the winter, they must be stored in proper conditions, namely at a temperature of 2-3 degrees and a humidity of no higher than 80%. Before laying the crop for storage, it is advisable to clean the cellar or basement, ventilate and disinfect.
In conclusion
Today, lovers of this variety argue among themselves about its name. Some people call Laptem in a popular way, others prove that this is the almost lost, but reborn Yermak – one of the best achievements of Soviet selection. Hence the prefix “improved”, which it fully corresponds to. It is a really great variety, whatever it is called. It is unpretentious to conditions, does not require any special care, ripens quickly and pleases with high yields. It is not surprising that it has remained in demand for almost half a century.
