Dutch potato varieties have always been popular. Gardeners love them for their quick adaptation to growing conditions and high yields. The potato variety Romano is one of those.
In our country, it first appeared in 1994 and has not lost its popularity to this day. It still competes with dignity with many new breeding products. What are its advantages over other representatives of this culture?
🥔 Characteristics of Romano potatoes
It is classified as a medium early cultivar, since tubers grow to their maximum size approximately 70-85 days after planting. From one bush, you can collect 7-10 potatoes of the correct shape, weighing from 70 to 90 grams. The yield of the variety is quite high. This indicator varies in the range of 200-350 c / ha. The percentage of starch is also at a height – up to 17%.
The bush of the plant is erect, the stems are branched, compact. The inflorescences have a reddish, almost purple hue. Leaves are medium, dark green, slightly wavy. The ground part develops very rapidly, but there is some delay in the formation of tubers.
We have this variety is quite common. It is grown not only on an industrial scale and large farm enterprises, but also in private summer cottages.
🌿 Description of tubers:
- oval-round or well-defined oval shape;
- medium size;
- the skin is pink, smooth and very firm compared to many other varieties;
- the pulp has a light creamy hue;
- eyes dark pink, few and shallow;
- good taste, not watery, rich, therefore suitable for preparing a variety of dishes;
- the harvested crop is well stored, its keeping quality is 98%.
The variety is not very picky about care. Plants easily tolerate short-term drought, but react poorly to frost. They respond well to one-time feeding during hilling.
Already at the end of June, you can start digging in the first tasty tubers, and the main harvest is usually carried out in August.
Romano has good disease resistance. It resists late blight well, does not get sick with potato cancer, it is bypassed by the tobacco mosaic virus. If growth conditions are not very favorable, there is a risk of scab or nematode damage. The undoubted advantage of Romano is that the seed material practically does not degenerate, so it can be cultivated for a long time without renewal.
This description of the Romano potato quite satisfies all the requirements of gardeners and farmers, therefore it is ubiquitously grown for sale, the production of french fries and chips. Housewives boil tubers for mashed potatoes, bake, stew and fry. At the same time, the pieces keep their shape well and do not lose their taste.
🥔 Pros and cons of Romano variety
➕ Among the main advantages of this variety are the following:
- Excellent taste.
- Excellent presentation (the share of small and damaged tubers in the total yield is insignificant).
- High yield percentage.
- Possibility of transportation by any means;
- Long-term storage.
- Responsive to simple feeding.
- Good drought tolerance.
➖ There are fewer drawbacks, and they are insignificant. It is worth noting the following:
- Thick skin that interferes with quick cutting of the tuber.
- Poor frost tolerance.
- Tendency to defeat nematodes, scab.
As you can see, this variety has much more advantages than disadvantages, so it can often be found in potato collections of summer residents.
🥔 Preparing for landing
If you follow all the planting rules for this variety, it will give a good harvest, regardless of climatic zones and weather conditions. It’s important to buy good Romano seed potatoes. This can be done in the market, in a specialized store, or at neighbors in the summer cottage, who have long appreciated all its advantages. It is better to choose medium-sized tubers for planting (the size of a chicken egg), intact and with the maximum number of eyes.
Since the variety does not tolerate frost, you should not plant it in open ground too early. This can be done when the air temperature reaches 15 degrees. By this time, the earth will already be warmed up, and nothing will threaten the potatoes in it.
Tubers are best planted in open areas with good lighting. Lowlands and areas that are too humid are not suitable for growing Romano. Before planting, it does not hurt to check the soil for acidity. If the indicators exceed the permissible rate, the situation can be corrected by adding dolomite flour or lime. You can add peat and humus to clay soil, and to sandy soil – the same components plus a little clay mass.
Tubers for planting must be properly prepared, namely:
- in 3-4 weeks, pull them out of the cellar or garage pit and scatter them in a suitable room on the floor in one layer;
- germinate in a warm place, but not in direct sunlight;
- so that the planting material does not dry out, from time to time it should be irrigated with a spray bottle;
- in order to avoid infection of tubers with fungal diseases, they can be treated with fungicides;
- to increase the yield will allow fumigation of planting material with wood ash.
🥔 Features of cultivation
There are three ways you can plant Romano potatoes. Reviews of all three gardeners are positive. These are the so-called ridged, smooth and trench planting methods. In this case, the potatoes can be cut in such a way that an approximately equal number of eyes remain on the halves.
When the first descents appear, it is advisable to loosen the earth with a rake. As the weeds grow, it will be necessary to weed, and when the plants reach a height of 20 cm, they should be spud. This agronomic technique stimulates the growth of each plant, its flowering and abundant tuber formation. Hilling is carried out several times during the rainy season.
🥔 Storage
Harvesting can be done at the end of summer. In order for the tubers to be stored longer, after being removed from the ground, they must be dried for several days under a canopy. Then the potatoes are moved and sorted into boxes. For planting in the next season, only the most beautiful specimens are selected without external damage.
Romano is perfectly stored both in the cellar and in special boxes on the balcony. Thanks to its thick skin, it does not wrinkle or rot. The palatability is preserved until the next harvest.
📖 Conclusion
If you do not already have this variety, it is worth trying to grow it. Many potato lovers like Romano potatoes from Holland, which have “moved” to us, and besides, they do not create any problems during the cultivation process.
