Santa potato variety. Gardeners love to grow different varieties of potatoes on their plots. They choose them according to the ripening time (early, middle, late), as well as the taste and appearance of the tuber. Some prefer domestic varieties, while others acquire and cultivate Dutch selection, exchanging planting material with each other in a neighborly manner.
If you look at the harvest of a summer resident from one garden, then you can see there oblong tubers, and more round ones, with pink and yellow rind, with brown and even purple. There is nothing bad in such a variety, because each tuber is good in its own way. But still, it is desirable to plant and collect different varieties separately so that the seed for the next season does not get confused.
Today one of the most popular varieties is the Santa potato variety. This “creation” of Dutch breeders came to our country in 1993 and since then has been successfully grown in different climatic zones. The variety gives good indicators in the regions:
- Northern;
- Central;
- Nizhnevolzhsky;
- Northwestern;
- Volgo-Vyatsky;
- Far Eastern;
- West Siberian;
- Uralsky.
The variety has earned immense popularity due to its unpretentiousness, ease of care and resistance to diseases and pests.
🥔 Variety of potatoes Santa: characteristics
The ripening period, equal to 80-90 days, allows this variety to be attributed to the mid-season. The breeders who bred it can boast of a fairly high yield – 570 c / ha. With proper care, gardeners collect up to 20 tubers of a decent size and regular shape from one bush. The average mass of a potato is 90-120 grams. The starch content is not too high, only 10-14%. When frying, the pieces do not disintegrate, which is why such potatoes are often used to make fries.
The plant has a compact bush and an erect stem of moderate height. The leaves are dark in color, and a lot of them grow on the stems. Flowers collected in a corolla are large and white.
🥔 Brief description of tubers:
- oval in shape, slightly rounded, even and neat;
- the peel is quite dense and smooth, evenly colored in a pale yellow color;
- ocelli numerous, barely noticeable, superficial;
- on the cut, the pulp is of a pleasant light yellow hue, after peeling the peel it does not darken for a long time;
- keeping quality is satisfactory – 92%;
- good taste, without excessive wateriness.
The variety is suitable for growing in small private gardens and farmland. Its tubers tolerate transportation and industrial processing very well and are therefore suitable for wholesale and retail sale. The peel, although not thick, but dense, is slightly damaged when excavated.
Santa is considered universal in use. Delicious salads and soups are made from it. Such potatoes are suitable for cooking, baking, frying. Stuffed potatoes keep their shape perfectly, do not fall apart and do not dry out too much. A very successful variety for making fries, the pieces are very appetizing, with a crispy crust on the outside and pleasant softness on the inside. Chips are also made from this potato, but the mashed potatoes from Santa do not come out too airy.
🥔Variety Santa: description
This vegetable has both positive and negative qualities. Let’s dwell on some of them.
➕ Pluses of the variety:
- Excellent presentation of tubers.
- Suitable for both industrial cultivation and individual plots.
- It has a high yield (approximately 57 kg per 1 m2).
- It can be stored until spring without problems.
- It has excellent taste and a wide range of uses.
- Resistant to the most insidious diseases of potatoes – late blight and nematode.
➖ Cons of culture:
- Often it is affected by a black leg.
- Under unfavorable conditions (frequent rains or long droughts), the crop becomes smaller and becomes less qualitative.
- The puree turns out to be too tough, even adding butter does not help.
🥔 Features of cultivation
In order for the tubers to give amicable shoots as quickly as possible, it is recommended to plant them in well-warmed soil, already in a germinated form. To grow powerful shoots, boxes are needed in which the potatoes are folded in 1-2 layers and left in a warm, bright place. If the containers are placed in a dark room, then the sprouts will be thin and long. Light, on the other hand, allows you to get strong greenish sprouts up to 3 cm high.
For planting a culture, it is advisable to choose flat, well-lightened places. On the site before planting, it is necessary to loosen the soil well and remove the rhizomes of weeds. The next stage is the preparation of holes 15 cm deep, into which last year’s humus mixed with ash is first laid. For this fertilization, the potato variety Santa is placed sprouts upwards and buried on top of the earth. The distance between the holes should be at least 30 cm, and between the rows – 60-65 cm.This scheme will allow each bush to receive the required amount of sunlight, and it will be easier for the gardener to hilling, loosening and cleaning weeds.
After about 3 weeks, the first shoots will begin to appear on the soil surface. At this time, it is advisable to carry out the first weeding with loosening and the formation of small ridges. When young plants reach a height of 15 cm, you can begin to form higher ridges. Before that, it is worthwhile to fertilize again.
🥔 Basic rules of agricultural technology
To get a large crop of tubers with excellent taste, the following rules must be observed:
- make at least a partial replacement of planting material every 4-5 years;
- do not forget about the benefits of crop rotation, try to plant tubers in the places where legumes, cabbage and radish were previously grown;
- do not abuse the introduction of mineral and organic substances;
- digging the soil in the autumn (before frosts) and in the spring (just before planting);
- it is important to adhere to a clear planting scheme, if the distance between the holes and rows is reduced, then the tubers will be tied small, their number will noticeably decrease;
- waterlogging of the soil must not be allowed, watering can be carried out only in severe drought, otherwise the planting material will simply rot.
🥔 Control of diseases and pests
If pests are found, such as the Colorado potato beetle, aphid or wireworm, it is necessary to treat the plants with fungicides. If this is not done, then the insect larvae will cause serious damage to the garden plot and reduce the yield of the crop.
The Sante potato variety is often affected by the black leg. The disease damages both the tubers and the green part. The lower part of the stem begins to take on a black tint, becomes mossy and rotting. The plant stops developing, the leaves turn yellow, curl, wither. Brownish spots begin to appear on the tubers, which quickly grow and darken. The pulp gradually decays and infects the ground around it, this is how the disease spreads to neighboring plants.
To get rid of this disease, you need to pay more attention to your plantings. It is important to timely see the beginning of wilting of the green part. The diseased tuber should be immediately dug up along with the rhizome, taken out and burned. The place where the affected specimens grow is usually covered with a mixture of copper sulfate and ash. Another option is watering with Bordeaux liquid. Then it is better to sow this area with oats or legumes.
🥔 Harvesting and storage
To understand when it’s time to harvest, you need to carefully look at the tops and assess their condition. If it falls apart, tilts to the ground and dries, then it’s time to harvest the potatoes. In addition, you can dig under several plants in order to extract and assess the condition of their tubers. For harvesting, use a pitchfork or a shovel.
It is worth noting the excellent preservation, which distinguishes the Santa potato variety. Reviews about this are only positive. You can store tubers in bulk, in bags or boxes. The storage function is performed by a cellar, basement or a special container on the balcony.
📖 Conclusions
In cultivation, this variety is unpretentious, with it you can start with those who have only recently acquired a summer cottage and have not yet decided on the crops. It will also become a real boon for lovers of fried potatoes or fries.
