Potato occupies an important place in our culinary, so growing a crop is economically profitable, especially if you pick a reliable variety that is resistant to disease and weather conditions. Today in the article is a detailed acquaintance with the Courage potato.
Variety breeding history
The author and producer of the variety is the world leader in the supply of potato seed material - the company HZPC Holland B. V. In 2007, the variety was approved for cultivation in Russia and entered into the state register of varietal plants. The best potato showed itself in the Central and Central Black Earth region, where mild, relatively short winters and hot, long summers.
Did you know? The first of the subjects of Russia, the potato was tasted by Peter the First in Holland, where he studied shipbuilding.
Description and characteristic
Medium early potato forms a bush of medium height or high. The stems are straight or semi-straight, medium leaf. Dark green leaf plates, often large, have a waviness along the edge. The peduncle during flowering is covered with a loose cap of purple with a red tint of flowers. Round-oval tubers have a flat surface with a smooth peel of a red-lilac color.
With proper care and compliance with key requirements, Courage can bring up to 40 tons of potatoes per hectare. Perhaps this is not the most prolific potato variety, but given its resistance to heat and its high resistance to disease, it is quite capable of competing with many. The number of eyes is moderate, with medium depth. The weight of the potato is 100-145 g. With proper care during cooking, the potato is crumbly, thanks to a sufficient amount of starch - from 13% to 19.9%. The taste is rich and delicate; the pulp has a dense, non-supersaturated water structure. Potatoes produce homogeneous mashed potatoes and chips that are ideal in structure.
Did you know? In 2005, another national holiday appeared in Russia - Young Potato Day. The event was timed to the 240th anniversary of the emergence of culture in the country.
Positive and negative sides of the variety
- The main advantage of Courage:
- high resistance to major diseases: scab, potato cancer and golden nematode
- ripening period is not long - 75–85 days;
- tubers have an excellent trade dress and taste;
- good productivity - 160–270 kg / ha;
- high transportability and durability (91%);
- drought tolerance;
- the flesh retains color when damaged.
- Among the shortcomings are noted:
- lower shelf life than other varieties of the same ripening period.
Planting potatoes
For the successful cultivation of Variety Courage, it is necessary first of all to choose the right site and predecessors. It should be a flat, illuminated most of the day place, protected from gusty winds. It is best to plant a crop after siderats: rapeseed, colza.
The plant grows most rapidly in those areas where perennial grasses, legumes, flax and lupins were previously cultivated. Grasses loosen the soil, and subsequently can serve as fertilizer (incorporation into the soil) and mulch, after mowing. It can be planted after gourds and legumes, after early vegetables such as radishes and squash. Planting after tobacco, tomatoes, eggplant and bell pepper is not welcome.
Soil requirements
The soil should be loose and nutritious, the acidity level should be close to neutral. The site should be cleared of the remnants of the previous crop and dug up. In autumn, about 4 kg of humus and 300 g of wood ash per 1 m² are added to saturate with nutrients and deoxidation.
In spring, as soon as the snow melts, the soil is treated with copper sulfate. The procedure will disinfect the soil from fungal spores, eggs and pest larvae. To prepare a solution for 10 l of water, add 15 g of the drug and stir until a homogeneous consistency.
This variety is best proven when grown almost everywhere in the central and regions of Russia, in Moldova and Ukraine
Dates for boarding
In the central regions where Courage is recommended, snow begins to melt at the end of March. Until early May, the soil warms up to + 8 ... + 10 ° C, at which time potatoes should be planted.
Preparing planting material
A month before the proposed planting, seed tubers need to be germinated in a warm and bright place to a sprout length of about 2 cm. To increase tuberization and to accelerate the emergence of seedlings, the material is treated with growth stimulants, for example, “Heteroauxin”.
Technology and landing pattern
The beds are formed in rows with a distance of 70 cm, between the holes they leave up to 35 cm. The tuber is placed in the hole with sprouts up, the planting depth is 8-10 cm.
Video: planting potatoes
Care Features
Caring for a crop does not take a lot of time from a gardener. Most attention should be paid to clean soil.
Fertilizer and Watering Intensity
Since the variety is resistant to drought, it does not need to be watered often. With regular rainfall on the bush spend about 6 liters of water. Watering frequency: twice, before and after flowering.
Important! If summer turned out to be sultry and with a small amount of rain, the frequency of watering and the rate of water increase, focusing on the condition of the soil.
The quality and composition of fertilizers determines the amount of starch in tubers and, accordingly, their friability. To form uniform tasty tubers, plants are fed according to this scheme:
- before flowering - ammonium nitrate (30 g per 10 liters of water);
- during flowering - infusion of wood ash (400 g per 10 l) per sheet;
- after flowering, 200 g of ash and 30 g of superphosphate are applied to the soil for every 1 m².
Weed removal
The soil should be supplied with oxygen, for which the beds are loosened to a depth of 10 cm from the surface. Around the bushes with a chopper you need to go carefully, being careful not to damage the tubers in order to eliminate the risk of infection. At the same time, parasite plants are removed from the beds, which take away the lion's share of food and moisture from the culture. Both cultivation and mulching can be applied to this variety; it responds equally well to both procedures.
If the grower does not have the opportunity to devote a lot of time to the beds, then after the first hilling, the planting is mulched. This technique allows you to maintain the desired moisture and soil temperature, to inhibit the growth of weeds. In another case, gardeners carry out several hilling procedures per season, covering the stems to the place of foliage growth.
Pest and Disease Control
To prevent diseases and insect attacks, the tubers and soil are decontaminated in the garden. As a preventive measure against late blight and soil insects, fertilizers will be wood ash and ammonium nitrate. However, attacks of other pests that live and breed above the earth are possible.
Important! To protect the beds from insects, repellent plants are planted around the perimeter of the planting and in the aisles, repelling pests with a pungent odor. These are tansy, marigolds, wormwood and others.
Insects and methods of dealing with them:
- Colorado beetle - effective drug "Tanrek". A solution for spraying is prepared as follows: 1 ml of the drug is diluted in 1 liter of water, the mixture is brought to a volume of 10 liters.
- Potato moth - spraying with Inta-Vir, in the proportion of 1 tablet per 10 liters of water.
- Aphid - spraying with Decis solution 1 g per 10 l of water.
Harvesting and storage
Harvested in dry weather, which will allow you to quickly dry the tubers before laying in the store. The storage room is annually disinfected with whitewash before laying. To keep the tubers longer, whole vegetables are placed on the tab, without signs of damage and suspicious stains. Optimum conditions for the storage of Variety Courage: plus temperature not higher than + 3 ° C, humidity about 85%. The shelf life of potatoes is about 5-6 months, but the shelf life is quite high - 91% of the total mass.
So, the Courage potato with proper care gives a high, high-quality crop. The variety is especially appreciated for the ability to maintain a light color of pulp in case of damage during the collection or transportation of tubers. This makes it preferred for growing for sale.
