Spring planting of potatoes has long been part of our mentality. Even the most ardent opponents of such a summer pastime sooner or later think about allocating a small garden bed for potatoes. After all, no matter how good the purchased potatoes are, your own harvest will always be better. Moreover, modern selection has provided summer residents with a large selection of different varieties of this vegetable. Below we will talk about a variety such as Bellarosa.
Variety description
The history of this variety has been around for about 17 years. It was in the early 2000s that German breeders presented the world with the result of their painstaking work – the Bellarosa potato variety. Initially, they recommended this variety for planting only in Eastern Europe, but Bellarosa quickly conquered other countries. In our country, this variety is most actively grown in the Urals, in the southern, central and northwestern regions.
Bellarosa potatoes are early ripe table varieties.
Many gardeners fell in love with this variety due to its persistent and high yield – up to 35 tons of potatoes can be harvested from one hectare of land.
Residents of these regions carry out the first harvest in early July. When re-planting, you can harvest a second crop in early September.
Bellarosa potato bushes have strong stems up to 75 cm in height. The leaves on the bushes are quite large and mostly closed, with a slight waviness along the edges. During flowering, the bushes are covered with red-violet inflorescences of medium size. After flowering, from 7 to 10 large oval or round-oval potatoes are formed on each bush. The weight parameters of Bellarosa potatoes are usually between 115 and 210 grams, but there are also champions with a weight of 700-800 grams.
The skin of the Bellarosa potato variety is reddish or light pink with small, shallow eyes. Due to its light roughness and good thickness, it perfectly protects the potato pulp from damage. The flesh itself can have a color from pale yellow to rich cream color.
Bellarosa potatoes have an excellent sweetish taste, and the starch content in it will be between 12% and 16%. These potatoes can be both boiled and fried. It is perfect for any culinary idea.
Of course, not only high yields and excellent taste allowed Bellarosa potatoes to become one of the leaders in planting on our plots. In addition to these characteristics, it has a number of other positive qualities:
- Drought tolerance – this quality is especially appreciated by “weekend gardeners” and those who plant potatoes in large areas without an automatic irrigation system. In many areas, the Bellarosa variety grows well, without watering at all, being content only with rainwater. If necessary, this potato variety can endure even a very severe drought.
- Undemanding to the composition of the soil – the Bellarosa variety grows and bears fruit with equal success on all soils except loamy. Due to the strong density of this land, it is difficult for even the strongest roots to grow tubers. Clay soil on the site is not a reason to postpone planting potatoes. It can be dug up and well diluted with humus and sand. Pre-planting green manure crops such as mustard, oats or buckwheat also gives good results. After harvesting, they can be embedded in the soil to improve its composition.
- Resistance to tuber damage – the potato variety Bellarosa has a rather thick skin, so the tubers are not damaged during the harvesting of potatoes.
- Disease and pest resistance – the Bellarosa potato variety is distinguished by excellent resistance to such common diseases as potato cancer, blackleg, spotting, rhizoctonia. But this variety cannot boast of immunity to the most common pests. Therefore, special attention should be paid to protecting the bushes from the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm.
- Long storage period – early varieties of potatoes do not have a proper shelf life, but Bellarosa is an exception to the rule. Under proper storage conditions, the loss of this variety can be as little as 6% of the total yield.
Thanks to all these qualities, the Bellarosa potato variety has earned its popularity. He is not picky about care, but he will still require some manipulations from the gardener.
Recommendations for growing
It’s no secret that the key to getting a rich harvest lies in the care of vegetable crops. Therefore, let’s consider what kind of care Bellarosa will require.
Sowing
Given that the Bellarosa variety is early, its planting should be scheduled for the end of April. But until this time, seed potatoes need to be germinated a little. To do this, 15–20 days before planting, potato tubers must be provided with access to daylight and a temperature of about +15 degrees. It is very easy to determine the readiness of potatoes of the Bellarosa variety for planting: young shoots will grow from her eye.
Some growers put potatoes in wooden crates in several layers for sprouting. But with this placement, the bottom layer may not have enough ventilation and some tubers may deteriorate.
Before planting Bellarosa potatoes, you need to mark out the bed and make holes. Between adjacent rows there should be at least 90 cm, and between holes – up to 40 cm. The holes should be made quite deep: from 8 to 10 cm.
When planting potatoes of this variety, any potassium-phosphorus fertilizer, such as Nitrophoska, must be placed on the bottom of each hole. Only after that, you can put potatoes in the hole, cover it with earth and level it.
Feeding
All early potato varieties need fertilizers containing magnesium. Especially if they are grown on soils with a predominant sand content. Most often, dolomite flour is used for this. In addition, it is recommended to fertilize during important growth periods for plants:
- After the appearance of the first shoots, it is recommended to use an infusion of manure or chicken manure.
- Before flowering, potatoes should be fertilized with urea or a solution of potassium sulfate and ash.
- During flowering, the most optimal composition for feeding will be a mixture of mullein and superphosphate.
The introduction of any of these fertilizers is carried out only after a good watering of potato bushes or after rain. Fertilizing unprepared dry soil can burn the roots of plants.
Care
All care for potatoes of this variety consists mainly in carrying out two procedures: loosening and hilling.
Loosening potatoes of the Bellarosa variety is simply necessary. It is thanks to loosening that the roots receive more moisture and oxygen. In addition, this procedure helps to fight weeds, which are especially fond of settling near potato bushes. Despite all the benefits of this procedure, it is recommended to carry it out only during the period of active growth of the bushes, when they have not yet reached a height of 15 cm.
After the bushes of Bellarosa have grown above 15 cm, loosening the soil is replaced by hilling it. Hilling, like loosening, helps to improve the throughput of the soil, making it easier for the roots to access air and water. The essence of this procedure is to rake the earth closer to the potato bush so that with its further growth it does not tend to the ground. The photo below shows that in this case a kind of mound is formed around the bush.
Experienced gardeners practice fan hilling potatoes. You can learn more about this method from the video:
Many gardeners annually choose this particular potato variety. Below we will give reviews of those people who have already planted Bellarosa.