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Limonka potato variety was the result of the work of Dutch breeders. Excellent fruiting in the Central and Central Black Earth regions of Our Country, Ukraine.
Description
Table potatoes of the Limonka variety are medium-late. The ripening period lasts from 110 to 130 days, and the harvest can be estimated in late August and early September. Spreading tall bushes are formed by thick tall stems. White-colored flowers are modest in size. Leaves are average.
The mass of mature tubers is 80-140 g. The rind of Lemonka potatoes is notable for its heterogeneous color (yellow-brown), and the flesh has a creamy tint (photo). Root crops in shape can resemble a pear. About twenty tubers are tied in a bush, and about 4 kg of potatoes can be harvested from a square meter of beds. The starch content is 10-12%, and the keeping quality parameter is 90%. Delicious potatoes Limonka perfectly complements many dishes.
Advantages and disadvantages
The unpretentious potato variety Limonka has different advantages and therefore is planted in many summer cottages:
- perfectly stored in winter without loss of taste;
- has an elegant and attractive appearance;
- well tolerates temperature changes, resistant to changes in humidity;
- perfectly transported over long distances;
- resistant to late blight of tubers, scab, potato nematode.
The disadvantages of the Limonka variety include sensitivity to leaf blight.
Landing
The choice of a place for beds must be approached responsibly, because in the absence of good lighting, the green mass of Limonka potatoes begins to stretch and turn yellow. This variety does not grow well in low-lying areas where water can stagnate. Limonka potatoes do not have special soil requirements, but it is still desirable to “dilute” heavy loamy soils with sand and compost.
The soil for planting is best prepared in the fall. When digging, you can make a complex of mineral and organic fertilizers. Feed is prepared based on 1 square. m: rotted manure (6-7 kg), potassium sulfate (15 g), superphosphate (40 g). Fans of ecological tillage can sow green manure (5-6 weeks before autumn frosts), which rot under the snow during the winter. Lupine, alfalfa – ideal for potato beds.
In the spring, a month before planting, they are engaged in seed material. Potatoes of the Limonka variety are carefully examined and diseased or damaged tubers are discarded. It is advisable to germinate the seed in order to harvest earlier. To do this, Limonka potatoes are laid out in a warm, well-lit place for about 30-40 days. The use of growth stimulants (Epin, Zircon) will increase resistance to diseases, pests and help enhance the growth and flowering of bushes.
For planting potatoes of the Limonka variety, a time is chosen when there is no danger of late frosts, but the earth still retains moisture. The ideal period is the beginning of May. In the southern regions, the variety can be planted as early as late March and early April.
Quite sprawling bushes grow in Limonka potatoes, therefore, in the rows between the holes, a distance of 45-50 cm is left. The aisle is made 60-65 cm wide.
Care
The main work on potato beds is weeding, loosening, watering. It is convenient that weeding and loosening can be combined. When choosing an irrigation regime, it is necessary to take into account the climatic features of the region. In this case, we must remember the main periods when potatoes especially need watering:
- the beginning of budding;
- after the end of flowering.
During the ripening period of tubers of the Limonka variety, watering once every 10 days is considered acceptable. If rainy weather sets in, then the beds are watered less often. On hot days, it is better to allocate morning or evening hours for watering (when the earth cools well). The soil will retain moisture longer if the beds are immediately slightly loosened.
In arid southern regions, installing a drip irrigation system will be an excellent solution for moisturizing.
Hilling and top dressing
Loosening and hilling are the main works that help increase the yield of Limonka potatoes. Thanks to these processes, the supply of oxygen to the roots increases, new tubers are formed, and soil moisture is maintained. Experienced summer residents at least twice a season spud the beds of potatoes of the Limonka variety:
- the first time the bushes spud when the stems grow 15-20 cm high;
- the second time the procedure is carried out during the budding / flowering period.
Application of fertilizers
To get a high yield, soil fertility is maintained throughout the season. In the process of planting, organic fertilizer half a glass of ash and 600 g of humus or complex fertilizer (half a glass of bone meal, a tablespoon of nitrophoska) is poured into each well. During the period of growth of the bushes, fertilizers are applied twice:
- When the shoots grow by 10-15 cm, it is especially important to strengthen the root system of Limonka potato bushes. In the process of hilling, a solution of chicken manure is added (proportion 15: 1 of water and fertilizer, respectively). Under each bush, half a liter of solution is poured onto moistened soil. You can use a solution of urea (10 g of the drug is dissolved in 20 liters of water).
- As soon as the buds begin to form, a liter of solution is poured under each Limonka potato bush: 20 g of potassium sulfate and 20 g of wood ash are taken for a ten-liter bucket of water. Thanks to top dressing, the flowering process is accelerated.
- During the period of flowering and the formation of Limonka tubers, the beds are watered with a solution of potassium sulfate (30 g is diluted in a ten-liter bucket of water). You can apply a solution of complex fertilizer: a glass of mullein is diluted in 10 liters of water, add 2 tbsp. l superphosphate. The mixture is infused for about an hour, and then half a liter is poured under each bush of Limonka potatoes.
Particular attention is paid to feeding sandy and sandy loamy soils, from which nutrients are quickly washed out, especially during rainy times.
Diseases and pests
Thanks to its resistance to many diseases, Limonka potatoes have gained popularity among summer residents and gardeners. However, there remains the possibility of damage to the bushes by some diseases.
| Damage symptoms | Ways to fight and prevent |
Late blight of leaves – a fungal disease | First, the lower leaves are covered with brown spots and the entire aerial part is gradually affected. Favorable conditions – cool wet weather | Spraying the tops with a solution of copper sulfate (10 g diluted in 10 liters of water). Use a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid, or the drug Arceride (10 g of the drug is taken per 25 liters of water). Crop rotation rules are used as preventive measures. |
Leafroll virus is transmitted through infected seed. During the period of growth of the bushes, aphids spread. | The lower leaves curl first, becoming a pale green appearance. The foliage loses elasticity and breaks when touched. Hot dry weather contributes to the spread and development of the disease | The main method of struggle is the rapid removal of the affected bushes of the Limonka variety and pre-planting prevention: healthy tubers are planted, treated with a solution of wood ash (1 kg of ash is diluted in a ten-liter bucket of water) |
Of the pests, significant damage to Limonka potatoes is caused by a wireworm that infects tubers. As a preventive measure, deep digging of the garden in the fall is recommended. Aktellik or Deces Extra preparations are introduced into the beds.
Harvesting
You can dig up potatoes of the Limonka variety at the end of summer or at the beginning of autumn. As soon as the tops begin to turn yellow, they are cut off at a level of 10 cm from the ground, 5-7 days before the tubers are harvested. It is better to dig up a crop in dry weather. In order for the potatoes to dry out slightly and air out, they are left on the field for a while in good weather or laid out indoors / under cover in rainy times.
Before storing, the tubers are carefully sorted out. Healthy potatoes are separated for future planting. The sick and injured are removed. Large and small Limonka potatoes can be sorted separately, as large root crops are stored longer. The storage location should be dry, dark and well ventilated. Periodically, the tubers are moved and the damaged ones are thrown away.
