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Explosive potato is an early ripe, table variety bred by breeders. The variety is high-yielding, resistant to diseases, has a long shelf life, good taste and presentation. Potato Explosive is ideal for growing on a commercial scale, as it is unpretentious, drought-resistant, adapts to any type of soil and climatic conditions.
Description of Potato Explosive
Potato Explosive refers to early ripe varieties. The first harvest is dug 2 months after the appearance of young shoots. The bush forms up to 14 tubers with a bright pink skin and juicy, dense yellow flesh. The variety is high-yielding, the weight of the root crop is up to 150 g.
Due to unpretentiousness and immunity to many diseases, the Explosive potato variety is grown on an industrial scale. To obtain a rich harvest, potatoes are planted in timely prepared and fertilized soil. Commodity yield, subject to agrotechnical rules, is 95%.
Due to the strong skin, the potato is resistant to mechanical damage, which allows for mechanical harvesting. The variety has a high shelf life and tolerates long-term transportation well.
It quickly adapts to any type of soil and grows well in all regions of Our Country. Despite the fact that the Explosive potato is a drought-resistant variety, with regular irrigation, the yield is significantly increased.
The taste of potatoes
The taste qualities of explosive potatoes are excellent. The starch content is up to 20% and depends on the frequency of irrigation, the introduction of organic and mineral supplements:
- the more top dressing, the less starch;
- in a dry summer, tubers are much richer in starch than in a dry period.
Pros and cons of potato varieties Explosive
Potato Explosive, like any variety, has its pros and cons. The advantages include:
- precocity;
- high fruiting;
- disease resistance;
- lack of water content in the tubers;
- drought resistant;
- unpretentious care.
The disadvantages include the fact that the Explosive potato variety is often affected by viral infections.
Planting and caring for explosive potatoes
Explosive potato tubers are best purchased from trusted suppliers. Since, by purchasing planting material on the market or from hands, you can not get varietal similarity.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
Potatoes are planted in a lighted area, in pre-prepared soil. The site for planting is prepared in the fall. To do this, they dig it up on a spade bayonet and add organic top dressing (manure, rotted humus or compost) and superphosphate in granules.
Preparation of planting material
When purchasing tubers for planting, you need to know that they must be large, even, the color must correspond to the varietal characteristics. Mechanical damage and deformation of root crops reduces yield and leads to the appearance of diseases.
In order for the planted potatoes to form into a powerful bush and give a good harvest, it is necessary to awaken the eyes. To do this, you can use one of the methods:
- 10 toothpicks are placed in potatoes at a shallow depth;
- a 3 mm incision is made through the entire area, trying not to affect the place where the sprouts will appear from;
- planting material is strung on a fishing line and left for 5 days in a well-lit room;
- wet germination.
Rules of landing
Potatoes can be planted in several ways. But in order for the plant to receive enough light, it is necessary to observe the interval between plantings and plant root crops strictly from south to north.
The depth of planting also affects the yield:
- on sandy soil – 10-15 cm;
- on peat – 8-10 cm;
- on clay – 4-5 cm.
Smooth landing is the easiest and most popular way. Indentations are made in the ground, seasoned with humus and wood ash, and tubers are planted at a distance of at least 50 cm. Potatoes are sprinkled with earth, shed and mulched.
The method is good because it is easy to perform and does not require additional effort and time. Many gardeners have found disadvantages of this method:
- low yield;
- planting material is not protected from adverse climatic conditions;
- not suitable for clay soil.
Landing in ridges is an old, proven method. Suitable for all types of soil and for planting in cities with an unstable climate.
The site for planting is dug up in the fall, mineral and organic fertilizers are added. In the spring, beds are laid out, leaving an interval between rows of at least 70 cm. In early spring, in dry weather, ridges 15 cm high are formed. Planting material is laid out in rows, sprinkled with earth and shed abundantly.
After the seedlings reach 20 cm, hilling is carried out, raising the soil from the row-spacing to the garden bed. This procedure is performed three times a season, until the crest rises to half a meter.
The advantages of the method:
- can be used on a site with a surface fit of groundwater;
- suitable for clay soil;
- gives high fruiting;
- easy harvest.
The disadvantages of the method, many gardeners include:
- not suitable for southern regions;
- requires a well fertilized site.
Watering and top dressing
Properly carried out watering affects a high yield. If the summer turned out to be not dry, 3 times watering per season is enough for explosive potatoes:
- the first irrigation is carried out after the tops begin to grow actively;
- the second – during flowering, when the plant begins to form tubers;
- the third – 2 weeks before harvest.
The need for irrigation can be determined by the soil, if the soil obtained from a depth of 6 cm is hard and crumbles, then the earth does not have enough moisture.
To retain moisture, the soil is mulched after irrigation. Fallen leaves, straw or rotted compost are used as mulch.
Potato variety Explosive is responsive to top dressing, which is applied 3 times per season. Nitrogen top dressing is applied at the beginning of the growing season. To do this, dilute 10 tbsp in 1 liters of warm water. l. urea. Under each bush spend up to 1 liter of the prepared solution. The second time the bushes are fertilized during budding. For this, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used. During flowering, superphosphates in granules are used. Thanks to superphosphates, the root system grows and the formation of tubers accelerates.
Also, many gardeners use wood ash as a top dressing. It not only saturates the plant with phosphorus and potassium, but also saves the bush from rotting in wet weather and protects against the Colorado potato beetle.
Loosening and weeding
Loosening and weeding potato bushes is an important component in care. Since weed grass selects from potatoes many useful trace elements that are necessary for the formation of tubers. If the beds are not mulched, then after each watering, they carefully loosen and remove weeds.
Hilling
Without hilling, one cannot get a generous harvest. This procedure provides the following benefits:
- the bush will get stronger and will not lay down in strong winds;
- during return spring frosts, planting material will not freeze;
- a powerful root system is formed;
- productivity increases;
- the earth is saturated with oxygen;
- convenient harvest.
In certain cases, potato beds can not be hilled:
- if you grow a variety in a hot climate;
- with a special method of growing: under a film, in hay or in bags.
Since the Explosive potato is an early ripe variety, hilling is carried out 2 times. The first is 2 weeks after planting, when the seedlings reach a height of 10 cm. Hilling is carried out in such a way that the top remains 2 cm high above the ground. The second is during budding, when the bushes reach 30 cm.
Hilling is best done on wet ground in the morning or evening hours. Since it is better to make ridges from moist soil, and it stimulates the growth of underground shoots, on which tubers will begin to form in the future.
Diseases and pests
Variety Explosive has a strong immunity to potato cancer, scab and late blight. But it is often affected by viral infectious diseases.
- Risectoniasis – a common, harmful disease that appears in the cold, early spring. The disease is dangerous because the affected tuber does not shoot. The disease often affects weakened plants, so the tubers are recommended to be disinfected and germinated before planting.
- Bronzing of leaves – the disease develops from a lack of potassium, as well as when grown on peat soil. The first signs of the disease: the lower leaves become wrinkled and turn bronze.
- Mottling – affects the tubers and the leaf plate, which eventually begins to color unevenly. If timely assistance is not provided, the yield decreases, and the taste of the tubers deteriorates.
- Colorado beetle – a dangerous potato pest. Beetles and larvae destroy tubers and aerial parts in a short period of time.
Potato yield
From the description, photos and reviews of gardeners, it can be seen that Explosive potatoes are a high-yielding variety. Subject to the rules of care, each bush forms 8-10 tubers, weighing up to 150 g.
Explosive potato belongs to universal varieties. It can be used for boiling, frying, making chips and french fries.
Harvesting and storage
Young early potatoes begin to be harvested in late June, early July, after flowering ends, and the tops begin to turn yellow and dry out. To understand that the tubers have reached the varietal size, make a trial digging. To do this, the bush is carefully dug up with a pitchfork and pulled out by the tops.
After the potatoes are dug up, they are scattered on plastic wrap and left for several hours for light processing. Before laying for storage, the crop is selected by removing rotten and root crops with mechanical damage.
For better storage, the harvested crop is treated in a solution of copper sulphate. The selected and prepared crop is laid out in boxes and cleaned in a dry, cool, dark place. The optimal temperature for long-term storage should not exceed + 4 °C, as at elevated temperatures the potatoes will begin to germinate.
Conclusion
Explosive potato is an early ripe, high-yielding variety that can be grown in all regions of Our Country. It is unpretentious, has good taste, is stored for a long time and is suitable for cultivation on an industrial scale.