Persistent potato "Margarita", bred by Dutch breeders - description of the variety, characteristics, photos

Description of the variety

Potato “Margarita” is a medium-late variety; the development period from the appearance of the main sprouts to technical maturity ranges from 80 to 100 days. Young potatoes can be eaten at the stage of conditional maturity , when the root crops grow to normal sizes, the skin is thin and lagging.

Reference. Mid-late and late potato varieties are stored better and longer than other varieties and contain more starch.

You don’t have to be afraid to keep the potatoes in the ground. You can plant Margarita without germination.

Potatoes "Margarita": not widespread, but very promising variety

The medium-late ripening potato variety “Margarita” was obtained as a result of crossing such varieties as Saga and Ausonia. It shows high and stable productivity on light soils.

Description of the variety

Potatoes "Margarita", or Margarita, are a mid-season, very productive variety for table use. The tubers are quite large and have an oval shape. The skin of this potato variety is reddish-pink in color. The tubers have a small number of relatively deep red eyes.

Advantages and disadvantages

Potatoes of the “Margarita” variety have many advantages, and their characteristics make them very attractive not only for homestead farming, but also on an industrial scale. First of all, it should be noted that the variety is protected from pests and diseases:

Potatoes under mulch: harvesting (video)

How potato tubers will be stored, as well as yield indicators, depend on the varietal characteristics. The yield is stable, in addition, this variety is characterized by:

Unfortunately, like any other varieties, Margarita potatoes are prone to accumulating viral, as well as fungal and bacterial infections, which has a negative impact on yields and contributes to degeneration. Therefore, you should strictly monitor the quality of planting material and promptly replace tubers for cultivation.

Planting scheme and timing

Margarita potatoes are quite easy to grow, and compliance with planting requirements allows you to get excellent yields regardless of weather conditions and climatic features in the cultivation region:

It is very important to use properly prepared seed potatoes for planting, which are less sensitive to temperature changes and are guaranteed to have high productivity.

Features of care

Potatoes “Margarita” are closing ranks quite quickly compared to other varieties. The plant looks very beautiful and retains the color of the tops for a long time. However, high yields become possible with proper and timely care:

Appearance

The shape is regular oval.
Dimensions - about 8 cm in length, weight - from 90 g to 150 g. Peel - smooth, dense, dark red, crimson in color. Small eyes have an average planting depth; there are few of them on the peel. The pulp is light yellow (cream) in color, the amount of dry matter is increased - up to 19%. Starch content - up to 16.5% - average amount .

Bush of stem type, spreading, tall. “Margarita” is distinguished by the preservation of a persistent green bush when ripening; usually the bush turns yellow and falls at the beginning of ripening. The leaves are of a closed type, the shape is typical potato, the color is dark green, the size is large, the structure is wrinkled, there is no pubescence, the waviness of the edge is weak, they grow at intervals.

There are many flowers, the corolla is dark red or light purple and large in size.

Characteristics

Productivity

"Margarita" has a stable, abundant harvest, regardless of good weather conditions. in the Central region - on average up to 308 c per 1 hectare, which meets or exceeds the standards. The maximum yield is 400 centners per 1 hectare .

In the table below you will find this characteristic for different varieties presented on our website:

The marketability of tubers is about 98% . One plant produces many large tubers, but no small root crops. According to reviews from gardeners, tubers from 100 g are used for seeds, no less. According to some gardeners, up to 120 kg of potatoes can be harvested from 5 bushes.

Usage

Potatoes contain many useful substances, both raw and after heat treatment.

“Margarita” has a universal purpose, mainly used as food. The tubers do not become overcooked due to their low starch content; they are suitable for French fries, frying, and cooking for salads.

Taste qualities

The Margarita potato variety has excellent taste characteristics. Boiling potatoes in their skins helps preserve all nutrients, and baking them in coals or in the oven in their skins will preserve vitamins.

For people suffering from diabetes, potatoes should be consumed infrequently and soaked for 24 hours before cooking, this will remove the starch. In other cases, peeled potatoes are immediately subjected to heat treatment; water washes out a certain amount of useful microelements.

How to properly care for the variety

Immediately after planting, make sure that weeds do not grow. Then the bushes are watered, fed, and hilled. In addition, if the Colorado potato beetle appears on the plantings, it is sprayed with insecticides.

Features of watering

When the potato shoots reach 5-10 centimeters, begin the first watering. If there are many rows of potatoes, it is advisable to apply irrigation from above. A small number of beds can be watered with water from a hose, or drip irrigation can be used.

At first, 3-4 liters of liquid are spilled under each bush, later the amount of moisture increases to 12-15 liters. You need to water the potatoes in the morning or evening. When watering in the evening, you need to take into account that the stems and foliage must have time to dry before dark.

Note! The water must be warm, so it is first poured into the tank, and only then used to water the potato bushes.

Feeding and fertilizing

It is best to apply nutrients immediately upon planting. A seven-hundred-gram jar of humus and 5 tablespoons of wood ash are poured into each hole. Another option for fertilizing the soil is to add 100 grams of bone meal and 1 spoon of nitrophoska into the hole.

In summer, you can apply foliar feeding. For this, they use, for example, humates, dissolving 2 grams in a bucket of water. You can also use superphosphate to spray bushes by dissolving 100 grams in 10 liters of water.

Hilling and weeding

The first hilling begins when the seedlings reach 7-10 centimeters. By carrying out the procedure, the gardener protects the shoots from return frosts. After 2 weeks, you need to carry out a second hilling: it will contribute to the formation of a developed root system, retain water and air in the ground, and reduce the likelihood of nutrients being washed out of the soil.

The third time the procedure is carried out a month later: it will prevent lodging of the stems and prevent the tubers from turning green. Simultaneously with hilling, weeds are weeded that interfere with the development of potato bushes. In addition, weeds can be a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms.

How to harvest and store crops

A sign that it is time to start harvesting Margarita potatoes is the lodging and drying of the tops. If the soil in the area is loose, dig up the root crops with a pitchfork; if the soil is heavy, then use a shovel. The procedure is carried out in warm, dry weather.

The dug up potatoes are immediately sorted out, the cut and rotten ones are put aside, otherwise they can contaminate the entire product. After drying, the root vegetables are placed in wooden boxes and brought into the basement, which should be cool, dry, and ventilated. The tubers of the variety are well preserved throughout the winter.

Important! Before storing potatoes in the basement, they must be thoroughly dried, otherwise the fruits may begin to rot.

Advantages and disadvantages

Among the disadvantages, poor resistance to late blight of tubers is noted.

Important! Tubers accumulate viral infections; you should carefully select root crops for planting!

The advantages are as follows:

• bountiful harvest;
• large fruits, their presentation;
• universality of consumption;
• high taste qualities;
• drought resistance;
• rapid development of tubers and prolonged dormancy;
• long-term good storage;
• resistance to most diseases;
• high resistance to mechanical damage.

In the table below you will find keeping quality indicators for comparing Margarita potatoes with other varieties:

Diseases and pests

Potato variety Margarita is resistant to many diseases of nightshade crops. To prevent the appearance of fungus, tubers should not be planted after tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. The variety is poorly resistant to late blight, so before planting, potatoes need to be treated in a fungicide solution.

Potato bushes can be affected by the Colorado potato beetle, which can be removed manually or by spraying with an approved insecticide. You get rid of mole crickets by pouring chemical granules into the holes of the passages.

Attention! When treating bushes with chemicals, you need to wear protective equipment.

Potatoes called Margarita are not yet very common in gardeners’ plots, and in vain. Its tubers are tasty, and caring for the plants is easy. By following agrotechnical measures, farmers will be able to harvest a large amount of crops from the beds and provide themselves with root crops for the whole winter.

Features of cultivation

Mulching
"Margarita" does not require special careful care, like all mid-late and late varieties.
The soil should be dug up and removed from weeds in the fall, and then nitrogen and potassium fertilizers should be applied. Read more about how to feed potatoes, when and how to apply fertilizers, and how to do it correctly when planting.

In spring, dig up the soil. Planting begins in April - May. The soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm should be at least 13 degrees, there should be no excess moisture. Seed potatoes need to be prepared for planting - taken out into sunlight to green up, this will ensure further good development of root crops.

The distance between plants should not be less than 20 cm, for “Margarita” the favorable distance is about 35 cm, deepen the potatoes by about 10 cm. It is good to add tree ash and some additional fertilizer to the furrows or depressions.

“Margarita” requires attention in the first days of planting - weeding, loosening, hilling, and watering are necessary. To control weeds, you can use mulching between rows.

During the flowering period, root feeding is necessary; it is possible to pick off the flowers for better development of tubers. “Margarita” also likes to be sprayed with useful microelements.

There are many known ways to grow potatoes. We bring to your attention the most interesting of them. Read all about modern Dutch technologies, about growing early varieties and getting a harvest without weeding and hilling. And also about methods of growing potatoes: under straw, from seeds, in barrels, in bags, in boxes.

Planting and growing potatoes

Planting material must be of good quality. If the shoots on root vegetables are thin and weak, the vegetable needs to be discarded: it will not grow thick shoots and high-quality fruits. Also, you should not plant potatoes with dents or damage: they can infect the ground with fungus.

Important! You need to plant root crops of the same size, without dents or damage.

Preparing for landing

In order for the seedlings to be friendly, you need to select tubers of the same size for planting. And evenly sprouted shoots are easier to care for. Selected potatoes are placed in boxes or nets and placed in a warm, well-lit room.

To prevent the tubers from wrinkling, they can be germinated in a moist environment: mixed with sawdust, and the substrate kept moist for 2 weeks. A few days before planting, root crops can be disinfected using one of the antifungal drugs.

Disinfection of potatoes with a fungicide solution

Soil requirements

Loose, fertile soils are suitable for Margarita potatoes. In the fall, the soil is dug up, organic fertilizers are applied, and in the spring it is loosened. Sand and peat are added to heavy, clayey soils.

If there is a lot of water on the site in the spring, you need to make special diversions and plant the potatoes in dried soil. From excess moisture, root crops can be affected by pathogenic microorganisms.

Dates, schemes and planting rules

Depending on the region and weather conditions, potatoes are planted in April or May. In order for root crops to begin to germinate quickly, the soil must be well heated.

Tubers are planted according to the following scheme:

• the distance between root crops is 30-35 centimeters;
• planting depth - 10 centimeters;
• the interval between rows is 0.7 meters.

Wood ash can be added to holes or furrows.

The distance between tubers is 30-35 centimeters

Storage

“Margarita” stores well until spring, remains firm, does not wrinkle, and practically does not sprout (no need to pick off long sprouts). The optimal storage temperature is about 3 degrees above zero. The storage place should be dark, dry and ventilated.

Read more about the shelf life of potatoes and possible problems. And also how to store root vegetables in the apartment, in the cellar, in the vegetable store, on the balcony, in boxes, in winter, in the refrigerator and peeled.

Reference. The variety is not afraid of low temperatures.