Latona potatoes: variety characteristics, taste, reviews

Description and characteristics

The main characteristics of “Latona” that potato growers pay attention to are the ripening period and yield of the variety. However, other parameters are also important for proper cultivation of the crop.

Advice from experienced gardeners and reviews about the Latona variety

Recommendations before spring planting:

1. Deeply planted tubers will produce small fruits and an abundance of tops.
2. To get large and tasty vegetables, the tops are slightly broken. At the same time, more nutrients are consumed for potato development. The procedure is carried out 1-2 weeks after flowering.
3. If plants begin to turn black from late blight, the affected areas are removed and burned.
4. Calendula, horseradish, and aromatic herbs are planted around the perimeter - they have a beneficial effect on the health of potatoes.
5. Tansy, catnip, marigold, coriander, and nasturtium repel the Colorado potato beetle. They are planted along the edge of potato beds.
6. Sunflower has a negative effect on potatoes.

Summer residents confirm that the Latona potato variety has an excellent taste and produces a high and stable yield. Many vegetable growers prefer this variety for its ease of care.

Vladimir, Rostov: “I am an experienced gardener. I grow Latona potatoes because of their ease of care. To get an early harvest, I mulch the beds with compost and water the plants with an infusion of organic substances from the manufacturer. I also remove foliage that begins to rot due to Colorado potato beetles or diseases. As the weed grows, I get rid of it.”

Vyacheslav, Yaroslavl: “Latona is a delicious variety of potato, but it is not suitable for frying, it crumbles. We have been growing them in our summer cottage for over 10 years. Productivity has never failed. Some people don’t like that the crop blooms little. You shouldn’t pay attention to this, there will definitely be tubers. The variety also does not tolerate variable soil moisture. If first there is a drought and then a flood, the vegetables may burst, but this rarely happens. The fruits of the variety are filled in the last 14 days. For planting I use tubers from my own harvest. I select seeds from productive bushes while harvesting vegetables. The variety has not degenerated over the years.”

Advantages and disadvantages

The pros and cons of Latona potatoes are well covered in reviews from vegetable growers. Based on the experience of potato growers, a visual table can be drawn up.

Landing

To get a high yield, Latona potatoes are planted taking into account the requirements of crop rotation. The variety grows well after cabbage, legumes, root vegetables and pumpkins. But tomatoes or peppers are undesirable predecessors.

There are three main ways to plant potatoes:

• trench;
• ridge;
• smooth.

All three are equally suitable for the Latona variety. Gardeners choose which way to plant Latona depending on the climate and soil composition.

1. The trench method involves digging trenches into which prepared potato tubers are then laid out. The depth of each trench is 15 cm, and the distance between adjacent trenches is 70 cm. Seed potatoes are placed at a distance of 35-40 cm from each other, then sprinkled with soil. The method is ideal for sandy, light soil that does not retain moisture and for regions with warm climates.
2. The smooth planting method is best known to amateur potato growers. In this case, a layer of earth is raised, potatoes are laid with their sprouts facing up and sprinkled with soil. This solution is suitable for areas where there is no stagnant water and good lighting. A distance of 70 cm is maintained between the Latona tubers and they are planted in a checkerboard pattern in two rows. Planting depth – 10 cm.
3. The ridge planting option is chosen for heavy soil with excess moisture. The earth is raised to a height of 15 cm in the form of a mound. The optimal distance between ridges is 70 cm, between potato bushes 30 cm.

Pre-planting preparation of tubers is required - germination, treatment against pests and diseases. For processing, gardeners use preparations such as Albit or Maxim. The product is used according to the instructions.

Important! Potatoes of the Latona variety do not tolerate stagnant water.

If such a danger exists, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of drainage of the site.

At the time of digging, manure, humus, and mineral fertilizers are added.

For Latona potatoes, the best planting time is early May. The ridges are located from north to south.

Do I need to wash potatoes before storing them?

Disputes on this issue have not subsided to this day. Gardeners cannot come to a consensus when answering it. Some believe that such a procedure is unacceptable, since it will lead to rapid rotting of the tubers. Others are confident that it is thanks to this measure that potatoes are better stored in winter. And we must admit that opponents have serious arguments. To decide how to send potatoes for the winter, you should understand the truth: it does not matter whether they were washed beforehand or not. When preparing it for winter storage, it is important to ensure that the tubers are completely dry. Only in this case will it be stored for a very long time and without loss. In addition, the storage result is affected by the room temperature. It should not be higher than + 5 °C. The room should be dark with a humidity of about 91%.

The benefits of washed vegetables

1. At the stage of preparing tubers for storage, you can assess their condition: the slightest defects are visible on the peeled peel.
2. More attractive presentation. This is especially important when you plan to sell potatoes.
3. After winter, you will clean the cellar much faster.

1. Poorly dried root vegetables at the stage of preparation for winter will quickly deteriorate.
2. Preparing tubers for winter will be much longer and more labor-intensive.
3. It will take a lot of water, especially if you have harvested a large crop.
4. Requires quite a lot of drying space.

Experts recommend washing potatoes only if the harvest was carried out in rainy, dirty weather. In all other cases, after drying, the soil can be easily removed from the tubers by hand.

Care

After planting, standard care measures are provided for potato beds. The Latona variety responds very gratefully to the careful fulfillment of agrotechnical requirements. If you pay enough attention to it, the yield rises to its maximum level. The most basic stages of caring for Latona potatoes are watering, loosening, hilling, fertilizing, and prevention from pests and diseases.

Watering is most useful at the time of bud formation and flowering of the bushes. The rest of the time, potatoes do not require regular moisture. For the variety, drip irrigation and sprinkling are used.

Weeding the beds. A necessary event for potatoes. The beds are weeded for the first time a week after planting.

Fertilizing is combined with watering.

Preventative measures to prevent the occurrence of diseases and pests should be done regularly. Potatoes of the “Latona” variety should be protected from the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle, which can cause great damage to plantings.

Hilling and feeding

Gardeners do not have the same opinion regarding the hilling of the Latona variety. But the climatic conditions and soil composition on the site should be taken into account. When potatoes are hilled inside the nest, the temperature increases. When it reaches +20°C, tuberization slows down. Therefore, some consider this procedure unnecessary. But hilling is necessary to protect the potatoes from possible cold snap, accumulation of moisture and stimulating the growth of tops. This significantly increases productivity. The first time Latona potatoes need to be hilled when sprouts appear. Then after watering or rain. It is important to carry out hilling before flowering.

It is best to feed the potato variety with mixed fertilizers. For potatoes, you need to alternate mineral and organic nutrition.

How to feed Latona potatoes:

1. When planting, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of nitrophoska in each well.
2. At the moment of green mass collection, add semi-liquid mullein or a composition of 1 tbsp. spoons of urea in a bucket of water. 0.5 liters of any fertilizer is enough.
3. During the budding period, it is necessary to feed the potato bushes with potassium. Wood ash (3 tbsp) and potassium sulfate (1 tbsp) in a bucket of water are suitable.
4. In the flowering phase, granular superphosphate is used.

Preventative treatments

Ash is used as a preventive measure. It protects potatoes from rotting. Water the plant with a solution containing this substance and sprinkle the tops with it. This method is also effective in the fight against Colorado potato beetles. The bushes are also watered with a decoction of onion peels. It can be added to the holes when planting, sprinkled around the potatoes in crushed form.

If you plant bushes in the place where legumes, mustard, and calendula previously grew, this will help protect them from wireworms.

Late blight is combated with garlic infusion. Take 200 g of garlic, crush it until mushy, add half a glass of water. Leave the mixture for 2 days. Afterwards, mix and treat the plants 2-3 times with an interval of 10 days.

Diseases and pests

The variety is classified as disease-resistant, but it is not recommended to neglect preventive treatments. You need to start with preventive treatment of tubers before sowing.

What difficulties may there be when growing

It is not recommended to cultivate potatoes in single plantings, since in this case the soil becomes infected with pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungal spores) and nightshade pests, for example, wireworms. If possible, potatoes are grown in the same place with an interval of at least 3 years.

Good predecessors include:

• green manure (peas, oats, mustard, phacelia, rapeseed);
• pumpkin crops.

Undesirable plants are vegetables from the nightshade family (eggplants, tomatoes, peppers).

Harvesting

Early varieties, which include “Latona,” begin to be harvested in early July. Although the period may shift depending on the growing region. The harvested crop is laid out on a ridge.

At the same time, the most productive bushes are determined and the tubers are left for seed. A few hours after drying, the potatoes are prepared for storage. Only healthy, undamaged tubers are selected. The rest are placed separately for quick consumption.

Before planting, “Latona” potatoes are treated (sprayed) with copper sulfate (2 g per bucket of water). This technique increases shelf life.

Important! The tubers selected for storage are well dried.

The maximum temperature for storing Latona potatoes is +5°C, humidity 90% and no light.