Molly potatoes: variety characteristics, yield, reviews

Description of the potato variety Molly

Molly potatoes are a German variety developed in the early 2000s. specialists from Norica (Gross Lusewitz, Germany). A few years later, the variety was successfully tested in Russia, and in 2007 it was included in the register of approved varieties. Recommended for cultivation in the central region. Relatively unpretentious, grows well on moderately fertile, light soils, in the climatic conditions of the middle zone.

Main characteristics of Molly potatoes:

• early ripening (55-65 days);
• table (mass fraction of starch 11-13.5%, according to other sources up to 22%);
• medium or tall (50-75 cm);
• stem type plant.

Molly potato bushes are spreading or semi-erect. The leaves are medium sized, sometimes large. The color is pale green to green, the edges are moderately wavy, the corolla is white. The tubers are oval-round in shape, quite large (4-5 cm in diameter, weight 100-140 g). The surface is yellow, rough to the touch, partly reticulated, the eyes are small, the depth is average. The pulp is also yellow, quite dense, slightly boiled (moderate friability). The taste is described as "good".

Potato Molly - classic yellow variety

Attention! The yield of commercial Molly potato tubers ranges from 80% to 92%, which makes it possible to grow it also for sale.

Preventative treatment

In addition to the listed techniques (crop rotation, pre-planting tillage of soil and tubers, hilling), the following preventive measures are used:

• using poisoned baits to catch mole crickets. This pest gnaws the tubers and roots of the plant;
• destruction of wheatgrass on a site significantly reduces the number of wireworms - larvae that eat tubers;
• young shoots can be treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture;
• Wood ash added during planting can, according to some sources, repel the Colorado potato beetle.

Characteristics of the Molly potato variety

Molly potatoes are well adapted to the climatic conditions of the middle zone - they tolerate drought well. However, frost resistance is low, so it is better not to plant it in the soil too early. The shelf life indicator is low - 82%. Area of ​​application: for cooking, frying, stewing, baking.

Productivity

Molly potatoes ripen 45-60 days after the first shoots appear. There are 15-25 tubers on one bush. The average yield is:

• 1-1.5 kg per bush;
• 1.7-3 kg per 1 m2;
• 170-300 g per 1 hundred square meters.

The maximum recorded yield is 308 kg per 1 hectare. You can get similar results by growing Molly potatoes on light and fertile loams or sandy loam soils, as well as by following the rules of agricultural technology:

• moderate watering (especially during drought);
• 3-fold feeding;
• regular loosening and weeding;
• hilling 2 or 3 times per season.

Advantages and disadvantages

Molly potatoes are valued by summer residents for their very short ripening time - the harvest can be harvested as early as mid-July. These are tasty, moderately crumbly potatoes, which, subject to standard care rules, give a stable, fairly high yield.

Molly potatoes have a beautiful presentation

pros

• early ripening;
• good yield;
• good taste;
• attractive appearance;
• friendly seed germination;
• immunity to cancer and potato nematode.

Minuses

• low shelf life;
• not resistant to return frosts;
• There is no data on immunity to late blight.

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros:

• resistance to a number of nightshade infections (viral, fungal);
• significant productivity, reaching 310 centners per 1 ha;
• possibility of cultivation in 2 turns;
• wide culinary use;
• plasticity and adaptability to different types of soil;
• tolerance to heat and drought;
• stress resistance;
• rapid maturation.

Minuses:

• reduced shelf life (82%);
• the importance of preventive measures against pests.

Landing rules

To plant Molly potatoes, choose a well-lit, dry (not lowland) place. The soil should be light and moderately fertile, with a neutral reaction of the environment. It must be prepared for planting the day before in the fall or in mid-spring:

1. The soil is cleaned and dug up to 30 cm.
2. Fertilize with compost or humus - 3-7 kg per 1 m2.
3. If the soil is clayey, add sand or sawdust - 300-700 g per 1 m2.

Molly potato tubers are also prepared a month in advance. They are laid out in the light, stored in a cool room at a temperature of 13-16 degrees, and periodically sprayed with water. On the day of planting, they are treated with Fitosporin, Hom or another fungicide.

Planting is carried out in the first half of May, when the soil warms up to 10 degrees Celsius (can be measured with a thermometer by burying it to a depth of 10 cm and holding it for 10-15 minutes). The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Furrows are formed at a distance of 70 cm, orienting them in the north-south direction.
2. Molly potato tubers are planted to a depth of 4-6 cm (for rapid emergence), with an interval of no more than 25 cm.
3. Sprinkle each tuber with wood ash.
4. Water (a bucket for 3-4 holes) and bury.

Warning! If the forecast predicts frosts on the soil, it is necessary to mulch the plantings with straw or use a covering material - for example, plastic film.

Harvesting

About 7-10 days before harvesting, the tops are mowed and tails about 10 cm high are left. Thanks to this, the skin of the Molly potato tubers becomes thicker. And the likelihood of damaging root crops when digging is reduced. Using the remains of the stems it is easy to find the center of the bush and you don’t have to worry about missing potato tubers. If the soil is quite loose, then you can try to simply pull out the fruits by the remains of the tops.

It is preferable to harvest in dry weather - the tubers retain their marketable appearance and are better preserved in winter. Potatoes of the Molly variety are not immediately removed for storage - they are left in the beds so that the skin of the root crops is chapped, strengthened and dried. If the weather is damp, then the potatoes are left to air in covered areas or in a dry room. When harvesting, Molly potatoes are carefully sorted. Otherwise, damaged tubers may rot and damage neighboring healthy ones.

Advice! For winter storage of the Molly variety, dark, dry, ventilated rooms are suitable.

In the presence of light, the top layers of potatoes turn green and the fruits become unsuitable for consumption.

If the plants remain healthy and have not been damaged by disease, the tops can be used as mulch. Damaged stems must be burned.

Excellent presentation, excellent taste and stable yield make Molly potatoes popular not only among summer residents, but also among farmers.

Features of cultivation

Caring for Molly potatoes is simple, so any summer resident can probably handle it:

1. Water moderately as needed (in drought, a bucket for 2-3 bushes).
2. Fertilize 3 times: after emergence and during budding, complex fertilizer is applied; during flowering, slurry or bird droppings are applied.
3. Hilling up 2 times: when the bushes reach 20 cm, then during abundant flowering.
4. Loosening - after rains and watering.
5. Weeding - as needed.

Weeding of Molly potatoes is carried out manually or using a hoe

Care

Compliance with the rules of crop care will be the key to obtaining a high-quality early harvest. Since when planting early Molly potatoes there is a possibility of late frosts, you should have a special covering material “on hand” (inexpensive plastic film will do). If it is not possible to cover the plants, then if there is a threat of frost, they should be hilled up high.

A week after the sprouts appear, you can gently loosen the soil near the Molly potato sprouts. The soil is pre-moistened if there has been no precipitation. Loosening promotes air flow to the roots and prevents the soil from drying out. At the same time, weeds are removed.

If the potato tops begin to noticeably wither, then the beds need to be watered, but not flooded. In order not to wash out the hilled plants, water is directed along the grooves along the rows. Plants require a larger volume of liquid during the tuberization period.

Hilling and feeding

During the summer, potato beds are hilled repeatedly. The first time is when the tops grow by about 20 cm. Molly potato bushes are dropped to a height of about 10 cm. Then the procedure is repeated during the flowering of the crop. The height of the beds is increased by another 5 cm.

Thanks to this procedure, the earth crust is broken, which impedes the flow of air to the roots, additional tubers begin to form, and soil moisture is maintained.

Important! The increase in soil fertility is also important for the yield of the Molly variety, since potato tubers “pull” many useful substances from the soil.

It is believed that potato beds need to be fertilized three times during the season:

• Initially, fertilizing is added after the sprouts of the Molly variety appear. An excellent option would be a complex fertilizer: dilute a tablespoon of “Solution” and urea in 10 liters of water. If preference is given to organic fertilizers, then you can use a solution of manure/mullein (half a liter of organic matter is diluted in a ten-liter bucket of water).
• During the budding period, plantings are fertilized with the following mixture: potassium sulfate (1 tbsp) and wood ash (3 tbsp) are dissolved in 10 liters of water.
• During the period of active flowering of Molly potatoes, add a combined solution: dilute 2 tbsp in a bucket of water. l superphosphate and a glass of chicken manure (mullein). Half a liter of solution is enough for one bush.

For fertilizing, time is allocated on cool days or in the evening if the weather is hot. A prerequisite is moist soil. Therefore, the beds are treated after rain or watering.

Pests and diseases

According to the register of breeding achievements, Molly potatoes are resistant to cancer and potato nematode. However, there is no information about immunity to other diseases, including late blight, Alternaria, and common scab. Plantings can also be damaged by various insects:

• aphid;
• Colorado potato beetles;
• wireworms;
• thrips;
• mole crickets;
• May beetle larvae and others.

As a preventive measure, it is necessary to follow the rules of crop rotation - change the field after 3-4 years of cultivation and do not plant tubers where potatoes or tomatoes used to grow. It is important to carry out pre-sowing seed treatment. It is also worth spraying Molly potato bushes with fungicides after germination. It is enough to carry out a one-time treatment using the following means:

• Bordeaux mixture;
• "Maksim";
• "Quadris";
• "Fitosporin";
• "Prestige";
• "Vitaros".

Folk remedies can easily cope with insects. For example, you can pour fresh sawdust between the rows or pour out a weak tar solution. Molly potato bushes are dusted with ash or sprayed with an infusion of garlic, onion peels, or a decoction of marigold flowers. If the pest infestation is too severe, insecticides are used:

• "Agravertine";
• "Fitoverm";
• "Colorado";
• "Confidor";
• "Spark".

Advice! If a Molly potato bush is affected by late blight or other infectious diseases, it is better to dig it up and burn it. The remaining plantings are treated with fungicides.

Features of planting the Queen Anna variety with seeds

In addition to the vegetative method, there is also a seed method of propagating potatoes. It is relatively cheap and not complicated, but requires a lot of time. The Queen Anna variety can be propagated by seeds in the same way as other varieties.

What are the advantages of the seed method?

1. The result is small super-elite tubers, completely free from disease.
2. Potato seeds are much cheaper than seed tubers.
3. The yield of such potatoes over the course of several years will be significantly higher than with the usual method.

Seedlings are grown in boxes or cassettes, much like tomato seedlings. The seeds must first be disinfected and then soaked for several hours. The germination period lasts 3-4 days, after which the seeds can be sown. Shoots appear in 10-15 days. After two true leaves appear, the seedlings are planted in separate containers.

After picking, place the pots in a bright, cool place (18°C). When 5-6 true leaves appear, the seedlings are ready for planting. They plant it denser than tubers - at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. In autumn, small nodules weighing 15-20 g are obtained.

Harvesting and storage

Molly potatoes are early ripening varieties - the crop ripens within 2 months from the moment of emergence, so harvesting is carried out already in mid-July. Allows 2 digs:

1. The first - after 45 days: yield 130-140 kg per 1 sq.m.
2. The second - after 55-60 days: yield 160-200 kg per 1 sq.m.

2 weeks before harvesting, it is recommended to mow the tops, leaving 10-15 cm of stumps. Molly potatoes are harvested in dry and warm weather. First, the tubers are allowed to lie in the sun, then they are placed in bags and put away in a dark place. Store at a temperature of 12-15 degrees in the first 2-3 weeks, then at 2-4 degrees and high humidity (70-80%).

Molly potatoes can be harvested 2 times per season

Important! It is better to use small and very large tubers first, and store medium ones for long-term storage.

Tips and reviews from gardeners

There are only positive reviews about the Molly variety.

Nazar, Lyudinovo: “Molly potatoes are considered one of the best early German varieties. Many people do not like early-ripening crops due to their short shelf life. I’m willing to argue with this, because I keep these potatoes until spring. I put the seed material away right away, leave it in the sun to turn green, and put it in a homemade cellar. Behind the house I dug a hole 2.5 m deep and laid straw on the bottom. I lay the tubers on top and cover them with a layer of straw. In the middle there is a pipe in a vertical position for air access. The pit is covered with a wooden lid. This is how my grandmother used to store seeds. In the spring I get tubers in excellent condition, not rotten, without sprouts.”

Bogdan, Donskoy: “I like Molly’s potatoes for their excellent taste and ease of care. I harvest twice - in July and then in mid-August. Very tasty new potatoes with butter. I store the harvest in nets in the cellar at a temperature not exceeding +4°C.”

Features of planting and growth

It is advisable to sow potato seeds after the field has had annual and perennial grass, cereals (wheat, barley, rye), legumes, lupine (in the case of sandy soil). The Molly variety begins to be planted in May. It needs to be planted in treated soil. There is a pattern according to which you need to sow, and it should correspond to 60x35 cm.

Potato bushes under film

The hole for planting is about 8-10 cm. It should be noted that Molly potato varieties can be freely germinated and cultivated under film in greenhouses. You need to care for the plant as follows: cultivate the soil and keep it loosened, remove weeds or other weeds as necessary.

Disease resistance of culture

One of the important details of growing potatoes is its disease resistance. There is a fairly high level of immunity to diseases such as root blight, virus “U”, glandular spot, black leg, scab, and golden potato nematode. Potatoes cope well with these diseases. As for diseases such as rhizoctonia, top blight and cancer, the indicators are average, but the root crop copes with them. You need to understand that not all potato diseases are always an infection, although the symptoms are often similar. And often by mistake, many carry out unnecessary procedures, use chemicals and poisons.

Problems often arise due to the incorrect use of organic and mineral fertilizers, non-compliance with the temperature regime in the greenhouse, due to a sharp temperature difference (in the case of open ground), but there are cases of untimely hilling of bushes.

Molly potato variety

There is a widespread belief that potatoes must be hilled. This is not true. The fact is that hilling can either help improve crop performance or completely destroy it. Remember that for good development of fruits and plant growth, access to oxygen is necessary, and for this, as stated above, you need to keep the soil in a loosened state.

Assessment of those who grew:

Molly potatoes are a competitive early variety from German breeders (the originator is the agricultural company Norika Nording Kartoffelzucht). Potatoes were included in the State Register in 2008, adapted to the conditions of the temperate zone and northern regions. Cultivation is carried out in various regions - Vladimir, Smolensk, Bryansk, Moscow, Tula.

How to plant?

It is advisable to grow Molly in the Central regions or in the north-west of the country. Let's consider the basic landing rules:

• the best “pioneers” in the potato garden are beets, cucumbers, cabbage, green manure, greens;
• It is not advisable to plant in beds where nightshades previously grew;
• for growing early ripening potatoes, a temperature of 18-23 degrees is suitable;
• seed material (sprouted and pickled tubers) is planted according to the 20-25*70 cm pattern;
• planting root crops must be undamaged and aged for 1.5 months in light, weighing 50-80 g;
• before immersion in the soil, tubers are pickled with “Krezacin”, “Albit”, “Immunocytophyte”;
• planting material must be lowered into the ground by 2-3 cm so that they warm up and germinate together

Planting times depend on the area and type of soil. It should be borne in mind that the Molly variety is unpretentious to soil properties. But you can achieve the highest quality and highest yield by cultivating the vegetable in light or medium granulometric soil.

Preparing soil and seed material

Loams and sandy loam soils, where there are many nutrients, are best suited for vegetables. The soil in potato beds should hold water and allow air to pass through. Before planting a plant, in the fall you need to remove weeds and insect larvae from the site, dig up and fertilize the soil. For 1 sq. m. add a bucket of compost with 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium salt.

Two weeks before planting, it is better to cut large tubers in half. Selected seed root crops are placed in a bright room, where vernalization will then take place.

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Potatoes are laid in 2 or 3 layers. The optimal temperature for them is 12-15 degrees Celsius. The environment in which the planting material will be placed must be moistened with saline solutions. Then the vegetable yield will increase by 40%.

There are other effective methods for pre-planting potato preparation, for example, treating root crops with wood ash, nutrient solutions, and growth stimulants. Potatoes can be sprouted in advance to start biological processes, make the vegetable more resistant to diseases and damage, and speed up the ripening of tubers. Root crops placed on the windowsill in November will produce small green sprouts that can be planted in the greenhouse. Once the seedlings have taken root, they will be ready to be planted outdoors.

It is advisable to carry out wet vernalization. To do this, potatoes are placed in boxes with wet sand and sawdust and kept for 10-15 days indoors at a temperature of + 14.

Advantages of the variety, reviews about it

Compared to other varieties, Molly has a number of advantages:

• good taste and attractive appearance of tubers;
• unpretentiousness to soil type and watering;
• short ripening period and early harvest;
• high productivity;
• long storage period;
• disease resistance;
• high percentage of marketable tubers.

Summer residents and vegetable growers do not mention the disadvantages of this variety of potatoes. This indicates that the variety is really good and deserves the attention of potato lovers. For connoisseurs of very early varieties, Molly is simply a godsend.

Among the advantages of the Molly variety:

• early ripeness;
• drought resistance;
• adaptability to any soil;
• high productivity;
• moderate starch content;
• universal use in cooking;
• possibility of harvesting two crops.

Disadvantages: susceptibility to phytosporosis of tops and tubers, short storage period compared to late varieties.

The variety has its advantages and disadvantages. The benefits include:

• early ripening of fruits;
• high productivity;
• presentation of tubers;
• ease of care;
• transportability of fruits.

Disadvantages include susceptibility to infection by nematodes and potato cancer.

Molly potatoes have many advantages. In addition to the early ripening of tubers, one can note the receipt of high vegetable yields with proper agricultural technology. This is especially important for those who grow potatoes for sale. The variety is valued for its early tuberization, when the harvest gradually accumulates in the first half of the growing season. Selection of varietal vegetables has led to its resistance to many diseases.

Farmers speak positively about the potato variety. The vegetable grows well in the fields and is easy to care for using various agricultural machines. The presentation and excellent taste of the tubers allows you to quickly sell the products.

The plant is also highly appreciated by summer residents. Those who grew Molly actively propagate the vegetable in their gardens, sharing it with neighbors and friends. Young potatoes of German selection are tried as early as July.