Description of Spiridon potato variety
In appearance, it is difficult for a non-specialist to distinguish Spiridon potato bushes from other varieties and hybrids. Its tubers also do not stand out for their unique “appearance”.
Bush
Spiridon potato bushes reach 60-70 cm in height. The root system is powerful, the stems are semi-erect, the plant is not too spreading. The leaves are medium in size, with a “classic” rich green hue for the culture. The leaf blade is almost smooth, without pronounced “wrinkling” and “wavy” edges.
The inflorescences of the Spiridon potato are relatively small, the flowers are of a rich lilac hue, often with a burgundy undertone
Tubers
Tubers of the Spiridon variety are regular elliptical or round-oval in shape. The skin is thin, almost smooth, red-pink or crimson in color. The size of the tubers is average or larger than average (105-140 g). There are practically no “trifles” unsuitable for cleaning in the nests.
The pulp is elastic, quite dense, creamy or has the shade of butter. The starch content in it is 12-15.8%. This is due to the slight “crumbiness”.
The “eyes” in the tubers are very small, superficial, there are few of them
Pests and diseases
As noted earlier, the variety is susceptible to diseases such as rhizoctonia and common scab.
Scab
Common potato disease. The causative agent of the fungus attacks root crops. After invasion, the tubers become covered with ulcers and warts. Initially, the ulcers are local, then they unite, thereby affecting the tuber completely. The starch content in tubers affected by scab drops to a minimum.
The cause of infection by this fungus is poor-quality planting material or contaminated soil. The fungus develops best in dry air at high temperatures.
If a massive infection of the crop with scab has been noticed, then it is necessary to protect the area from further planting of this crop for 3-4 years.
Rhizoctoniosis
Rhizoctonia is also known as black scab. This fungus attacks tubers, forming black spots and ulcers on them. If the planting material is infected, then most likely the sprouts will not have time to grow through the soil, as they will simply rot. If a healthy bush becomes infected, then a felt coating will appear on its stems. These are spores that, at any convenient opportunity, will spread throughout the entire area, infecting healthy tubers.
We recommend reading: “Description of the Colette potato variety”
As in the case of common scab, if a massive infection of the crop occurs, then it is necessary to abandon subsequent plantings of potatoes on the site for 3-4 years.
Colorado beetle
If you grow the Spiridon variety, you will 100% encounter this parasite. Roughly speaking, there is no immunity from this beetle.
The only good thing is that this insect does not live secretly, but is located on the leaves of the tops. Therefore, you can even fight insects manually, collecting them from each bush. If such routine work is not to your liking, then there are a lot of insecticides on the market that can quickly kill this parasite.
Characteristics of potatoes Spiridon
When choosing potatoes for cultivation on your own plot, first of all you need to take into account not the appearance and size of the tubers, but other varietal characteristics. Among the factors that are fundamentally important for gardeners are the time of ripening and the volume of the harvest, the presence of immunity against certain diseases and protection from pests, and suitability for cultivation in a particular region.
Taste qualities of potatoes Spiridon
Spiridon is a table potato. It definitely cannot boast of outstanding taste qualities; professional tasters rate them as “good”. However, most gardeners and other “consumers” are quite happy with it.
Ripening time
Spiridon is a mid-season potato variety. Between the appearance of “mass” shoots and harvesting in the Urals and central Russia, 90-110 days pass. However, in the southern regions, subject to high-quality care and sufficient watering, tubers can ripen 1-1.5 weeks faster - there this variety is considered a mid-early variety.
Important! Potatoes of the Spiridon variety are distinguished by very good keeping quality - 95% of tubers harvested for the winter retain their presentable appearance, benefits and taste, if they are provided with the proper conditions.
Productivity
According to the results of variety trials, the yield of the Spiridon variety is estimated at 138-278 centners per hectare. The very large “scatter” can easily be explained by the specific climatic features of different regions and weather conditions during each specific season. In terms of yield, the Spiridon potato was not inferior to the Lugovskoy and Krasnopolsky varieties chosen as the “standard”. The “record” (392 c/ha) was recorded in the Kurgan region.
According to the originator, higher yields are possible - up to 500 c/ha
When growing Spiridon potatoes on personal plots, 10-16 tubers are formed in one nest. Accordingly, an amateur gardener can count on 1.5-2 kg per bush.
Important! During variety testing, it was found that climate and weather directly affect not only the yield, but also the “marketability” of Spiridon potatoes. Depending on these factors, it varies between 70-95%.
Where is it grown?
The State Register of the Russian Federation officially recognized the Spiridon variety as the most suitable for cultivation in the Ural region. During variety trials, it showed its best performance in Bashkortostan, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, and Orenburg regions.
However, the experience and reviews of gardeners from other Russian regions, as well as from the former republics of the USSR, suggest that it successfully takes root and consistently produces yields almost everywhere where climatic conditions, in principle, allow farming. The potato variety Spiridon, zoned for the Urals, is initially distinguished by its endurance, “stress resistance” and a certain “plasticity”.
Disease resistance
The general hardiness of the Spiridon potato includes its good resistance to pathogenic microflora, with the only exception (late blight). However, it does not have “innate” immunity against pathogenic fungi; it cannot do without pre-planting and preventive treatments.
Breeders provided the Spiridon potato with protection against an incurable disease - bacterial cancer. During the tests, it was noted that it is extremely rarely affected by golden nematode, rhizoctonia, and scab.
The most dangerous disease for the variety is late blight, and the above-ground parts of plants are more susceptible to this fungus than tubers.
Morphological characteristics
The bushes are tall, semi-erect, well-leafed, the stem part is evenly colored with characteristic anthocyanin. The leaves are medium in size, intermediate in type, dark green in color, strongly dissected. The undulation of the edge is insignificant. The corollas of flowers are medium in size, reddish-violet in color. The inflorescence is medium sized and spreading.
In terms of a set of traits, the potato variety “Spiridon” has significantly outperformed the “Nevsky” variety, which is widespread in homestead farms, and samples of local selection in many regions.
Advantages and disadvantages
Spiridon potatoes are suitable for making soups, purees, and frying. After cutting, the pulp does not darken or turn gray and retains its shape.
The vagaries of the weather have virtually no effect on the taste of Spiridon potatoes
Pros:
- stable and fairly high productivity, little dependent on the negative influence of “external” factors;
- ability to adapt to a wide range of climatic and weather conditions;
- external presentability, correct shape and one-dimensionality of tubers, almost complete absence of “trifles” unsuitable for use in cooking, planting for the next season and long-term storage;
- suitability of Spiridon potatoes for preparing any dishes;
- the presence of immunity against bacterial cancer, extremely rare cases of infection by the golden nematode, generally high resistance to pathogenic fungi;
- very good keeping quality.
Minuses:
- tendency to be affected by late blight;
- "standard" taste;
- relatively low transportability.
How to easily hill potatoes (video)
Due to the presence of increased ecological plasticity in conditions of strict adherence to appropriate agricultural technology, the Spiridon potato variety provides guaranteed good yield in any, even very unfavorable, season. The preservation of potato tubers is very good.
The new potato variety “Spiridon” has a high commercial value, which is confirmed by taking into account the yield and quality of tubers, as well as the low costs of growing this vegetable crop.
Landing Features
In the Urals, Spiridon potatoes are planted in the first half of May, in central Russia - in the last days of April. You need to wait until the substrate warms up to a temperature of 9-10 °C. A folk sign - buds blooming on birch trees - becomes a fairly reliable guide.
Spiridon potato tubers selected for planting in the fall are inspected again, rejecting any “substandard” ones. Pre-planting treatment necessarily includes not only germination, but also dressing in a solution of any fungicide to prevent infection with late blight and other pathogenic fungi. Also, many gardeners practice treatment with biostimulants, which has a positive effect on the cold resistance of tubers and helps increase productivity.
To plant Spiridon potatoes, choose an open place, well heated by the sun. It does not need an excessively nutritious substrate; moderate fertility is sufficient. More important for the normal development of tubers is soil looseness and a neutral or slightly acidic pH. The selected area is dug up last fall, adding humus and other fertilizers in the process, adjusting the acid-base balance if necessary and getting rid of weeds.
Potato tubers of the Spiridon variety are planted at intervals of 30-45 cm, leaving 75-80 cm between rows. The approximate depth of the holes is 10-12 cm.
At the bottom of the hole you can throw a handful of humus mixed with coarse sand or wood ash
Important! Cut Spiridon potato tubers will not spoil quickly. Therefore, if there is a shortage of planting material, they can be divided into 2-4 parts.
Care instructions
Spiridon potatoes are a suitable variety for an inexperienced gardener; caring for them includes only basic agrotechnical measures:
- Watering. Spiridon potato bushes often have enough natural rainfall during the season. But there are “critical moments” when they especially need water - 10-12 days after “mass” germination, after the formation of buds and immediately after flowering. If the soil is dry at this time, the number and size of tubers will noticeably decrease.
- Feeding. Spiridon potatoes react positively to both natural organic matter and folk remedies, as well as complex store-bought fertilizers. During the season it is fed three times - when the stems grow to 8-10 cm in height, during flowering and 10-12 days after it. At an early stage of development, plants need more nitrogen, then phosphorus and potassium.
- Hilling. The bushes of the Spiridon potato are quite tall, but they “fall apart” infrequently. They must be hilled twice, then as needed, but not more than twice a month.
- Prevention of diseases. To prevent the development of late blight, Spiridon potato bushes are sprayed monthly with a solution of any fungicide. When rainy, cool weather sets in for a long time, the interval between treatments is reduced to 2-3 weeks.
Potatoes need regular hilling, for example, when ripening tubers “show up” from the ground
Important! When choosing fungicides, you need to take into account that not all of them are suitable for treating potatoes during flowering and shortly before harvesting.
Agricultural technology
Proper agricultural technology for growing potatoes allows you to achieve very good results and obtain high yields combined with excellent taste characteristics of the collected root crops.
Landing
The depth of planting material depends entirely on the composition of the soil. When cultivating potatoes, tubers must be planted to a depth of 6-8 cm. Growing potatoes on sandy loam soils requires planting material to be buried at 8-10 cm. The standard potato planting pattern is 70 x 35 cm. Tubers are planted when the soil at a depth of 10 cm warms up to 8 degrees Celsius.
Watering
The plant needs least irrigation measures at the germination stage. In this phase of the potato growing season, even a slight excess of water very often provokes rotting of the tubers. Abundant watering is necessary for this type of plant only at the stage from the beginning of budding to the end of flowering. Then, until the potato tops wilt, watering should be reduced.
Feeding
The highest yield is observed when organic fertilizers are applied to plants with the addition of mineral fertilizers, among which nitrogen and potassium are of greatest importance for a vegetable crop such as potatoes. Microfertilizers are used for foliar feeding during the budding phase of potato bushes.
It is very important to keep the potato plantings clean, promptly removing weeds, as well as loosening the soil and hilling up the potato bushes. It is very important to always change planting material a maximum of every three years, even when growing potatoes in very fertile areas, subject to good agricultural practices and in disease-free conditions.
Harvest and storage
The ripening period of Spiridon potatoes depends on the growing region. In the Urals, the harvest is most often harvested at the very end of summer or in early September. But it is better to focus on the condition of the bushes, waiting until the tops are completely dry and the stems lie on the ground.
There is no rush to dig up potatoes - unripe tubers do not have a rich taste and are poorly stored
On personal plots, potatoes are dug using a shovel or pitchfork. However, the Spiridon variety is also suitable for mechanized harvesting. The harvest is immediately sorted, getting rid of specimens unsuitable for long-term storage. “Conditional” tubers are left to dry in the open air for 2-3 days, protected from precipitation and direct sunlight. You can also dry them in a room with good ventilation at a temperature of 15-18 °C.
Planting material for the next season is stored separately from the main part of the harvest.
The method of storing Spiridon potatoes does not fundamentally affect their keeping quality. However, the following conditions must be created for the tubers:
- air humidity 65-75%;
- temperature in the range of 2-4 °C;
- constant access to fresh air (but not cold drafts);
- darkness.
Important! You need to control the temperature most carefully: if it drops below the recommended level, the Spiridon potato tubers quickly rot; if it rises higher, they begin to germinate. In both cases, you can no longer eat them.
Growing and care
Water the bushes during dry periods. It is necessary to provide watering during the following periods:
- 1-2 weeks after germination;
- at the beginning of budding;
- as soon as the potatoes bloom.
During the flowering period, the amount of watering affects the number and size of tubers. If there is a lack of water, there will be few tubers. In the future they will turn out to be small.
During the season, 3 feedings are applied with weak solutions of organic and mineral fertilizers:
- Organic matter can be added at the beginning of tops growth before flowering. Two weeks after the sprouts appear, solutions are prepared from chicken manure or mullein in a concentration of 1:15;
- During the flowering period, solutions of superphosphate and potassium sulfate are prepared (20 g per 10 liters of water);
- After flowering, you can not feed it or water it with a weak solution of superphosphate.
Hilling up the bushes is necessary. The first is carried out before flowering when the height of the bush is 10-15 cm. The lower part of the bushes is covered with moist soil from the rows, forming ridges around them. The procedure is repeated after 2-3 weeks.
