Description of the Malinovka variety
Potato Malinovka is a Russian table variety that appeals to many domestic gardeners due to its raspberry-colored skin and white tasty pulp.
Ripening time and yield
Potatoes of the Malinovka variety have an average ripening period. The growing season lasts from 115 to 125 days. The harvest can be harvested already in the last days of August.
If the crop is properly and uncomplicatedly cared for, the variety shows good yield - 35 - 40 tons per hectare. The shelf life of tubers is about 96% under properly created storage conditions.
Potato bushes Malinovka
Disease resistance
Before trying to plant a new variety on your site, it is recommended to understand its immunity. The robin has resistance and low susceptibility to the following diseases:
- viral diseases;
- cancer causative agent;
- golden potato nematode;
- late blight
There is also average resistance to ring rot and rhizoctonia (popular name - black scab).
Late blight of potatoes
Helpful advice! Beds where beets and cabbage previously grew are suitable for planting potatoes. Good harvests are harvested from peat soil after pumpkin.
Appearance Features
The description of the variety should begin with its appearance. The culture is medium-sized, erect, belongs to the stem type and gains a height of up to 0.8 m. The leaves are dark green, large and slightly rough. The inflorescences are purple, simple, medium-sized, multi-flowered.
The tubers are characterized by a round shape. The fruits have a smooth purple-red skin and a small number of eyes. Vegetables have dense, creamy pulp with a starch level of 16-18%. From 8 to 15 tubers are collected from a bush, the weight of one is 80 - 100 grams.
Which regions are suitable for Malinovka
This variety is resistant and is not afraid of low, high temperatures and low humidity, and therefore it is suitable for planting in any region of the Russian Federation. However, the Malinovka potato has proven itself best in the Central and Central Black Earth regions.
Taste qualities
The root vegetable has excellent taste properties. It is used boiled or fried, prepared as a puree and used as a base for potato soup.
When cut or grated, the flesh does not acquire a dark shade. Their small size and thin skin make potatoes easy to process.
Fried potatoes
Reviews from those who planted
Ilya from the Tver region says: “The Malinovka variety surprised me this year. I planted several tubers for testing, a lot of potatoes grew: 10 from one hole. Next year I will plant more potatoes of this variety.”
Tamara supports and adds: “The potatoes grow medium in size, they are convenient and easy to peel. The purpose of tubers is universal; they are suitable for any dish. To make mashed potatoes, you just need to increase the cooking time.”
About the advantages and disadvantages
Each variety has its pros and cons, Malinovka is no exception. If we talk about the advantages, they are as follows:
- stable yield indicators;
- standard size tubers;
- excellent taste;
- the variety is resistant to low humidity and temperature;
- good immunity.
The crop has virtually no disadvantages, but farmers pay attention to the plant’s susceptibility to fungal tuber diseases. This is the characteristic of the Malinovka potato.
How to plant and grow
It was already mentioned above that Malinovka is suitable for cultivation throughout Russia. To get a good harvest, you need to pay attention to some nuances.
Preparing for landing
The quantity and quality of the future harvest largely depends on the pre-sowing preparation of planting material. 30 days before the approximate sowing date, you need to start germinating the tubers.
A cool, bright room is suitable for this purpose; the seed here is laid out on the floor. The presence of a warm temperature from +12 to +15 degrees will speed up germination, and then the farmer will spend 15 - 25 days on germination.
If there is not enough space for germination, you can put the tubers in plastic bags, which are pre-equipped with holes to allow oxygen to enter. This technique is called dry germination, and it is completed with a wet stage. After the formation of green shoots, the tubers are placed in boxes, using as a filler: peat with sawdust or a mixture of peat and humus.
Preparing for landing
On a note. Planting material can be laid in layers, but a cushion of fertilizer is made between the tubers.
After the potatoes are laid, you need to water them generously (water at room temperature) to thoroughly moisten all layers.
7 days are allotted for wet germination; all this time you need to ensure that the tubers are in a humid environment. It is recommended to use the following group of fertilizers during the first and last watering:
- ammonium nitrate - 4 grams/liter;
- superphosphate - 6 grams/liter;
- potassium chloride - 4 g/liter.
A liter of solution is used to fertilize 5 kg of potatoes.
Good to know. Before sowing, the tubers need to be sprayed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate to carry out disinfection.
Soil requirements
The land for potatoes is prepared in the previous season. Clay and loamy soils are fertilized with old manure and peat in the amount of 1 bucket. Additionally, add potassium magnesia - 4 tablespoons, as well as ash - 2 cups. After all the fertilizing has been applied, the soil needs to be dug up and leveled so that there are no lumps.
If you have sandy soil, you need to wait until spring to add organic matter, otherwise all useful components will be washed out during the autumn-winter period, and the soil will not have the fertile qualities necessary for potatoes.
How to plant correctly
The easiest way to plant is under a shovel. If necessary, the beds prepared in the fall are leveled and loosened by large lumps of earth. This is done in the spring.
By the beginning of May, if the weather is warm, the soil has already warmed up properly, which means you can start planting potatoes. The prepared area is divided into several rows, between which a distance of 0.7 meters is maintained.
Potatoes are planted in shallow holes (about 10 cm), the tubers are placed so that the sprout is at the top. The planting material is sprinkled with compost, wood ash and only then with soil. A distance of 0.3 meters is maintained between tubers.
Planting tubers
Autumn soil preparation for potatoes
Potatoes have good properties. It can grow continuously and produce high yields in one place with the correct agricultural techniques for preparing the soil and growing the crop for up to 9 years. In order not to accumulate a negative background, it is better to cultivate potatoes in crop rotation. Good predecessors in crop rotation for potatoes are all pumpkins (zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins), cabbage, beans, peas, and corn.
Potatoes do not like acidic soils, preferring neutral ones. Therefore, in the spring, wood ash, slaked lime or dolomite flour (200 g/sq. m. area) are added to the soil for pre-planting loosening. Deoxidizers can also be added for autumn soil preparation.
In the fall, after harvesting the predecessor, provocative watering is carried out (if necessary) to obtain shoots of autumn weeds. After destroying the weeds, apply a bucket of mature humus or compost per square meter on cultivated sufficiently fertile soils. m. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are added at 30 and 15 g/sq.m., respectively. m. The site is dug up on southern chernozems with a formation turnover of 20-25 cm. On depleted soils with a small chernozem horizon without formation turnover.
After 2-3 weeks, green manure is sown. Among the green manure crops, it is better to use white mustard, sweet clover, oats, and rye. They form significant biomass in a short period of time. When sowing early, green manure is incorporated into the soil in the fall; when sowing later, it is left until spring and deep loosened into the top layer (10-15 cm) before planting tubers.
On poorly cultivated soils with insufficient levels of nutrients, the application rates of organic and mineral fertilizers are increased by 2-3 times and a green manure crop must be sown.
The soil for potato beds is prepared in the fall. Harald
How to harvest and store crops
Technical ripeness of Malinovka begins 110 days after sowing. The tubers are covered with thin, almost transparent skin, but they can already be eaten.
At the end of summer, the skin becomes denser and tougher. These potatoes can be stored in the cellar for long-term storage.
Storage Features
Darkened tops lying on the ground indicate a ripe harvest. A pitchfork is used to dig up tubers to avoid severe damage to the roots. The collected potatoes are laid out in a room with good ventilation to dry. This stage lasts 3 - 4 days.
Nets or large boxes are used to store root vegetables. The tubers must be stirred periodically to ensure oxygen access to the lower layers. The temperature in the cellar must be maintained at +2 to +4 °C; a higher value leads to potato germination. Ideal air humidity is 85-90%.
The Malinovka variety shows a shelf life of 96%, yield waste, with proper storage, is only 4%.
Features of cultivation
The number of potatoes collected during harvesting and the timing of their ripening are greatly influenced by the pre-sowing preparation of tubers. Before planting, they are germinated for a month in cool, bright rooms, laid out on the floor. If the room is warm (temperature 12-15 degrees), germination accelerates and germination lasts only 15-25 days.
If there is not enough space for germination, the tubers are placed in plastic bags, in which holes are made so that fresh air can enter them. Dry germination ends with wet germination. When stocky green shoots have formed on the tubers, they are collected in boxes and covered with peat and sawdust or a mixture of humus and peat. Potatoes can be laid out in layers, between which a “fertilizer” cushion must be laid. After laying the potatoes, water them well at room temperature so that all layers are thoroughly moistened.
Wet germination is carried out for about a week, making sure that the tubers are constantly in a wet state. During the first and last watering, it is advisable to apply fertilizers: ammonium nitrate (3-4 g/l), superphosphate (6 g/l), and potassium chloride (4 g/l). One liter of this solution is used to irrigate 5 kilograms of potatoes. Microfertilizers can be added to the solution: boron, copper, manganese, cobalt. Before sowing, potatoes are laid out in a thin layer on the surface and irrigated with a weakly concentrated manganese solution from a spray bottle for disinfection purposes.
Landing at the site
Potatoes are planted in the ground in mid-May. With late planting, the yield decreases sharply. And if the planting date is somewhat early, then the earth will not yet be warmed up and the tubers may freeze and slow down their development.
The soil for potatoes requires certain treatment, which begins in the previous season. On clay and loamy soils, add one bucket of old manure and peat per square meter, and 4 tablespoons of potassium magnesia and 2 cups of ash for minerals. After applying fertilizers, the soil is dug deeply and carefully leveled so that there are no lumps or old grass left on the site. You can add nutrient mixtures only during planting, laying them out at the bottom of the holes.
On sandy soils, organic matter is applied only in the spring, because during the winter all the fertilizers applied in the fall are washed away, and the soil quickly becomes impoverished. It is not recommended to plant potatoes in poor soil. If the area has been cultivated for the winter, then the potatoes are planted under a shovel. No further processing is needed. But, if no work was done in the fall, then before planting, fertilizers are scattered on the site, the ground is plowed, and then potatoes are planted in rows, keeping a distance of 30 centimeters between the tubers, and leaving 60 centimeters between the rows. A handful of humus and ash and a pinch of superphosphate are placed in each hole. The tubers are laid out sprouts up. The depth of the hole is 10-15 centimeters.
Among the measures for caring for potatoes, it should be noted, first of all, keeping the soil clean from weeds, loosening and hilling.
Loosening should be done after every rain. If, after planting, an earthen crust has formed even before the emergence of seedlings, then the area must be hoeed, but superficially, so as not to pull the tubers out of the ground. When the stems reach 10 centimeters in height, the plants need to be hilled. It is necessary to hill up after rain or watering, since it is better to pile damp soil on the plants. They loosen the soil 4-5 times during the summer, and hill up 2-3 times. Loosening and hilling immediately after moistening the soil favors the growth of potatoes and the formation of tubers.
In addition to mechanical cultivation of the land, liquid fertilizing with slurry or bird droppings should be applied. A small amount of superphosphate is added to this feed. After fertilizing, water the potatoes with clean water to wash the leaves if the mixture gets on them. The first portion of organic fertilizer is applied two weeks after the sprouts appear. Subsequent recharges are carried out at intervals of 10-14 days.
Requirements for light, heat, watering
Potatoes grow more successfully in cool climates. The optimal temperature for its productivity is 15-16 degrees. If the indicators are higher, then much fewer tubers will be formed. And too high a temperature (27-32 degrees) completely inhibits the development of root crops. On hot days, small, ugly tubers are formed, with various shoots.
There may be little sunlight, but if the summer turns out to be damp and cloudy, then the Robin bushes will be overgrown with strong tops, while the tubers, on the contrary, may lose in quantity. In addition, without an abundance of light, fungal diseases often develop.
About diseases and pests
Despite good immunity, this variety is affected by fungal diseases, and late blight is considered the main scourge. Most often, the problem occurs in areas with high humidity and in very dense plantings.
Treatment of tubers is considered an excellent method of prevention. For this, copper sulfate and potassium permanganate are used.
Mulching the beds with onion peels will help get rid of the Colorado potato beetle; insects really don’t like it.
Colorado beetle
Farmers should not have much difficulty growing Malinovka. Timely care and attention will allow you to get a good and tasty vegetable harvest.
