Potato Bullfinch: characteristics and description of the variety, cultivation and care with a photo

Potato variety Bullfinch appeared relatively recently, but has already been included in the lists of the State Register. Domestic breeders gave the name to the potato for its beautiful, reddish skin and resistance to frost. The variety quickly gained recognition not only among Russian gardeners and farms, but also among residents of neighboring countries due to its excellent keeping quality, excellent taste and marketable appearance. Early culture suitable for cultivation in the North-West region, the Urals and Siberia.

Variety description

Young bullfinch tubers are dug up after 45-50 days from the moment of planting, the variety reaches full readiness for 55-60 days. The variety is characterized by friendly maturation.

Upright, densely leafy shrubs grow to medium height. Large fleshy leaves are devoid of specific waviness. Vibrant lilac flowers decorate the area during the flowering of potatoes.

Equal oval tubers with small eyes on a reddish skin weigh 90 g. Creamy white flesh with a high starch content (16%) crumbles during cooking. Suitable for preparing many dishes. The baked potatoes and potato chips are especially good.

Bullfinch yield reaches 450 centners per hectare. The first dig gives 50-110 centners. Such indicators of an early ripening vegetable determine the economic benefits of growing.

Growing

Potato Bullfinch is picky about the soil. Heavy, clayey, infertile lands filled with weeds will not allow you to get a high and high-quality crop.

You need to prepare the site for planting potatoes in the fall: destroy weeds, plow, apply organic fertilizers and superphosphate. Leave the wood ash until spring.

It is important to observe crop rotation and return potatoes to their original place after four years. Improvement of the soil is carried out by autumn sowing green manure. In the spring, the site is dug up and fertilized again. With an insufficient amount of ash or organic matter, they are added directly to the wells. The introduction of granules with a high content of potassium, OMU "Potato", Kemira preparation is effective.

The best predecessors for bullfinch potatoes are corn, cucumbers and legumes. Landing after nightshade is not recommended.

Due to susceptibility to nematode infection, bullfinch seed material needs to be processed before planting in the ground. For this purpose, drugs such as Aktara, Maxim, Fitosporin, Mikon, blue vitriol, ash are purchased.

It is equally important to germinate the tubers, which speeds up the emergence of seedlings. This procedure is carried out in the light, at a temperature of +12 ºC, a month before planting.

Early ripe variety is planted in May. The exact date depends on weather conditions. The temperature of the soil should warm up to +8 ºC. The distance between holes or furrows is maintained within 30-35 cm. The interval between rows is 70 cm.

Planting bullfinch potatoes is carried out no deeper than 6-7 cm, in order to avoid delayed germination. For the successful formation of the root system in the first week after planting, watering is not indicated.

Features of care

With the appearance of the first shoots, after 8-10 days from the moment of planting, the ridges are harrowed to remove the surface crust and weeds. Watering bullfinch potatoes is required as needed, only during a period of prolonged drought.In the absence of rain, watering is organized two weeks after germination, then during the budding period, and at the peak of flowering. Early potatoes need moisture in early summer.

Potatoes are watered early in the morning, trying not to get on the leaves, which is convenient to do along the aisles. In the heat, it is recommended to mulch plantings with cut grass, peat, humus, this will retain moisture and destroy most weeds.

Potato hilling starts when sprouts reach a height of 10-12 cm. Residents of the northern regions prefer to fill up the seedlings completely. Other gardeners do the same in case of June coolness.

Important hilling - at the beginning of flowering, when the Bullfinch forms tubers, which requires loose soil, free air penetration and the formation of a compact bush.

Spudding potatoes is a must, it increases yields, creating comfortable conditions for growth.

The characteristic of the variety allows you to do without summer dressings if fertilizers were applied in the fall. Occasionally, plants require feeding, which is applied before the first hilling in the form of organic matter - bird droppings or mullein. A good option is nitrophoska, complex fertilizers and nettle infusion. With the advent of buds, potash, phosphate fertilizers or ash are used. Spraying plants with compounds containing humates, boric acid, which accelerate the formation and ripening of fruits, are effective.

Pros and cons

The description of the bullfinch potato variety includes a number of advantages:

• Excellent taste.
• Friendly ripening.
• Good yield performance.
• Storage - up to 95%.

The disadvantage of this variety is susceptibility to the nematode.

Pests and diseases

Potato varieties Bullfinch is moderately resistant in terms of diseases and pests:

• Golden potato cyst nematode.
• The causative agent of cancer.
• Alternariose.
• Scab.
• Fusariose.
• Verticillium.

Ring rot and rhizoctoniosis Bullfinch is slightly affected. Phytophthora affects only tops, it practically does not threaten tubers.

For prophylactic purposes, potatoes are dusted with wood ash, infusions of celandine or tansy, which is quite effective and non-toxic. In the event of the appearance of pests on the plantings of bullfinch potatoes, special chemicals have to be used.

Harvest and storage of crops

Harvest starts 45 days after germination. Full maturity occurs at 55-60 days. Dates are shifted depending on the climatic conditions of the region. They start digging up bullfinch potatoes in dry sunny weather so that the tubers have time to dry on the ridges before moving under a canopy. After drying, the fruits are sorted out and stored in a cellar, basement, balcony or loggia in wooden containers or nets.

Early maturing variety suitable for re-planting and double harvesting in one season, suitable for commercial vegetable farms.

Bullfinch is tolerant to temperature extremes and precipitation, therefore it is indicated for cultivation in the northern regions of Russia.

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