Potato Red Lady: description and characteristics of the variety, yield with photo

Many people buy a plot to get fresh natural vegetables and fruits from it. Not surprisingly, potatoes are considered the most common crop in the garden. It is quite unpretentious, moreover, it turns out to collect a large amount of tasty harvest. In this article, you will learn what the Red Lady potato variety is and how to care for it.

Variety description

Red Lady has a special place in agriculture. It was bred in Germany and entered into the register of Russia in 2008. This variety is suitable for the middle lane, as it is unpretentious to changes in weather conditions and easily tolerates drought.

The color of the peel is the characteristic by which the Lady red variety is most often distinguished. It has a reddish tint, for which the potato got its name, which literally means “red lady”. The peel is smooth, thin, but strong, which allows you to transport the tubers and maintain their presentation. They have a few eyes, but they are superficial, which makes cleaning much easier. The tubers themselves are large, up to 150 g on average, and the yield of small defective tubers is minimal. Inside, the flesh has a pale yellow color.

This variety tastes amazing - many gardeners who plant this variety share only positive reviews. This is probably one of the main reasons to try to drop the Red Lady.

Growing

Planting potatoes is not difficult even for beginners, and this variety is no exception.

Long before planting, the soil must be well fertilized, as the Red Lady variety requires a large amount of vitamins and minerals, and this is lacking in sandy loamy soils (optimal for the species). To do this, during digging, they interfere with the soil:

• fresh manure;
• superphosphates;
• ammonium and potassium nitrate;
• bird droppings.

After winter, these substances will decompose to optimal elements for assimilation by potatoes.

When planting, you should consider a few simple rules, then you are guaranteed to get a quality crop:

• Planting can be started as soon as the soil warms up to at least +10. This is easy to track by placing an ordinary thermometer on the site (stick it into the ground). Usually planting dates vary from late April to early June. It all depends on the region and the climate in it.
• You can not plant potatoes after nightshade (tomatoes, eggplant), as well as after other varieties of this vegetable. It is also not recommended to place 2 different varieties side by side - they will pollinate each other and lose their species characteristics.
• Dig holes, keeping a distance of about 40 cm between them. There should be a distance of 60 cm between rows. The holes themselves are usually made 30 cm deep.
• Planting material is usually prepared in advance. For this, tubers weighing about 90 g are suitable, smaller ones simply will not give a good harvest. To get an earlier harvest, potatoes are advised to germinate: it is enough to put the planting material in the sun for about a month.
• Before placing the tuber in the hole, it is advised to pour a handful of ash or ready-made complex fertilizers into the hole. This will create a nutrient base for the future harvest.

Features of care

As for watering the planted potatoes, there are no clear rules and deadlines. The variety can easily tolerate drought, but is usually watered at least 2-3 times a month. During the rainy summer, you can remove it completely, as waterlogging will lead to the development of late blight.

As mentioned above, Red Lady requires a lot of nutrients, so she needs regular feeding. Usually used herbal infusion or a mixture of manure and water in a ratio of 1:10.

Potatoes actively respond to such fertilizers, but you should not overdo it. An excess will lead to the active growth of the aerial part - a process that will take strength from the development of tubers.

Weeding is considered obligatory in care, it must be carried out regularly. Mulching with straw slows down the appearance of unwanted neighbors. It will also keep moisture in the soil.

Pros and cons

It is worth saying that this variety has much more advantages than disadvantages. These include:

• early harvest and extended growing season;
• abundant harvest and high nutrient content in tubers;
• it is suitable for sale, as it does not lose its presentation during transportation, nor its taste;
• the variety is bred to be resistant to many diseases, so there is practically no risk of losing the crop.

But with so many positives, there are also negatives. Red Lady requires highly fertile soil, so she needs constant feeding. Also, for good ripening, you need a long daylight hours. Despite disease resistance, the variety is susceptible to late blight.

Pests and diseases

Above it was said about resistance to diseases such as potato cancer, scab, golden potato nematode. But late blight can affect the stems of the plant, in order to avoid this, regular preventive treatments with fungicides are carried out.

Some pests are not averse to eating potatoes, these include wireworm, Colorado potato beetle, bear. The description of the Colorado potato beetle is probably known to everyone. The complete destruction of the insect is impossible, therefore, to minimize losses, its larvae are collected and burned or thrown into a jar of strong saline.

In no case should you crush beetles and larvae on the ground. Unfortunately, this method is only suitable for amateur landings; on an industrial scale, other methods will have to be used.

"Diagnosing" the wireworm is simple - single withered bushes, when digging on the tubers there are small through holes. In summer, it can be seen when weeding or loosening, as the larvae live in the upper layers of the soil during the warm period. It is difficult to get rid of it, so it is better to prevent the appearance of a pest in advance. There are several preventive measures:

• Compliance with agricultural technology and crop rotation. Some gardeners consider this an optional rule, but regular planting of the same crop leads to reduced fertility and disease.
• Remove all organic debris. Plant parts left in the ground will begin to rot and be ideal food for the pest, so carefully inspect the soil before wintering.
• Maintaining a neutral PH level. The wireworm feels great in soil with high acidity. To find out this characteristic, you can take samples to the laboratory, but you can also pay attention to indicator plants. Plantain and sorrel are characteristic of high acidity, so the soil must be mixed with dolomite flour, lime.
• Planting protective plants such as dahlias, legumes (which are also considered an excellent precursor for potatoes).

Harvest and storage of crops

This variety is harvested 55 days after emergence, when the peak yield is reached. One bush can produce up to 15 potatoes.

The last harvest is held in August-September, after which the bushes are removed, and the soil is dug up according to all the rules. After harvesting, the potatoes are placed in a vegetable pit where the temperature does not drop below zero, as this will lead to freezing and spoil the taste.

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