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

In the spring, before planting the garden, you should pay attention to the Gala potato, which has a lot of advantages. The presentation of tubers, their excellent taste in any dishes allows you to opt for this variety of a vegetable plant. In addition, for regions with a cold climate, it is better to choose super-early crops in order to collect fully ripened tubers. Potato Gala, its description will allow potato lovers not to miscalculate and plant this unpretentious variety of vegetable.

Description of variety Gala

In the description of the Gala potato variety, what refers to:

yield indicators;
demands of a vegetable for growing conditions and care;
varietal features;
resistance to weather anomalies, diseases and pests;
ability to be stored for a long time.

Gala potato variety has the following external description:

Upright bushes with medium height stems.
The foliage of the plant is medium.
Dark green leaf blades are wavy at the edges to help them adapt to the heat.
The corolla of the inflorescence is large, white.

Tubers are formed on bushes of medium size with a mass of 100 to 120 grams. The rounded-elongated shape of the fruit with small eyes is distinguished by an excellent presentation of potato products.From above, the tubers are covered with a yellowish skin, under which the flesh of the same color is hidden. The table variety of potatoes has a low starch content, no more than 14 percent. Therefore, it is recommended to use the product in dietary and baby food. And the yellowish color of the tubers indicates a high content of carotene. When boiled, the potatoes do not boil soft and do not darken.

Gala, among other medium-early varieties of potatoes, is distinguished by its unpretentiousness, the ability to be stored for a long time.

Growing regions

The Gala variety was bred by German breeders and since 2008 it has been included in the State Register of Medium Early Potato Varieties. Due to the high yield of potatoes, when up to 400-600 kilograms of tubers are accumulated from one hundred square meters, it has allowed the variety to become a leader among farmers and summer residents.

Grow vegetables in areas with unstable weather, cold climate. The vegetable is valued for early ripening 75 days after planting. Potato Gala presents the best varieties of table vegetables in farmers' fields.

The unpretentiousness of the plant to the soil contributes to the choice of a variety for growing on heavy sandy loamy soils with a low humus content. A vegetable is suitable for the climate of the Volga-Vyatka, Central and Northwestern regions.

Preserves potato quality in our beds in Siberia and the Far East. 2 months after planting, you can enjoy fresh potatoes, and after 3-4 weeks - completely ready-to-storage tubers.

Pros and cons

Characteristic of the Gala potato variety is replete with only positive qualities of the culture:

Crop from a varietal vegetable can be obtained on any soil. The regions of central Russia have the optimal conditions for growing potatoes of German selection.
Up to 20-30 medium-sized tubers are collected from one bush.
Given the early ripening of the vegetable, you can vary the timing of planting, shift the harvesting period by 1-2 weeks.
Note the resistance of potatoes to diseases: bacterial cancer, scab.
With properly organized storage, potato fruits will remain without rot for up to 6-7 months.
The variety has good taste. Tubers are suitable for cooking second courses, salads, chips. It is useful to include potatoes in the menu for those who follow the figure and want to lose excess kilograms. In addition to carotene, tubers contain a lot of vitamin C, protein, which allows you to stay full without gaining weight.

Among the disadvantages of a vegetable plant is that the variety prefers high soil moisture. And if potatoes are grown in places with an arid climate, then the plantings will have to be watered more often.

There is a possibility of damage to the tubers and the aerial part of the plant by a fungus, in particular, rhizoctoniosis. Then the bushes begin to lag behind in development and may die, which will have a bad effect on the crop.

Features of cultivation

Reviews of those who planted Gala potatoes and grow them in their gardens say that in order to get a harvest, you need to follow the agricultural practices of vegetable crops. For planting a varietal type of potato, it is important to determine a place for a crop in compliance with the rules of crop rotation. Proper planting and care of the crop will provide the family with potatoes for the whole winter, and the farmer will be able to sell the tubers with a big profit.

Place to land

In order for the Gala potato variety to fully show its best properties, attention is paid to the choice of a plot for vegetable crops.

It is not recommended to leave hillsides or low places for potatoes. The plot for the vegetable should be flat, with groundwater at a depth of 1.5 meters. It is not recommended to plant potatoes in the shade, otherwise the bushes will not even reach an average height, and the tubers will be small.Only in direct sunlight does the plant develop fully with the timely ripening of fruits.

High yields are obtained on light, nutritious soils if the summer is wet and cool. Depleted lands are enriched with nutrients in advance. Potatoes grow worst of all on saline soils and when the air temperature is high all summer without rain.

What can be planted before and after the Gala?

Crop rotation rules, their observance is necessary so that vegetables do not need additional care, and their resistance to diseases remains reliable.

For Gala potatoes, the best predecessors are cucumbers, beets and carrots. After these vegetables, you can be sure of the nutritional value of the soil.

Well nourishes the soil for planting legumes - peas, beans. No wonder beans are planted next to potato holes. Their neighborhood is favorable.

After the early-ripening Gala, cabbage and cucumbers are planted. In order to plant potatoes with benefit, green manure is sown in advance on the site before winter: rye, alfalfa, rapeseed, mustard. Plants will saturate the soil with nitrogen, make the soil loose, permeable to air and water.

Digging and fertilizing

Although the Gala variety adapts to any soil, it will be difficult for tubers to develop in dense and heavy soil.

In autumn they prepare the site by digging or plowing the ground. With heavy soil, river sand and humus are added before digging. The field is cultivated with a walk-behind tractor, a manual cultivator. The most reliable tool for digging is a shovel. The depth of plowing should not exceed 30 centimeters.

20 grams of ammonium nitrate are added to one square meter of the field. Clay can be added to weight sandy soil.

If the work on digging the soil is carried out correctly, then in the summer the hilling of potatoes will take place without much effort.

Soil acidity

Like other varieties of potatoes, Gala prefers neutral or slightly acidic soils. Determine the acidity of the land of farmers and summer residents in different ways:

using litmus paper;
infusion of bird cherry;
predominance of plant species on the site;
cloud on the surface of the ground.

Greenish color of litmus paper indicates a neutral acidity index, and yellow indicates a pH value of 5.6-6.0.

Dipping a piece of earth into the infusion of bird cherry leaves, the red color of the liquid determines that the soil is acidic. A neutral compound will show blue, while a slightly acidic compound will show green.

On acidic soils, bear's eye, maryannik, peppermint, horsetail, plantain grow well. Slightly acidic - they recognize it by sow thistle, creeping couch grass, coltsfoot. Rusty deposits on the ground are the result of increased soil acidity.

Constant application of dolomite flour once every 5 years will maintain normal soil acidity.

Holes

In a month they prepare material for planting potatoes. This includes the culling of tubers, leaving only he althy ones weighing 50-70 grams. Larger than 100 grams, it is better to cut the seeds into two parts when planting 2-3 weeks before planting. The halves are placed in the basement, spread out in a layer of 10 centimeters.

The germination of seed potatoes is carried out in advance for 40 days. To do this, the tubers are laid out in 2 or 3 layers in a bright room at a temperature of 12-15 degrees Celsius. For wet vernalization, the fruits folded in boxes are sprinkled with moist earth. And keep 10-15 days at a temperature of 14-18 degrees Ready planting material should be slightly green with powerful sprouts 1 centimeter long

As soon as the ground in the garden warms up to 6-8 degrees, you can prepare holes and place 1-2 tubers in them.

Method of planting potatoes Gala square-nested according to the pattern of 70x70 centimeters. Planting depth of seed tubers is 8-10 centimeters, depending on the structure of the soil.

Features of care

The work on the potato field does not end with the planting of seed material. The yield of a varietal crop depends on competent care. By watering, they help the tubers reach maturity in time.

Weeding plays an important role, feeding vegetable plantings, and hilling leads to the formation of additional underground stems and an increase in the number of tubers from one bush.

Irrigation

The Gala potato is known for its moisture-loving nature, so it will be necessary to water the vegetable plantings, especially during dry summers. Potato beds should not be allowed to dry out, abundantly moistening the soil. Watering begins when the bushes reach a height of 4-5 centimeters.3 liters of water is enough for the plant, which is poured into the middle of the bush.

It is important not to forget about moistening the potatoes during flowering and after. The amount of water increases at this time to 8-10 liters per bush. It is best to water the plants in the evening. They use different methods of watering: sprinkling, and grooves, and under the root.

Weeding

For the full development of the bush, potatoes require weeding and loosening. Since the seedlings of the vegetable appear later than the weeds, harrowing the site on a hot day will exterminate the small grass along with the roots.

When potato shoots appear, they pass through the field with a rake, harrowing. When the row-spacings are closed with the closed tops of the plants, the weeds are removed by hand. During the summer, it is necessary to loosen the aisles 3 times in two mutually perpendicular directions. The depth of loosening is 6-8 centimeters.

Hilling

Increase the yield of Gala potatoes by hilling. The first time the procedure is carried out at a height of vegetable bushes of 15-20 centimeters. They rake the ground by 8-10 centimeters. The second hilling is best done before the Gala potatoes begin to bloom. It is too late to spud with flowers, as the tops of the bushes of the plant will close. The second time they rake the ground by 15-18 centimeters. Hill up only when the ground is wet, then additional stems underground will develop successfully. Procedures in dry weather will result in lower yields.

Feeding potatoes

The potato field is fed with liquid fertilizers, using up to 15 grams of ammonium nitrate and potassium s alt per bucket of water, 30 grams of superphosphate. Mullein can be fed, observing the concentration of the solution 1:5, bird droppings - 1:12.

Fertilize along with hilling.Situations arise when ovaries are weakly formed with a powerful development of green mass. It is known why Gala potatoes do not bloom. Landings are oversaturated with nitrogen and moisture. It is worth adding wood ash and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers to the grooves between the rows, as the problem with flowering will be solved.

Pests and diseases

Diseases and pests rarely attack varietal Gala potatoes, but if this happens, control measures must be urgently taken:

Potato armyworm, which is harmful in the caterpillar stage, is combated by spraying with insecticides. Prevention consists of digging the site in autumn, burning plant waste after harvesting.
When attacked by a bear, treatment of plants with a solution of Karbofos will help.
From the wireworm, the larvae of the click beetle, baits from cake, bran, chopped potatoes poisoned with insecticides will save.

To free the vegetable from pest damage, when the potatoes are harvested, the tubers are treated with preparations aimed at destroying insects and their larvae.

Of the fungal diseases, the variety Gala is susceptible to late blight and rhizoctoniosis. To avoid infection, it is necessary to use fungicidal agents. Tubers need treatment in solutions of preparations Maxim, Prestige in the fall before laying the crop in the cellar and before planting. For 10 kilograms of planting material, you need 10 milliliters of Maxim. To increase the immunity of plants, 2 grams of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate are added to the solution.

Rhizoctoniosis like a fungus

Rhizoctoniosis, or black scab, is classified as a dangerous fungal disease. More than 30 percent of the potato crop can be lost due to disease.

The fungus affects most of the plant: leaves and stem are covered with net necrosis, tubers with black spots or growths look sick.Symptoms of infection include twisting of the leaves at the top of the stem, stopping the bush in growth. The fungus develops on early varieties of potatoes. The likelihood of infection increases when the tubers are planted in cold and wet soil.

Measures for the prevention of rhizoctoniosis are:

acquisition of he althy seed material;
introduction of mineral and organic complexes;
cellar treatment before laying potatoes with bleach solution, and tubers with Maxim.

Seed material suffers from the disease more often. By applying measures to combat the disease, you can get rid of it completely.

Light blight

Potato rot, or late blight, is determined by brown spots on the leaves. A white coating is visible on the bottom of the plates. As soon as the leaves dry up, the disease passes to the stems and tubers.The fruits of the vegetable turn brown, rot, becoming soft. Potato plantings are treated with Arceride three times with a break of 7-14 days. To prevent fertilizer, it is advisable to apply regularly, and thoroughly dry the seed potatoes before planting.

Viral diseases

From viral infections in hot dry weather, leaf curl can be found at the bottom of potato stems. To save the bushes, treatments are carried out at intervals of 10 days. For spraying take Baktofit, which is used according to the instructions. It is impossible to take tubers for planting from bushes infected with the virus.

Harvest and storage of crops

Early Gala potatoes are harvested before another variety of vegetable plant. Already in August, a vegetable store is being prepared in advance for laying dug out tubers.

A week before harvesting, you need to cut the tops off the potatoes. Then a dense skin will form on the tubers, protecting the fruits from damage.

Harvesting is carried out when the tubers have reached a diameter of 4 centimeters and are covered with a peel. Despite the high yield of potatoes, it is not always possible to keep the vegetable during the winter. This happens because damaged, diseased fruits are laid in the cellar.

After drying the potato crop, it is stored in rooms with an air temperature of 2-5 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 80 percent.

Tubers need air ventilation, otherwise the crop may rot. The best place to store potatoes will be wooden boxes, bags.

Reviews of gardeners

You can hear a lot of positive feedback in the Gala potato reviews.

Tatiana, Novosibirsk:

“Despite our unpredictable climate, we grow Gala potatoes quite successfully. Our family likes medium-sized tubers. Potatoes taste amazing in any dish.”

Ivan, Irkutsk:

"My wife and I love the Gala potato variety because it's easy to care for. We don't have time to garden. But the potatoes always grew well. In August, we already dig up the tubers, dry them and store them. The harvest is harvested, you can devote time to yourself.”