If you have a summer house with a plot of land, then you are most likely engaged in growing vegetables. Each gardener has several hundred square meters for growing potatoes, without which it is impossible to do. Speaking about potatoes, I recall the Soviet film "Girls", where the cook listed all kinds of dishes that can be prepared from this root crop. Of course, every grower is interested in the yield and taste of the grown vegetable, so before buying a new variety you need to familiarize yourself with its characteristics. Today we propose to consider Lady Claire's potatoes. Description of the variety, photos, reviews of gardeners can be found in this article. Also, all the necessary information will be provided here in order to properly grow this variety, to have a good harvest.
Potato Lady Claire: Characteristic
Lady Claire (or Lady Claire) is an early-ripening, table potato variety. He was bred in Holland, and he quickly became popular in central Russia. It is possible to grow it in other areas, but on condition that there will be a temperate climate with not too hot and not too rainy summers. Vegetable growers of the southern regions can take two crops of the described potato per season if the first one is planted in early spring.
Within seventy days from the appearance of the first seedlings, the tubers fully ripen. A month and a half after planting potatoes, it will be possible to dig it up, take a sample.
Lady Claire's potatoes (variety description, photo, reviews are available in this article) are suitable for cultivation in small areas and for industrial breeding. The variety fell in love for early maturity and high productivity. Unfortunately, according to some gardeners, the taste of this potato is not as good as that of late harvest varieties.
Productivity
Potato Lady Claire (variety description, photos and reviews are always interested in gardeners) with correctly selected soil gives unusually high yields. He prefers to grow the variety in chernozem mixed with sand. This should be the ideal soil: fertile and light, in this soil it will be possible to collect from one hectare from fourteen to eighteen tons of Lady Claire potatoes. Productivity will be much lower if you plant it in clay, heavy soil. The highest yield of the described variety was 267 centners per hectare, which was several times higher than the current standard, which is registered in the register of the Central region.
Tubers are stored all winter perfectly, and not only their marketability is preserved, but also useful substances and vitamins do not disappear. As stated in the variety description, keeping quality until the next season is more than ninety percent.
What is important for the harvest - the tubers are not damaged during harvesting, do not burst during strong impacts. The percentage of ejection after digging potatoes is minimal. The variety is remarkably transported even over long distances and does not deteriorate when staying in a room for a long time, the air temperature in which does not exceed five degrees.
Plant description
The bush of the described potato grows to fifty centimeters; it is erect and not very spreading. The stems are very juicy, do not lie on the ground, until the harvest will stand flat. The foliage of the bush is medium-sized, dark green, the edges are not as wavy as in other varieties, the veins are clearly visible.
When flowering, bushes are covered with medium-sized white flowers. They fall off very quickly and are not able to form berries.
The root system of potatoes is strong, well developed. Under each bush, up to ten large tubers are formed. As for ugly, crooked and small potatoes, their number is minimal. The average weight of a edible tuber is about one hundred grams. The potato has an oval or rounded shape, on the surface there are no pits, tubercles and other irregularities. Small number of eyes, they are small and rare.
The peel has a yellow-cream or sand-beige color, it is rough to the touch. With the apparent thinness of the skin, it is still quite dense.
The pulp has a light yellow tint, it is very dense, and the solids content is quite high. Potato Lady Claire has many useful substances for the body, it is vitamin C, carotene. The starch content is from eleven to sixteen percent.
Taste qualities
Early potato varieties are bad because they do not have such a rich and vibrant taste. Lady Claire is not an exception to the rule, but still differs in quality from other early varieties. The vegetable is moderately boiled, the pulp is not watery.
The amount of starch allows you to produce not only mashed potatoes, but also boil it, cook chips, fries (in the deep fryer, the potato is covered with a delicious golden-brown crust). In addition, the variety is ideal for the manufacture of starch and potato flour.
The advantages of the variety and its disadvantages
Lady Claire has a lot of positive characteristics that gardeners who grow potatoes just for their family and the owners of large farm lands liked. What was so able to enchant the variety with a huge number of people?
- Of course, the first priority is productivity, which exceeds all the usual standards.
- The variety is very resistant to a variety of diseases and pest attacks.
- Lady Claire’s tubers do not degenerate over time. Having bought seeds once, you will be planting potatoes grown by yourself for many years.
- Grade Lady Claire is not too picky about leaving.
- Potatoes are widely used, from it you can cook all your favorite dishes.
- The taste of tubers, although not too bright, but still very pleasant. Tasting grade assessment - 4 points out of five.
- The appearance of Lady Claire is beautiful.
- The variety tolerates dry seasons.
- Ideal storage for a long time.
- High content of amino acids, carotene, vitamins (especially C).
- Possibility of transportation over long distances.
As for the poor characteristics, they are practically nonexistent. The only thing that can be noted is the quality of the soil for planting the variety, and its exactingness for proper watering. Potato with a lack of moisture begins to fade. But if the dry season has come at a time when the plant is quite mature, then troubles can be avoided, and the harvest will not be affected.
How to cook the seeds?
We already wrote that it is possible for several seasons to use potato grown personally for planting, since it does not degenerate for a long time. I want to note that experienced gardeners recommend updating the seeds after four years, and for the fifth season do not plant tubers that you already have, even if they look strong. Lady Claire’s seed potatoes are the most important component of the crop, and if you do not follow the rules, you can eventually grow not so many tubers, and they will differ in quality not for the better.
In order to prepare the seeds for planting, they must be germinated two weeks before the deadline. Seeds should be put in boxes and left in a dark but warmer place than where they were stored all winter. Many gardeners are used to cutting planting material in half, this is contraindicated for Lady Claire, since potatoes can deteriorate and do not germinate in the ground.
When buying seed potatoes, make sure that even in the absence of sprouts there are live eyes. The peel should not be damaged and excessively wrinkled. Tubers should be beautiful, even, without signs of deterioration.
Planting season
So when to plant potatoes? In the southern regions, the planting season begins quite early, let's talk about the Central part of Russia. Lady Claire should be planted at the end of May, when there is no threat of frost, and the soil will warm up to a temperature of at least twelve degrees.
Potato growing sequence
The soil before planting must be well plowed, remove all the roots of weed grass and the remains of the crop from last season. When it is time to plant potatoes, it is necessary to cultivate the earth with a solution of manganese, you can "bathe" the tubers themselves in special preparations that will prevent attacks of pests. To increase productivity, humus or peat is added to the soil.
As the bushes grow, raking is necessary, that is, the formation of high beds so that there is room for the growth of Lady Claire's potatoes. Watering should be done only when drought occurs, if precipitation is stable, then this is not worth it. To keep moisture better, it is necessary to mulch the soil.
At the stage of formation of the bush, it will be nice to fertilize the plants. To do this, once in the soil, fertilize with potassium and phosphorus. Do not use nitrogen-containing products, as greens will grow to the detriment of tuber formation.
A week before digging the crop, you need to cut the tops, so the tubers will accumulate more moisture and nutrients, which Lady Claire's potatoes are famous for. Description of the variety, photos, reviews were presented to your attention in this article.
After harvesting, the crop must be decomposed under a canopy to dry well.
Reviews
Potato Lady Claire fell in love with her unpretentiousness. Gardeners write that this is one of the easiest varieties to grow. At the same time, he is one of the highest yielding. About taste they say that they are good. Potatoes of a pleasant taste, soft, moderately crumbly.