Description of the Gala potato variety, features of cultivation and care

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

Description of the Gala variety

In the description of the Gala potato variety, an important role is played by what relates to:

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

Gala potatoes have the following external description:

1. Bushes are erect with stems of medium height.
2. The vegetation is medium.
3. The dark green leaf plates are wavy at the edges, which helps them adapt to the heat.
4. The corolla of the inflorescence is large, white.

Tubers are formed on medium-sized bushes with a mass of 100 to 120 grams. The rounded-elongated shape of the fruit with finely spaced eyes is distinguished by an excellent marketable type of potato products. From above, the tubers are covered with a yellowish skin, under which the pulp of the same color is hidden. Dining room potato variety differs in 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 cooking, the fruits of potatoes do not boil over and do not darken.

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

Growing regions

The Gala variety was bred by German breeders and since 2008 has been included in the State Register of medium early type potato varieties. Due to the high yield of potatoes, when up to 400-600 kilograms of tubers are dug from one hundred square meters, it has allowed the variety to become the leading variety among farmers and summer residents.

Vegetables are grown in areas with unstable weather and cold climates. The vegetable is appreciated for the early ripening period 75 days after planting. Gala Potatoes represent the finest table vegetables in farmers' fields.

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

Keeps potatoes quality in our beds in Siberia and the Far East. 2 months after planting, you can feast on fresh potatoes, and 3-4 weeks later - tubers completely ready for storage.

Advantages and disadvantages

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

1. A crop from a varietal vegetable can be obtained on any soil. The regions of central Russia have optimal conditions for growing potatoes of German selection.
2. Up to 20-30 medium-sized tubers are instilled from one bush.
3. Considering the early ripening of the vegetable, it is possible to vary the planting time, to shift the harvesting period by 1–2 weeks.
4. The resistance of potatoes to diseases is noted: bacterial cancer, scab.
5. With properly organized storage, the fruits of potatoes will remain without rotting for up to 6-7 months.
6. The variety is distinguished by good taste. Tubers are suitable for preparing main courses, salads, chips. It is useful to include potatoes in the menu for those who follow the figure and want to lose excess pounds. In addition to carotene, tubers have a lot of vitamin C and protein, which allows you to stay full without gaining mass.

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, rhizoctonia. Then the bushes begin to lag behind in development and may die, which will have a bad effect on the harvest.

Growing features

The reviews of those who planted Gala potatoes and grow them in their gardens say that in order to get a harvest, you need to observe the agricultural technology of vegetable crops. For those who planted 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 crop care will lead to providing the family with potatoes for the whole winter, and the farmer will be able to sell the tubers with great profits.

Landing place

In order for the Gala potato variety to fully show its best properties, they pay attention to the choice of a site for a vegetable crop.

It is not recommended to leave hillsides or low-lying places for potatoes. The area 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 reach an average height, and the tubers will be small. Only in direct sunlight does the plant develop fully with timely ripening of the fruits.

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

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What can be planted before and after the Gala?

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

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

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

After the early ripe Gala, cabbage and cucumbers are planted. To carry out the planting of potatoes with benefit, siderates are 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 the fall, a plot is prepared by digging or plowing the ground. In heavy soil, river sand and humus are introduced before digging. The field is treated with a walk-behind tractor, a hand cultivator. The most reliable digging tool is a shovel. The plowing depth should not exceed 30 centimeters.

Add 20 grams of ammonium nitrate to one square meter of the field. Clay can be added to make sandy soil heavier.

If the work on digging the soil was carried out correctly, then in the summer hilling potatoes will pass without much effort.

Soil acidity

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

• using a litmus test;
• infusion of bird cherry;
• the predominance of plant species on the site;
• bloom on the soil surface.

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

Having lowered a piece of earth in an infusion of bird cherry leaves, it is determined by the red color of the liquid that the soil is acidic. A neutral compound will show blue, and a slightly acidic one will show green.

On acidic soils, bear's ear, mariannik, peppermint, horsetail, plantain grow well. Slightly acidic - they recognize it by sow thistle, creeping wheatgrass, mother-and-stepmother. Rusty deposits on the ground are the result of increased acidity of the soil.

The constant introduction of dolomite flour every 5 years will maintain the normal acidity of the soil.

Wells

For a month, they prepare material for planting potatoes. This includes the culling of tubers, leaving only healthy ones weighing 50–70 grams. Seeds larger than 100 grams are best cut 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.

Germination of seed potatoes is carried out in advance for 40 days. To do this, tubers in 2 or 3 layers are laid out 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 kept for 10-15 days at a temperature of 14-18 degrees... The finished planting material should be slightly green with powerful shoots 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.

The method of planting potatoes Gala square-nesting according to the scheme of 70x70 centimeters. The embedding depth of seed tubers is 8-10 centimeters, depending on the soil structure.

Care features

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

An important role is played by weeding, feeding the plantings of a vegetable plant, and hilling leads to the formation of additional underground stems and an increase in the number of tubers from one bush.

Watering

The hygrophilousness of Gala potatoes is known, therefore, it will be necessary to water the planting of the vegetable, especially during dry summer. Potato beds should not be allowed to dry out, abundantly moistening the soil. Watering is started 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 moisturizing the potatoes during and after flowering. 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: by sprinkling, and by 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 aisles are closed by 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 loosening depth is 6–8 centimeters.

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Hilling

Increase the yield of Gala potatoes by hilling. The first time the procedure is carried out when the height of vegetable bushes is 15–20 centimeters. They rake in the earth by 8-10 centimeters. The second hilling is best done before the Gala potatoes begin to bloom. It is too late to huddle with flowers, since the tops of the plant bushes will close. The second time they rake in the ground by 15-18 centimeters. They huddle only in wet ground, then additional stems under the ground will develop successfully. Dry weather treatments will reduce yields.

Top dressing of potatoes

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

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

Pests and diseases

Gala varietal potatoes are rarely attacked by diseases and pests, but if this happens, an urgent need to take control measures:

1. FROM potato scoop, harming in the caterpillar stage, is combated by spraying with insecticides. Prevention consists of digging the site in autumn, burning plant waste after harvesting.
2. When a bear attacks, treatment of plants with a solution of Karbofos will help.
3. From the wireworm, the larvae of the click beetle, bait from cake, bran, cut potatoes poisoned with insecticides will save.

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

Of fungal diseases, the Gala variety is susceptible to late blight and rhizoctonia. To avoid contamination, fungicidal agents must be used. Tubers need processing in solutions of Maxim, Prestige preparations in the fall before laying the crop in the cellar and before planting. For 10 kilograms of planting material, 10 milliliters of Maxim are needed. To increase the immunity of plants, add 2 grams of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate to the solution.

Rhizoctonia as a fungus

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

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

Rhizoctoniasis prevention measures are:

• the acquisition of healthy seed material;
• introduction of mineral and organic complexes;
• treatment of the cellar before laying potatoes with a solution of bleach, and tubers with Maxim.

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

Late blight

Potato rot, or late blight, is determined by brown spots on the leaves. White bloom is visible on the bottom of the plates. As soon as the leaves dry up, the disease spreads to the stems and tubers. The fruits of the vegetable turn brown, rot, becoming soft. Planting potatoes is treated with Arcerid three times with a break of 7-14 days. For the prevention of fertilization, it is advisable to use it regularly, and dry seed potatoes thoroughly before planting.

Viral diseases

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

Harvesting and storage

The early Gala potatoes are harvested before other vegetable varieties. Already in August, a vegetable store is prepared in advance for laying the dug tubers.

A week before harvesting, you need to cut the tops of 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 skin. Despite the high yield of potatoes, it is not always possible to preserve the vegetable during the winter. This happens because damaged, diseased fruits are placed in the cellar.

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

Air ventilation is necessary for tubers, otherwise crop rot may occur. The best place to store potatoes will be wooden boxes, bags.

Gardeners reviews

In the reviews of Gala potatoes, you can hear a lot of positive responses.

Tatiana, Novosibirsk:

“Despite our unpredictable climate, we are growing Gala potatoes quite successfully. Our family loves medium-sized tubers. The potato tastes amazing in any dish. "

Ivan, Irkutsk:

“My wife and I love the Gala potato variety because it is easy to care for. We have no time to take care of the garden. But potatoes always grew well. In August, we already dig up tubers, dry them and store them. The harvest is harvested, you can devote time to yourself. "