Colette Potato: Variety Description, Characteristics, Reviews

Today we'll tell you about the Colette potato variety (description, photos, and reviews are below). It has been grown in our country for over 15 years. Vegetable growers love Colette for its high yield, disease resistance, and short ripening time, which is especially important for the North Caucasus region.The description of the Colette potato variety mentions that it can be grown twice per season. In warm climates, this is certainly true, but in the Moscow region or central Russia, getting a double harvest in a season will require the use of a greenhouse or hotbeds. Overall, this variety is popular with both private growers and farmers.

Description of the variety

The bush of this variety is upright and medium-height. The green leaves are small, with slightly wavy edges. The flowers are large and beautiful, with a reddish-purple hue. Colette tubers are elongated and oval-shaped, with smooth yellow skin and small eyes. The flesh is light yellow. Tubers weigh between 120 and 123 g.

Characteristics of the variety

Colette is an early-ripening variety; the harvest is 45 days after germination. At this time, you can get 110 to 150 kg per 0.5 square meter. If you wait 10 days, the harvest will increase in weight from 160 to 280 kg. The variety has a high shelf life of up to 92%. The starch content in the tubers ranges from 12 to 15%. A distinctive feature of the Colette variety is that the tubers do not become mushy when boiled. This potato is suitable for most dishes, including chips.

The Colette variety is resistant to late blight and is not affected by cyst-forming nematodes or potato cancer.

The main advantages of the variety:

• excellent germination;
• friendly return;
• early variety (ripens in 45 days, can be grown again in the southern regions, Moscow region and central zone);
• good shelf life of the crop 97%;
• high transportability (tubers tolerate transportation well even over long distances);
• resistance to a number of major diseases;
• uniform tuber shape, suitable for industrial processing.

Planting dates

Potato planting times vary depending on regional weather conditions. It's important for the soil to warm to 10 degrees Celsius and be sufficiently moist. Knowing the ripening time for Collete potatoes allows you to determine the planting date.

How to plant correctly

Germination. Three weeks before planting, the seed potatoes are brought into a warm room with a temperature of around 20°C and humidity of 80%. After a few days, the temperature is lowered to 10°C, which promotes the formation of strong sprouts.

Tuber treatment. This procedure is performed to protect seed material from insect pests and certain diseases. The following products are used for tuber treatment: Prestige, Maxim, Cruiser, and Albit.

Site selection. Potato beds should be planted in open, sunny locations, away from groundwater. Good predecessor crops for potatoes include peas, beans, dill, basil, mustard (used as green manure), beets, and peppers.

Planting. Colette tubers are planted in holes or furrows, always adding a handful of wood ash and humus (0.5 liters). The seeding depth is 12 cm in light soils and 6-7 cm in loamy and peaty soils. Leave 35 cm between tubers and 60-70 cm between rows.

Care

Watering. The Colette variety requires moisture. The first watering is done as soon as the seedlings emerge. A second watering is necessary during bud formation, and a third watering is done after flowering, when the tubers are actively growing. If extreme heat persists for three or more days, the plants should be watered.

Loosening and weeding are also essential components of potato planting care. The soil is loosened between rows after rainfall to a depth of 3-4 cm. Weeds are essential, as they attract harmful insects. For example, click beetles use couch grass, or rather its succulent roots, to lay their larvae. These larvae subsequently burrow into the potato tubers.

Hilling. This technique helps promote tuber formation and increases the plant's feeding surface. Hilling is done over moist soil. The first time, this should be done as soon as the young potato plant grows 10-12 cm. The second time, hilling is done 14 days later. This is done by raking soil up to the plant stem from all sides.

Fertilizers. For the 'Colette' variety, supplemental feeding is essential. During the growth stage, if the foliage is pale and the stems are thin, feed with urea or Effecton. During bud formation, plants can be fed with wood ash (50 g per bush during hilling) or potassium sulfate. The final fertilization is done during the flowering stage. For this, use three tablespoons of superphosphate per 10 liters of water. The resulting solution is applied at a rate of 1 liter per plant.

Diseases and pests

Since the variety is not susceptible to major diseases, the plantings are treated once during the intensive growth period as a preventative measure. For this purpose, use one of the following products: Poliram, Kurzat, Hom, or Ordan.

Pests:

• The Colorado potato beetle lays hundreds of yellow eggs on the undersides of leaves, which hatch after a few days and feed on green leaves. These insects are controlled with Prestige, Masterpiece, and Batsikol.
• Wireworms, or click beetle larvae, damage potatoes by boring into them. In the spring, a week before planting, special wireworm traps are set out in the garden beds. They're easy to make; plastic sour cream cups work well. Fill them with potato peelings and bury them at ground level. After a few days, the hungry larvae will inevitably crawl into the bait, and all that's left to do is destroy them.
• Another common pest is the potato moth. It lays eggs on the petioles of potato leaves, which soon hatch into caterpillars. They quickly destroy all the green foliage and may even taste the tubers near the soil surface. Caterpillars can be controlled with Iskra, and to prevent their presence near the beds, pheromone traps can be installed; these can be purchased at any gardening store.

Harvesting and storage of crops

Harvesting this variety of potato can be done manually or with machinery. Drying potato tops are a sure sign of harvest time. Drain the potatoes in good, sunny weather. The dug-up tubers are left for a couple of hours to air out. The potatoes are then sorted, removing any damaged tubers. The harvest is stored in a cellar. To preserve the potatoes until spring, maintain a temperature of no more than 2°C and a humidity of around 80%.

Reviews of the variety

Tamara, 46 years old:

"I liked the Colette potatoes for their yield. The tubers are large, uniform in size, and smooth, making them easy to peel. This variety is great for salads because it doesn't overcook. Their special flavor is revealed when fried, making them recommended for making chips."

Georgy, 41 years old:

"I planted the variety in loamy soil, but added humus and wood ash when digging the plot first. I got a good harvest. For food, I started digging the potatoes around 45 days after germination."

Sergey, 35 years old:

"We've been growing Colette potatoes for five seasons now, and overall we're pleased with the harvest. I've only changed the seeds once. The plants haven't had any diseases, and the only pests they're plagued by are the Colorado potato beetle. Even though it's an early variety, the harvest stores well until spring."