Red Scarlett Potato: Variety Description, Photos, Reviews

The variety's name is attributed to the characters in the novel "Gone with the Wind," but there's also a more prosaic version of the name's origin. "Red" means red, and "scarlet" means bright scarlet. This all corresponds to the appearance of the tubers, which indeed have a reddish, or more accurately, bright pink, hue.

Description

Red Scarlet potatoes have elongated oval tubers covered in a thin, pinkish, sometimes raspberry-colored skin. The skin is velvety to the touch. The eyes of this potato variety are almost invisible, yellowish, and very small. The tubers even appear completely smooth, lacking the obligatory vegetative characteristics of potatoes. If sprouts emerge from the eyes, they have a slightly purple tint.

The tubers are yellowish when cut, take a while to darken, and retain their original color even after cooking. The tubers are quite large, with some specimens reaching 150 grams. A single plant can contain up to 20 potatoes of approximately the same size.

The bush itself grows very quickly above the tubers. The tops are not very tall, the leaves are light green, and the flowers seem to match the color of the tubers themselves – pink or light pink. The bush is vibrant and perfectly dense, which makes the fruit rich in many micronutrients. The Dutch became the heirs to potato crops that came to us from South America. Breeding work carried out in this country is increasingly producing new potato varieties.

The technical details of the breeding process are hidden from the outside observer, but they yield excellent results, which many take advantage of, passing on the essential elements of growing this potato variety. The variety's main external characteristic is its thin, uniformly colored skin. The flesh itself is yellowish, breaks down moderately when cooked, and has a very pleasant flavor—not sweet, but not overly salty. This variety, with these characteristics, is excellent for edible use.

The characteristics of the variety itself indicate that it is the most productive of all potato varieties grown in southern Russia or its central regions. A key aspect of its cultivation is maintaining moist soil. This variety does not tolerate dry weather. Therefore, watering is necessary from time to time to ensure adequate moisture. harvested crop made you happy.

Features of cultivation and care

This potato is a premium variety. Growing it is considered prestigious, and its flavor surpasses many similar varieties. It is early-ripening and produces a very high yield per plant and overall. A plant can yield up to 20 tubers, which store well and are suitable for transportation.

Before planting, the tubers must be exposed to light for at least a month to allow sprouts to emerge from the buds. The room temperature during this period should be at least 10–15 degrees Celsius. Insufficient light will result in the sprouts developing insufficiently, which will impact further development.

After sprouting, the largest potatoes should be cut into several segments, which contain the sprouted fragments, but they need to be dried a little so that they will subsequently produce full-fledged sprouts.

Growing

Sprouted tuber sections are planted in a ridge of soil. This method yields the maximum yield. Nitrogen fertilizer is added to the prepared beds. Potatoes or their sections are planted 35 centimeters apart, with a maximum planting depth of 7 centimeters and a furrow spacing of 70 centimeters. If these conditions are met, there is a good chance of growing a full-fledged Red Scarlet potato.

Before planting, add ash (except wood ash) to the holes. It's recommended to add onion peels, which will repel pests. The seedlings themselves are placed in the hole with the seedlings facing up, which promotes rapid growth. Afterwards, cover the seeds with soil, creating a mound of soil about 12 centimeters high.

Once the seedlings emerge, remove weeds, then increase the ridge depth to 20 centimeters using a hoe. Throughout the growing season, the beds must be hilled; without this, the plant will develop completely differently and will not produce the required amount of fruit.

Water the potatoes three times: before they bloom, during flowering, and eight days after flowering. Much of the watering depends on the weather, but the main thing is not to overwater the potatoes. Seedlings need to be hilled at least three times during the growing season. Fertilizer should also be applied three times. With proper care, this variety produces good yields.

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The Red Scarlet potato variety, bred by Dutch breeders, is known for its high yield. It's an early variety, ready to harvest as early as July or August. With proper care, yields will continue to grow consistently throughout subsequent years. Its flavor is significantly superior to other varieties, and the tubers themselves are large and oblong. They store well over winter, maintaining their flavor and appearance.

Reviews

Liza, Omsk

"I'm a big potato lover; I eat them almost every day, mostly boiled. But for me, the most important thing isn't the availability of potatoes, but their quality. They need to be starchy and crisp. I grow my own potatoes in my garden. In the past, I mostly grew the Nevsky and Tuleyevsky varieties. The year before last, I bought the Red Scarlet variety, just one kilogram. With normal care, I harvested four 12-liter buckets of them. All the tubers are large and select. The taste is simply delicious, even without oil. I recommend this variety to anyone who gardens on their own."

Julian, Leninsk-Kuznetsky

"We've been growing it for three years now. This variety produces excellent yields. From ten kilograms, I can harvest 38 buckets. The tubers are large, uniform, and flawless. The flavor is excellent. No other variety I've grown before compares to this one."

Rikli, Lutsk

"This is the second year I've been planting this potato variety, and even without adding compost or fertilizer, the yield is simply excellent. Each plant yields up to fifteen large tubers. My father says he's never seen such results. Importantly, it stores well over the winter. I highly recommend it."

Roman, Stavropol

"Three years ago, I took up gardening and decided to plant potatoes. I bought a Red Scarlet variety at the market, just three kilograms. I planted 50 tubers in a 4 x 4 meter plot. The soil wasn't fertilized, and I didn't fertilize it during the season, just hilling it up occasionally. By the end of July, the tops were already starting to dry out, so I decided to harvest. I ended up with 21 kilograms! I planted 4, and harvested 21! The potatoes tasted simply excellent. I'll plant more next year. Incidentally, in my opinion, that's the only drawback—I didn't plant enough."