Rocco Potato: Variety Description, Characteristics, and Reviews

Every spring, gardeners face a difficult choice: which potato variety to plant that's disease-resistant, has a pleasant flavor, and ripens quickly. The Rocco potato has advantages over other varieties in almost every respect.

The Dutch Rocco potato is popular not only abroad, where it was first grown, but also in Russia. Its popularity stems from its excellent taste, ease of cultivation, and relative health benefits.

Description and characteristics of the Rocco potato

The characteristics of the Rocco potato variety are appreciated by many experienced gardeners. When discussing this variety, its high yield is always mentioned. Visually, it's difficult to confuse Rocco with other varieties. The potato has a thin, reddish-pink skin and a smooth surface, resembling, at first glance, a ripe red apple. The plant grows to a medium height. When cut, a ripe potato should have a creamy flesh. For a more accurate description of the Rocco potato variety, refer to the photos below.

Rocco Potato: Properties and Yield

As mentioned in the variety description, the Rocco potato is distinguished by its large number of tubers per plant, averaging 12. They are also relatively heavy, weighing up to 125 g. The fruits can be harvested 100 days after planting.

Compared to other varieties, Rocco is quite dietary – the starch content in the potato does not exceed 14%, while the equally common Vector potato contains 19% starch.

Advantages and disadvantages of Rocco potatoes

Most vegetable crops have their advantages and disadvantages, but this clearly cannot be said about the Rocco variety. After reading the reviews below the characteristics of the Rocco potato, you can see that, according to gardeners, this variety has no shortcomings at all. However, it has many advantages:

• aesthetic appearance of fruits;
• high resistance to common diseases and viruses;
• not picky about soil;
• ability to withstand sudden weather changes and drought;
• high yield and large fruits;
• good taste.

Rules for growing the variety

Although the Rocco potato variety is undemanding in terms of growing conditions, there are still some planting considerations. First, potatoes need to be planted on time. In central Russia, this should be done in the second half of March or early April, depending on local weather conditions. In northern regions, where winters are long and cold, potatoes should be planted when soil temperatures are consistently above freezing.

As mentioned earlier, this variety is relatively easy to grow, including when it comes to soil selection. The main requirement is level, weed-free soil. Open areas with unobstructed sunlight are ideal for planting potatoes. Neutral soils are preferable.

Carefully inspect the tubers immediately before planting. Rocco is resistant to many diseases, but some can be affected by poor-quality, diseased tubers. Therefore, purchase seed from trusted sources. To be absolutely sure the tubers are free of any infections, treat them with Epin. Also, a few days before planting, place the potatoes in the sun to warm up.

On planting day, dig holes for the potatoes. Avoid digging holes too close together, as this potato variety tends to grow very large. Before planting the tubers, it's a good idea to fertilize the soil by adding a little wood ash to the bottom of the holes. This type of fertilizer can also be used during autumn tilling and for feeding the plants.

Rocco potato care instructions

The Rocco potato's characteristics allow it to produce a good harvest even with simple care, making it a perfect variety for beginning gardeners. However, it does require a little effort.

1. Potato beds need to be weeded regularly and thoroughly. In the early stages, this should be done carefully to avoid damaging the young seedlings.
2. The description of the Rocco potato variety already stated that it is drought-resistant, so it needs to be watered as the soil dries out.
3. To ensure better air penetration to the potatoes, it is necessary to loosen the beds at regular intervals.
4. Throughout the potato's growth period, it needs to be fertilized. This can be done with the wood ash described earlier.
5. To protect tubers from diseases, you can spray the plants with special chemicals and insecticides in accordance with the instructions.
6. It's important to promptly eliminate pests that appear in your garden beds. We'll discuss this in more detail in the next section.
7. Potatoes can be dug up only after their leaves have completely turned yellow.

Diseases and pests and methods of control

The main disease to which the Rocco variety is weakly resistant is leaf blight. Ideal conditions for this disease to develop are areas with humidity reaching 90% and temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius. The disease manifests itself as dark spots on potato leaves. If late blight is not treated promptly, it will quickly spread to the plant stem. This disease can only be controlled with the chemical Fungicide Gold. Apply it according to the instructions.

The Colorado potato beetle and wireworm are pests of the Rocco variety. They successfully attack almost all potato varieties. They are quite easy to distinguish from other harmless insects: the wireworm has an orange body and a black head, while the Colorado potato beetle has white stripes on its back.

To prevent wireworm infestations, you can treat the planting holes with a potassium permanganate solution. If wireworms do appear in your garden, use the insecticide "Bazudin" or make a homemade trap from potato pieces. Pierce small potato pieces with a toothpick and bury them 10 cm into the ground. After a week, remove the toothpicks and remove the wireworm larvae.

Colorado potato beetles are also relatively easy to control. It's worth noting that the danger to agriculture isn't so much the beetles themselves, but rather their orange larvae, which the insects lay on the underside of leaves. There are two effective ways to control the larvae and adult beetles: by hand-picking them from the plant's leaves or using the insecticide Carado.

Resistance of the variety to diseases

Thus, late blight of leaves, Colorado potato beetles, and wireworms are the main ailments that can affect the Rocco potato variety. This proves that Rocco is resistant to many diseases, including potato wart. Viruses Y and potato nematodes also fail to damage the Rocco potato crop. Another advantage of this variety is its high resistance to leaf curl.

Reviews

User reviews of the Rocco potato confirm the variety's description, namely its visual beauty. Due to its aesthetic appearance, the Rocco variety is often grown commercially. In their reviews, gardeners who grow this variety also regularly mention its amazing flavor. They also praise the tubers' excellent shelf life after harvesting. Rocco potatoes can be stored all winter without losing their flavor.