Potato Luck: variety description, photos, reviews

A description of the "Udacha" potato variety, its photos, and gardener reviews will help everyone understand the growing process of this root crop. Russian breeders position this subvariety as excellent seed material for producing a high-quality harvest as early as late June.The photo clearly shows the smooth, elongated tubers of the "Udacha" potato variety with their thin skin and smooth surface, which significantly reduces waste during processing. Descriptions and online user reviews note the excellent shelf life of the crop when stored for long periods in a regular cellar or basement.

Description and characteristics of the potato variety "Luck"

The tubers have a smooth skin, which can change from light beige to dark brown over time during storage. The eyes are faintly visible, which does not affect yield. The flesh is white when cut raw, but turns creamy yellow when cooked. Medium-sized potatoes rarely weigh more than 200 g, but their small size is compensated for by the large number of tubers per plant.

The bush grows to a medium size, with abundant foliage and dark green foliage. It blooms prolifically in snow-white rosettes.

Advantages of the variety

In most areas, this variety performs well on sandy and compacted soils, depending more on climate conditions than on cultivation techniques. It tolerates low temperatures, both during the growing season and during storage. It tolerates viral infections and rhizoctania well, and has relatively moderate resistance to the following diseases:

• late blight;
• rugose mosaic;
• blackleg;
• wet rot;
• common scab.

The first harvest can be obtained as early as 45 days after germination. Since the tubers tolerate mechanical damage well, you can lightly dig up the bush and select large potatoes, extending the variety's yield for several months. With proper cultivation and care, each bush can yield at least 1 kg of high-quality produce.

Rules for growing "Luck" potatoes

The best predecessors of the variety are:

• rye;
• peas;
• beans;
• beet.

Note: Do not plant potatoes in areas that were occupied by peppers, tomatoes, carrots, or cucumbers in the previous season.

Soil preparation

After harvesting at the end of the season, clear the garden beds of debris and dig them over to a depth of a bayonet-sized spade. While loosening the soil, apply the following fertilizers at a rate of 1 square meter:

• 30 g superphosphates;
• 10 kg of mature compost;
• 15 g of potassium salt.

Repeat digging in the spring by half a depth, adding the following components per 1 sq. m:

• 1 cup of wood ash; 2
• tbsp. nitrophoska or nitroammophoska.

If the primary soil in the area is peat, add one bucket of humus, compost, or river sand during spring gardening. For clay soils, mix the surface of the garden bed with peat or humus in the same amount per square meter. In areas with sandy soils, add clay or peat to the garden bed, using one bucket of each.

The right choice of tubers

Gardeners begin purchasing potatoes for planting in mid-April. When doing so, they should review the product quality certificate, which essentially serves as the potato's passport. It must include all the necessary information about the planting material:

• harvest year, variety;
• reproduction;
• landing site;
• farm address;
• external characteristics and purpose of tubers.

The best varieties are elite and super-elite – this means that the “Udacha” potato will continue to delight with a high-quality harvest for another 5 years.

All tubers should be the size of a chicken egg, with a smooth, even skin. This means they were stored properly, will survive planting, and will produce high-quality seedlings. Avoid buying sprouted potatoes for planting—many varieties, especially early varieties, do not tolerate sprouting well.

Sprouting tubers

Select tubers of the desired size and place them in a room with a temperature of no less than 16°C and no more than 18°C. This variety produces a large number of large fruits. Therefore, in a fruitful year, finding planting material of the required size can be difficult. Large potatoes cut into several pieces will do the job perfectly. Make sure that each piece has 2-3 eyes.

Dust the cut ends with wood ash and arrange the resulting material on shelves in a single layer. A well-lit room is essential for germination—sunlight causes the tubers to accumulate solanine. This is the plant's natural defense against fungi and pests.

Experts recommend accelerating germination by placing the planting material in a liquid substrate – this will accelerate root growth simultaneously with the emergence of sprouts.

Planting potatoes

The standard spacing for planting "Udacha" potatoes is at least 20 cm between plants and 30-40 cm between rows. If the potatoes are cut, the holes or furrows should be no deeper than 6 cm; if the potatoes are whole, no deeper than 10 cm.

When planting, it's recommended to add a handful of wood ash and mature compost under each future bush. Avoid increasing the amount of fertilizer immediately, as this won't yield a good harvest. It's better to combine additional fertilizing with hilling.

Ripening time

When describing the "Udacha" potato variety, growers claim that the new crop can be sampled as early as 45 days after germination. You should check the new potatoes for readiness for consumption a week or two after flowering begins.

Carefully dig up the bush and check the size of one or two tubers. If they've grown to the size of a chicken egg, the "Udacha" potato is ready to eat. This variety of potato will reach its marketable appearance after the yellowed bush has completely lodged. This is approximately 60-80 days after planting.

Caring for the "Luck" potato

The main cultivation techniques for this variety include timely soil loosening and adequate fertilization, depending on the soil type in the growing area. The variety is declared drought-resistant, so watering the potato bed is not necessary. The exception is prolonged hot weather, which can cause the soil beneath the plants to become too hot.

In anticipation of spring frosts, the beds with the plant should be covered with suitable material or sprinkled with soil as high as possible.

Possible diseases and pests

If spring and early summer are rainy, you should stock up on contact and systemic insecticides – in damp weather, viral diseases can develop on potatoes:

• late blight;
• Alternaria.

Gardeners use a mixture of copper sulfate with water or a solution of copper sulfate for lampreys in addition to chemical means of disease control.

The Colorado potato beetle remains the main pest for the "Udacha" potato variety. You can treat the potato bushes with pesticides or collect the beetles and their larvae by hand. Nematodes and wireworms also enjoy feeding on young tubers. In this case, chemicals are essential. They should be incorporated into the soil before planting and between rows during hilling. Marigolds planted in potato beds are a good folk remedy—they effectively disinfect the soil and repel most insects with their scent.

Collection and storage

Once all the bushes have fallen and begun to dry out, the "Udacha" variety is ready for digging and storage. When sorting, it's important to inspect each potato and discard any diseased or damaged ones. Dry the tubers in the shade with good ventilation. Experts recommend spraying the harvested crop with a copper sulfate solution at a ratio of 2 g per 10 liters of water – this will disinfect the tubers and preserve the harvest longer.

Place the tubers with completely dry skins into boxes placed in the cellar. The storage temperature should not exceed 4°C during cold weather. Otherwise, the potatoes will sprout too early, and sprouts from the cellar will have a much lower yield than those grown in the sun.

Reviews

Elena Petrovna:

“This is my third year planting ‘Udacha’ – I really like that the harvest is good and it’s delicious.”

Igor:

"Last year, late blight ruined the entire harvest, which was a shame. Before that, I got 11 buckets from one bucket of 'Udacha' planting material—it was beautiful."

Vasily Nikolaevich:

"I plant several buckets every year—we eat them practically until the next harvest. What's remarkable is that the longer it sits in the cellar, the tastier it becomes."