Gala is an early-ripening firm-fleshed edible

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, for which good eating and keeping qualities are claimed. It was developed by the Groß Lüsewitz-based plant breeder Norika. In 2010, it was chosen as

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

's potato of the yearOTZ.de Thüringer Kartoffel des Jahres 2010
/ref> in a public contest to which nearly 1000 consumers contributed, and in which '' Laura'' was second place.

Tuber properties

The potato has typically a roughly oval form with shallow eyes which makes it particularly suitable for mechanical peeling. Its yield per plant is relatively high, but a good water supply is vital. When cooked, the tuber suffers from only very minor discolouring. The variety has a bright yellow skin colour and a medium yellow flesh colour. It also has a very long dormancy period and it normally produced for the fresh market.

Resistances

This variety is heat and drought resistant, as well as resistant to

potato cyst nematode Potato root nematodes or potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are 1-mm long roundworms belonging to the genus ''Globodera'', which comprises around 12 species. They live on the roots of plants of the family Solanaceae, such as potatoes and tomatoes. PCN c ...

. It is also resistant to Pallida types 2 and 3. It has good resistance to foliar and soil-borne diseases and it also has good scab and blackleg resistance.

Planting

Planting, using chitted seed potatoes, can be done at a depth some 2 cm deeper than normal since the plants are compact and easily lifted. To support irrigation requirements and nutritional qualities, ''Gala'' is also suitable for cultivation in relatively light soils. A protective dressing to counter ''

Rhizoctonia ''Rhizoctonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies), but are most frequently found in their sterile, anamorphic state. ''Rhizoctonia'' species are saprotrophic, bu ...

'' is recommended.

External links

Amt für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten Augsburg Fachzentrum Pflanzenbau

References

{{Potato cultivars Potato cultivars