potato

potayto, potahto

A negligible, trivial, or unimportant difference, distinction, or correction. (While "potahto" is not an accepted pronunciation in any English-speaking population, the phrase is an allusion to a verse in the song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off": "You like potayto, I like potahto; you like tomayto, I like tomahto; potayto, potahto, tomayto, tomahto, let's call the whole thing off!") A: "Well, technically, the Hindenburg was a rigid airship, not a blimp." B: "Eh, potayto, potahto, who cares?"

couch potato

Someone who habitually engages in sedentary activities, usually understood as frequently watching television. Lisa wants to date a man who loves to travel and explore, not a couch potato who watches television all the time.See also: couch, potato

hot potato

A sensitive situation or controversial issue that is difficult to handle and thus gets passed from one person to the next (like a potato that is too hot to hold). The political candidate knew the issue was a hot potato, so he deferred to his chief of staff, who directed questions to the committee chairperson.See also: hot, potato

drop (someone or something) like a hot potato

To abandon someone or something suddenly and completely, sometimes to avoid potential problems. I haven't seen Cynthia in weeks because she dropped me like a hot potato once she started hanging out with the cool kids. We dropped our renovation plans like a hot potato after finding out how much the job would cost.See also: drop, hot, like, potato

the meat and potatoes

The most basic or fundamental aspects of something. Too much information will overwhelm the new hire, so just give him the meat and potatoes. The meat and potatoes of this game is keeping possession of the ball.See also: and, meat, potato

small beer

A tiny, trifling, and/or inconsequential person, thing, or amount (of something). Primarily heard in UK. To most people, £2,000 is a lot to spend on anything, but it's small beer to the country's mega rich. I've been trying to raise my concerns about the project, but I'm small beer to the company's upper management.See also: beer, small

small potatoes

A tiny, trifling, and/or inconsequential person, thing, or amount (of something). To most people, $2,000 is a lot to spend on anything, but it's small potatoes to the country's mega rich. I've been trying to raise my concerns about the project, but I'm small potatoes to the company's upper management.See also: potato, small

meat-and-potatoes

Concerned with or pertaining to the most basic or fundamental aspects of something. Too much information will overwhelm the new intern, so just give him the meat-and-potatoes introduction. The meat-and-potatoes argument is that the law will unfairly target lower-class workers.

all (that) meat and no potatoes

A phrase used to describe someone who is very obese. I'm surprised that guy could fit through the door—he's all meat and no potatoes.See also: all, and, meat, no, potato

mouse potato

Someone who spends an excessive amount of leisure time using a computer while being sedentary. A play on the established phrase "couch potato," someone who similarly spends too much time on the couch watching television (or playing video games, etc.). I've been playing this addictive online video game, and it has turned me into a total mouse potato! This new computer is for school work, do you understand? I don't want you turning into a mouse potato.See also: mouse, potato

potato soup

slang Vodka (which is distilled from potatoes). I don't know why Tom buys such cheap potato soup. Sure, it gets you drunk, but the hangover the next morning is savage!See also: potato, soup

potatohead

slang A fool or dolt; someone who act stupidly, carelessly, or thoughtlessly. Sometimes hyphenated or written as two words. John, you potatohead—I told you to double check the oil level before starting the engine! Janet can be such a potatohead sometimes!

couch potato

a lazy individual, addicted to television-watching. All he ever does is watch TV; he's become a real couch potato. Couch potatoes can tend to become very fat and unhealthy, you know.See also: couch, potato

drop someone or something like a hot potato

Fig. to disassociate oneself with someone or something instantly. When we learned of the conviction, we dropped him like a hot potato. I dropped the idea like a hot potato when the big boss said he didn't like it.See also: drop, hot, like, potato

small potatoes

something or someone insignificant; small fry. This contract is small potatoes, but it keeps us in business till we get into the real money. Small potatoes are better than no potatoes at all.See also: potato, small

hot potato

A problem so controversial and sensitive that it is risky to deal with. For example, Gun control is a political hot potato. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, alludes to the only slightly older expression drop like a hot potato, meaning "to abandon something or someone quickly" (lest one be burned). The idiom alludes to the fact that cooked potatoes retain considerable heat because they contain a lot of water. See also: hot, potato

meat and potatoes

The fundamental part or parts of something, as in This paragraph is the meat and potatoes of the contract. This metaphoric term transfers what some regard as basic fare to the basics of an issue. [Mid-1900s] See also: and, meat, potato

small beer

Also, small potatoes. Of little importance, as in Don't listen to Henry; he's small beer, or It's silly to worry about that bill; it's small potatoes. The first term alludes to a beer of low alcoholic content (also called light beer today) and was used metaphorically by Shakespeare in several plays. The variant may have been invented by frontiersman Davy Crockett; it was first recorded in 1836. Also see small fry, def. 2. See also: beer, small

small beer

BRITISHCOMMON If something is small beer, it is unimportant compared with another thing. The five million pound subsidy is, however, small beer compared to the amounts that European governments give their film industries. The present series of royal scandals makes the 1936 abdication look like pretty small beer. Note: `Small beer' originally meant weak beer. See also: beer, small

a couch potato

INFORMALCOMMON If someone is a couch potato, they are lazy and spend most of their time sitting, watching television. Most evenings they sit, like a pair of couch potatoes in front of television. Most of these people are junk-food eating couch potatoes. Note: This expression is a complicated pun based on the American slang term `boob tube' meaning the TV, and the fact that a potato is a variety of tuber or root vegetable. See also: couch, potato

meat and potatoes

INFORMALThe meat and potatoes of something are the most important and basic things about it or parts of it. American workwear is the meat and potatoes of off-duty clothing. The real meat and potatoes of any auto show is in the cars and trucks people can buy now.See also: and, meat, potato

drop something like a hot potato

drop something like a hot brick

If you drop something or someone like a hot potato or drop them like a hot brick, you get rid of them as quickly as possible because they are difficult to deal with, or because you do not want them any more. He was celebrated in the media one minute and dropped like a hot potato the next. He panicked and dropped his lover like a hot brick.See also: drop, hot, like, potato, something

a hot potato

COMMON If a subject or problem is a hot potato, it is very difficult to deal with, especially because it is something that people argue about a lot. When she is faced with a political hot potato such tightening the gun laws, she is not afraid to give her opinion. Pricing policy is another hot potato.See also: hot, potato

small potatoes

INFORMALIf you describe something as small potatoes, you mean that it is small in amount or not important. An audience of 20,000 is small potatoes by his standards. All his influence and success are small potatoes compared with the opportunity that now lies before him.See also: potato, small

couch potato

someone who watches a lot of television, eats junk food, and takes little or no physical exercise. informal Couch potato was a humorous American coinage using the image of a person with the physical shape of a potato slouching on a sofa or couch. Originally, the phrase relied on a pun with tuber in the slang term boob tuber , which referred to someone devoted to watching the boob tube or television.See also: couch, potato

drop someone or something like a hot potato

quickly abandon someone or something. informal Drop here is used literally, but also in the figurative sense of ‘end a social acquaintance with someone’. A hot potato can be used independently as a metaphor for a controversial or awkward issue or problem that no one wants to deal with.See also: drop, hot, like, potato, someone, something

meat and potatoes

ordinary but fundamental things; basic ingredients. 1993 New York Times Mainstream rock acts like Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen are the meat and potatoes of A.O.R. See also: and, meat, potato

small beer

something trivial or insignificant. chiefly British Originally, small beer meant literally ‘weak beer’. 2005 Observer Music Monthly Getting called a ‘Paki’ by ill-informed racists was very small beer compared to being shot at by Sinhalese government forces chasing her father. See also: beer, small

small potatoes

something insignificant or unimportant. This phrase originated in mid 19th-century American use, especially in the form small potatoes and few in the hill . 2002 Science Turner calls this budget a start but says it's ‘small potatoes’ compared to what will be needed to get fuel cell cars to market. See also: potato, small

a ˈcouch poˌtato

(informal, disapproving) a person who spends a lot of time sitting and watching televisionSee also: couch, potato

a hot poˈtato

(informal) a very sensitive matter that is difficult or embarrassing to deal with: His resignation is a political hot potato.See also: hot, potato

ˌmeat-and-poˈtatoes

(American English) dealing with or interested in the most basic and important aspects of something: a meat-and-potatoes argument ♢ My father always was a meat-and-potatoes man (= a person who likes simple things).

small ˈbeer

(British English) (American English small poˈtatoes) something that has little importance or value: Jacob earns about $40 000, but that’s small beer compared with his brother’s salary.See also: beer, small

all (that) meat and no potatoes

phr. said of a tremendously fat person. (Rude.) Look at that guy—all meat and no potatoes. See also: all, and, meat, no, potato, that

all meat and no potatoes

verbSee all that meat and no potatoesSee also: all, and, meat, no, potato

couch potato

n. a lazy, do-nothing television watcher. (see also sofa spud.) If there was a prize for the best couch potato, my husband would win it. See also: couch, potato

drop someone/something like a hot potato

tv. to disassociate oneself with someone or something instantly. When we learned of the conviction, we dropped him like a hot potato. See also: drop, hot, like, potato, someone, something

hot potato

n. a difficult problem. I sure don’t want to have to deal with that hot potato. See also: hot, potato

mouse potato

n. someone who spends a great amount of time using a computer. (Based on couch potato.) Every since we go the new computer, Jane has turned into a regular mouse potato. See also: mouse, potato

potato

n. the head. Put your hat on your potato, and let’s get out of here.

potato soup

n. vodka. (This liquor is typically made from potatoes.) Have a bit of this potato soup, why don’t you? See also: potato, soup

potatohead

n. a stupid person. (see also potato.) Stop acting like a potatohead.

small beer

n. nothing or next to nothing; an insignificant person. (From a very old word for weak or inferior beer.) Small beer or not, he’s my customer, and I will see that he is taken care of. See also: beer, small

small potatoes

n. something or someone insignificant. This contract is small potatoes, but it keeps us in business till we get into the real money. See also: potato, small

meat and potatoes

Informal The fundamental parts or part; the basis.See also: and, meat, potato

couch potato

A physically lazy individual who prefers watching television to other leisure activities. This slangy expression, alluding to an inert object (potato) sitting on a sofa, was invented in the 1970s and quickly gained currency. It also has been suggested that the term is a play on boob tube (slang for television set), since a potato is a tuber. With the proliferation of remote-control devices, the dedicated television addict did not even need to get up to change programs or adjust the volume. The cliché is occasionally used more broadly as well, for anyone who is basically indolent.See also: couch, potato

drop like a hot potato, to

To abandon as quickly as possible; to ditch. The simile is based on the fact that potatoes, which hold a fair amount of water, retain heat very well, as anyone who has so burned his or her fingers will testify. The figurative hot potato is likely to be an embarrassing subject or ticklish problem. The term originated as a colloquialism in the early nineteenth century. It probably was a cliché by the time W. Somerset Maugham wrote, “She dropped him, but not like a hot brick or a hot potato,” meaning that she let him down gently (Cakes and Ale, 1930).See also: drop, hot, like

meat and drink to me, it is

A source of great pleasure. This term appears in Shakespeare’s As You Like It (5.1), in which Touchstone declares, “It is meat and drink to me to see a clown,” but it appears in earlier sources as well. The phrase was hyperbole from the very start, since meat (meaning food) and drink are clearly essential to life. More straightforward is the much newer meat and potatoes, used from the mid-twentieth century on to signify the basics of an issue (transferring the idea that meat and potatoes are the basics of the human diet).See also: and, drink, meat

small beer/small potatoes

Something trivial or unimportant. Literally, “small beer” is the British name for beer of low alcohol content, today more often called “light beer.” As a metaphor it was already being used in Shakespeare’s time, and Shakespeare himself used it in several plays (Henry IV, Part 2; Othello). It is heard more in Britain than in America, where small potatoes, likening a poor crop to something of little worth or importance, dates from the early nineteenth century. David Crockett used it in Exploits and Adventures in Texas (1836): “This is what I call small potatoes and few of a hill.” More picturesquely, D. G. Paige wrote, “Political foes are such very small potatoes that they will hardly pay for skinning” (Dow’s Patent Sermons, ca. 1849). See also: beer, potato, small

small potatoes

An inconsequential amount or insignificant item or matter. Dating from the mid-19th century, the phrase suggests not bothering with undersized spuds while harvesting or buying the vegetable.See also: potato, small

potato

white potato,

common name for a perennial plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the family Solanaceae (nightshadenightshade,
common name for the Solanaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and a few trees of warm regions, chiefly tropical America. Many are climbing or creeping types, and rank-smelling foliage is typical of many species.
..... Click the link for more information. family) and for its swollen underground stem, a tuber, which is one of the most widely used vegetables in Western temperate climates. Evidence of the domesticated potato, which is native to South America, has been found at a 12,500 year-old archaeological site in Chile. The potato was cultivated by the Incas in the Andes, and in pre-Columbian times its culture spread widely among Native Americans, for whom it was a staple food.

Its history is difficult to trace, partly because the name potato was also used by early writers for the sweet potatosweet potato,
trailing perennial plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the family Convolvulaceae (morning glory family), native to the New World tropics. Cultivated from ancient times by the Aztecs for its edible tubers, it was introduced into Europe in the 16th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. (Ipomoea batatas) and for other unrelated plants. Spanish explorers are believed to have brought it in the 16th cent. from Peru to Spain, whence it spread N and W throughout Europe. It was brought to North America by European settlers probably c.1600; thus, like the closely related tomato, it is a reintroduced food plant in the New World. The potato was first accepted as a large-scale crop in the British Isles. It became the major food in Ireland during the 18th cent. and is hence often called Irish potato to distinguish it from the sweet potato. Ireland was so dependent on the potato that the failure (resulting from blight) of the 1845–46 crop caused a famine resulting in widespread disease, death, and emigration. The potato was also important to the course of history in the 20th cent. in Europe, especially in Germany, where it kept the country alive during two world wars.

The potato is today a primary food of Western peoples, as well as a source of starch, flour, alcohol, dextrin, and fodder (chiefly in Europe, where more is used for this purpose than for human consumption). Nutritionally, the potato is high in carbohydrates and a good source of protein, vitamin C, the B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, and iron. Most of the minerals and protein are concentrated in a thin layer beneath the skin, and the skin itself is a source of food fiber; health authorities therefore recommend cooking and eating potatoes unpeeled.

The potato grows best in a cool, moist climate; in the United States mostly in Maine and Idaho. Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Belarus are the greatest potato-producing countries of Europe, and China and India are now (with Russia) among the top three potato growers. Potatoes are usually propagated by planting pieces of the tubers that bear two or three "eyes," the buds of the underground stems. The plant is sensitive to frost, is subject to certain fungus and virus diseases (e.g., mosaic, wilt, and blight), and is attacked by several insect pests, especially the potato beetlepotato beetle,
name for two beetles of the leaf beetle family and for two of the blister beetle family, all destructive to the potato plant and its relatives. Most notorious is the Colorado potato beetle, or potato bug (Leptinotarsa decemlineata
..... Click the link for more information. . Potatoes are classified in the division MagnoliophytaMagnoliophyta
, division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Solanales, family Solanaceae.

Bibliography

See studies by L. Zuckerman (1998) and J. Reader (2009).

potato

Potatoes are a nightshade so people allergic to nightshades should be aware. They are actually listed as toxic. Do not eat potato leaves or flowers. Very high in starch, which when cooked, turns into sugar in the body, leading to weight gain and sugar issues. High source of fiber, rich in potassium for high blood pressure, Vit C. Despite what many people think or fear, raw potatoes, exert an excellent effect on all forms of rheumatism and rheumatic arthritis when these diseases have not progressed too far. They also have a good effect on other diseases with uric acid buildup like psoriasis, gallstones, renal pelvis and urinary bladder. Historically, potatoes were used to treat almost all skin diseases, loss of hair, fat formation and dandruff. It’s good to eat the peel also because it contains flourine which preserves the enamel of the teeth. Potatoes can be grown from just the peelings! Do not eat potato sprouts, flowers, leaves or fruit, which resemble greenish dark grey cherry tomatoes, they are very high in the toxic alkaloid solanine, which affects the nervous system, causing weakness and confusion. This is also in tomatoes, eggplants and other nightshades. When exposed to light, this toxin increases, turning potatoes more green, a sign to stay away. Cooking destroys some of the toxin, but not all.

Potato

several species of tuberous perennials of the genus Solarium, section Tuberarium, family Solanaceae.

There are about 200 wild and cultivated species of potato, growing primarily in South and Central America. Two closely related species are usually cultivated: the Andean potato (S. andigenum), which has long been grown in the territory of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina, and the Chilean potato (S. tuberosum), whose original range included central Chile and the neighboring islands. This species has spread widely (as an annual crop) to countries with temperate climates. The local populace of the mountainous regions of South America also cultivate S. rybinii, S. goniocalyx, S. ajanhuiri, and certain other species.

The plant of the Chilean potato, which grows from a tuber, forms a bush 50–80 cm in height, usually with between three and six green or anthocyanin-containing stalks. Underground shoots, called stolons or runners, grow from the axils of embryonic leaves in the underground part of the stem. They grow to 15–20 cm (in some varieties, to 40–50 cm). As the apexes grow thicker, they give rise to new tubers (modified shoots). The eyes, each with three or four buds, are located on the surface of the tubers in pits bordered by leaf scars. The central bud usually sprouts; only when it is damaged do the other buds begin to develop. The eyes are arranged spirally and are particularly numerous near the apex of the tuber. The tuber may be round, elongated, or oval. The surface color and the pulp may be white, yellow, pinkish, red, or blue. The root system is fibrous and relatively poorly developed. The leaves are odd-pinnate dissected, with lobes of various sizes. They are downy and range in color from yellowish green to dark green. An inflorescence develops of two or three (sometimes four) furcate bostryces. The blossoms are pentamerous, with gamosepalous calyces and incompletely joined white, red-violet, or blue-violet petals. The fruit is a spherical, oval, or napiform berry with small seeds, 1,000 of which weigh 0.5–0.6 g.

Potatoes reproduce vegetatively by the tubers (for breeding purposes by the seeds). The tuber buds in the soil begin to sprout at temperatures of 5°–8° C; the optimal sprouting temperature is 15°–20° C. The optimal temperature for photosynthesis, and for stalk, leaf, and blossom development is 16°–22°C. The tubers develop most intensively at nighttime air temperatures of 10°–13°C. High temperatures (nighttime readings of about 20°C and higher) lead to the thermal degeneration of the potatoes, and the seed tubers produce plants with sharply diminished productivity. The sprouts and young plants are damaged at — 2°C. The coefficient of transpiration averages 400–500. The greatest amount of water is needed by the plant during blossoming and tuber formation. Excess moisture is harmful to the potato. A great deal of nutritive substance is used in developing the foliage and tubers of the potato, especially during the period of maximum growth of the above-ground parts of the plant and at the beginning of tuber formation. A harvest of 200–250 centners per hectare removes from the soil 100–175 kg of nitrogen, 40–50 kg of phosphorus, and 140–230 kg of potassium (statistics of D. N. Prianishnikov). The best soils for potatoes are chernozems, turfy podzols, gray forest soils, and dried peats. The mechanical composition should be sandy loam or light to moderate loams.

The potato is a highly important crop with a variety of uses. On the average, its tubers contain 76.3 percent water and 23.7 percent dry matter, including 17.5 percent starch, 0.5 percent sugars, 1–2 percent proteins, and about 1 percent mineral salts. The maximum content of dry matter is 36.8 percent; the maximum starch, 29.4 percent; and the maximum protein, 4.6 percent. The potato is also a source of vitamins C, Bi, B₂, B₆, PP, and K and a source of carotenoids. More than 100 dishes can be prepared from potatoes. The food industry produces potatoes that are dried, fried (as chips), quick-frozen, flaked, and powdered. Potatoes are of great importance as a raw material for starches, syrups, and spirits. Agricultural livestock are fed the tubers, tops, processing residues, and pulp. In daylight, glycoal-kaloids (for example, solanin and chaconine) form under the skin of the tubers; these substances can cause poisoning if their content surpasses 20–50 mg percent, but they partially dissolve upon boiling in water.

The potato was first cultivated (at first by using wild varieties) about 14, 000 years ago by the Indians of South America. They were first introduced to Europe (Spain) in about 1565. Thereafter, the crop spread to Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain. The Free Economic Society attributed the appearance of the potato in Russia to Peter the Great, who, at the end of the 17th century, had a sack of the tubers sent from Holland. Extensive cultivation began after the Senate issued a decree in 1765 and imported from abroad a quantity of seed potatoes for distribution about the country. The area planted to potatoes began to expand with particular speed in the 1840’s. By the end of the 19th century more than 1.5 million hectares were being planted to potatoes in Russia.

Worldwide in 1970, the area planted to potatoes amounted to about 22.3 million hectares (ha): 2.7 million in Poland, 0.66 in the Federal Republic of Germany, 0.67 in the German Democratic Republic, and 0.54 million in the United States. The total tuber harvest comes to around 298 million tons, an average of 133 centners per ha: 361 centners per ha in the Netherlands, 233 in the United States, 293 in the FRG, 192 in the GDR, and 185 in Poland. In 1971 the USSR planted 7.89 million ha of potatoes; the total harvest came to 92.6 million tons, an average of 117 centners per ha (in Estonia, 178 centners per ha; in Latvia, 160; and in Byelorussia, 130). In comparison with 1913 (4.2 million ha), the area planted in potatoes has nearly doubled. The most important potato regions are in Byelorussia, the western and northern parts of the Ukraine, and the central chernozem areas of the RSFSR. Potato cultivation has been carried beyond the Arctic Circle (on the Kola Peninsula and in the valleys of the Pechora, Ob’, and Kolyma rivers).

Through years of cultivation, hundreds of varieties of potatoes have developed. Most contemporary varieties have been acquired by hybridization. Selective breeding began in the USSR in 1920 at the Korenevo Potato Breeding Station, where the first Soviet varieties were developed in 1925 (the Lorkh and the Korenevskii). According to the date of maturation, potatoes are divided into early, mid-early, mid-season ripening, mid-late, and late varieties. By usage, they are classed as table, fodder, industrial, or universal. By 1972, 105 varieties had been regionalized. The most common varieties are the Priekul’skiy Early, the Lorkh, and the Berlichingen, which are grown nearly everywhere. Other important varieties are the Petrovskii, the Stolovyi 19, the Olev, the Detskosel’skii, the Kameraz, the Vol’tman, the IubeP, the Polesskii, the Parnassiia, the Loshitskii, the Sedov, and the Borodianskii.

With good soil care and proper application of fertilizer, potatoes give high yields even when grown for long periods on the same plots. In field and fodder crop rotation in nonchernozem zones, potatoes are planted on turned sod after winter crops and flax. On sandy soils, the potatoes best follow lupine. In the central chernozem districts, the Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, the Volga region, and Middle Asia, potatoes are planted after winter crops, annual grasses, and corn. In Kazakhstan and eastern Siberia, they follow grain and legume-grass mixtures. In the Urals and Far East, they are planted after grain and grain-legume mixtures. In suburban areas, potatoes are usually cultivated in vegetable rotations. The early potato is a fallow crop; it grows well on loose, weedless, deeply tilled soils. In the fall, soils planted in potatoes are plowed to a depth of 27–30 cm. Thinner soils are plowed to the bottom of the arable layer and the undersoils are loosened. Nonchernozem fields are harrowed and replowed in the spring. On flooded soils this is combined with the application of organic fertilizers. The soils are harrowed to a depth of 17–20 cm or deeply cultivated to 12–15 cm. In the forest-steppe and steppe zones the soil is loosened by cultivating twice. Organic fertilizers (manure and compost) are applied at 20–40 tons per ha in both fall and spring. Green manure is applied to sandy soils. Mineral fertilizers calculated to produce 150–200 centners of tubers per ha provide 20–60 kg per ha of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium if applied in combination with manure and 20–90 kg per ha if without manure. For application during sowing (in the furrows), they should provide 10–20 kg per ha of phosphorus and 15–20 kg per ha of nitrogen. Top dressings should provide 20–30 kg per ha of nitrogen and potassium.

In planting potatoes, tubers of average size are selected (50–80g). The seed potatoes are first allowed to sprout; this speeds the appearance of the shoots by seven to ten days. They are planted when the soil at 8–10 cm reaches 6°–8°C. The early varieties are planted first on fallow fields. In Middle Asia early varieties are given winter plantings (in January and February). Potatoes are planted by potato planters. The distance between the rows may be 60, 70, or 90 cm; the distance between plants in a row may be 23, 25, 30, or 35 cm. The planting standard for seed tubers is 2.5–3.5 tons per ha, planted to a depth of 6–12 cm. The fields are harrowed twice before the shoots appear and loosened several times after they appear. In the nonchernozem zone and the northern regions of the chernozem zone, potatoes are hilled (with moist soil). Herbicides are used against weeds; 2, 4-D (sodium and amino salts and ethers) and nitrophen are most common. A potato combine or potato digger is used for harvesting. To keep a long time, the potatoes are dug after the skin has become rough. In the south they are harvested when the tops die. Early potatoes are harvested when it is most suitable for market. Between two and six days before harvesting, the tops are mowed by a special machine. After drying and sorting, the tubers are placed in storage in special warehouses.

Potatoes are attacked by various diseases. The fungal diseases include phytophthorosis, potato canker, macrosporiosis, and potato scab. The bacterial diseases include stem wilt and ring rot. The viral diseases include mosaic diseases and leaf curl. The potato and stem nematodes also cause damage. Pests include the mole cricket, the wireworm and false wireworm, the beet web-worm, the cutworm, and slugs. Further damage may be caused by the Colorado beetle and, in the Far East, the 28-spotted ladybird.

REFERENCES

Lekhnovich, V. S. “K istorii kul’tury kartofelia v Rossii.” In Materialy po istorii zemledeliia v SSSR, collection 2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1956.
Bukasov, S. M., and A. Ia. Kameraz. Osnovy selektsii kartofelia. Moscow-Leningrad, 1959.
Zhukova, G. S., B. A. Pisarev, and A. I. Kuznetsov. Agrotekhnika kartofelia v osnovnykh zonakh RSFSR. Moscow, 1964.
Kameraz, A. Ia. Rannii kartofel’. Leningrad, 1967.
Novoe v kartofelevodstve. Edited by N. A. Dorozhkin. Minsk, 1967.
Vereshchagin, N. I., A. I. Mal’ko, and K. A. Pshechenkov. Kratkii spravochnik mekhanizatora-kartofelevoda. Moscow, 1968.
Kartofel’. Edited by N. S. Batsanov. Moscow, 1970.

V. S. LEKHNOVICH, K. Z. BUDIN, and A. IA. KAMERAZ

What does it mean when you dream about a potato?

As a subterranean vegetable, the potato represents a symbol of the unconscious. Socially, it is a symbol of laziness (“the couch potato”) or of a person considered to be a “lump” (“potato head”).

potato

[pə′tā·dō] (botany) Solanum tuberosum. An erect herbaceous annual that has a round or angular aerial stem, underground lateral stems, pinnately compound leaves, and white, pink, yellow, or purple flowers occurring in cymose inflorescences; produces an edible tuber which is a shortened, thickened underground stem having nodes (eyes) and internodes. Also known as Irish potato; white potato.

potato

1. a. a solanaceous plant, Solanum tuberosum, of South America: widely cultivated for its edible tubers b. the starchy oval tuber of this plant, which has a brown or red skin and is cooked and eaten as a vegetable 2. any of various similar plants, esp the sweet potato
www.indepthinfo.com/potato
www.potatohelp.com
www.bigspud.com

POTATO

"A person over thirty acting twenty-one." In other words, an older person pretending to be more "with it." See digispeak.

potato

po·ta·to

potato

po•ta•to

potato

Potatoes

potato

potato

potato

potayto, potahto

couch potato

hot potato

drop (someone or something) like a hot potato

the meat and potatoes

small beer

small potatoes

meat-and-potatoes

all (that) meat and no potatoes

mouse potato

potato soup

potatohead

couch potato

drop someone or something like a hot potato

small potatoes

hot potato

meat and potatoes

small beer

small beer

a couch potato

meat and potatoes

drop something like a hot potato

drop something like a hot brick

a hot potato

small potatoes

couch potato

drop someone or something like a hot potato

meat and potatoes

small beer

small potatoes

a ˈcouch poˌtato

a hot poˈtato

ˌmeat-and-poˈtatoes

small ˈbeer

all (that) meat and no potatoes

all meat and no potatoes

couch potato

drop someone/something like a hot potato

hot potato

mouse potato

potato

potato soup

potatohead

small beer

small potatoes

meat and potatoes

couch potato

drop like a hot potato, to

meat and drink to me, it is

small beer/small potatoes

small potatoes

potato

potato

white potato,

Bibliography

potato

Potato

REFERENCES

What does it mean when you dream about a potato?

potato

potato

POTATO

POTATO

potato

Synonyms for potato

noun an edible tuber native to South America

Synonyms

Related Words

noun annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers

Synonyms

Related Words