Puikula

Crop: Solanum tuberosum L. (Potato)

The landrace called ‘Puikula’ has been grown in the northern part of the Nordic countries since the late 18th century. There are only few written documents of stains used at that time but it is known that during 1770s a potato which closely resembled today’s ‘Puikula’ was cultivated in Sweden. It might be brought to Sweden from France and from Sweden further to Finland. (Hannukkala 2009). In Sweden it is known as name ‘Mandelpotatis’ (Veteläinen 2001).

When the potato blight disease came to Europe in 1840s ‘Puikula’ vanished from cultivation in southern Sweden. Luckily its cultivation has already spread towards north. In the early 1900s it was the most important variety in Lapland. (Hannukkala 2009).

In 2000s the cultivation of ‘Puikula’ has covered about half of commercial potato production area in Lapland. In 2018 the production area of ‘Puikula’ was 134 ha. (Finnish Food Authority 2018).

‘Puikula’ is late-maturing, and has long and strong stems and small leaflets. The stems and white flowers contain anthocyanin colour. The long, almost banana-shaped, tubers are white-skinned. The flesh colour is bright yellow and the dry matter and starch contents are high. ‘Puikula‘ is a very late cultivar. Its dormancy mechanism is so strong that it is almost impossible to sprout it during the storage period in winter. This means that it has very good storing before planting. The proper time is 60 to 90 days compared with other varieties, which need two to four weeks sprouting time in the spring. (Veteläinen 2001).

‘Puikula’ behaves as a typical short-day variety in the long-day environment. On the other hand it can utilize quite well the best growing period at the beginning of August. ‘Puikula‘s’ yield potential is high, but the growing season in the north is always too short and therefore the tubers are always harvested immature. Although the yield is low the immature harvesting date gives the tubers their special taste, which is lost if the tubers are fully mature. (Hannukkala 2009).

‘Puikula’s extremely long germinating rest requires at least 4–6 weeks germination in 10–12 degrees. Seed potatoes are planted in deep and large bench to prevent stem tubers to come too up the ground and to avoid frost damage. When vegetation has ripened, the stems are removed 1-2 weeks before harvest to ease harvesting. The most suitable weather for harvesting is dry weather with 10-15 degrees warm. If potatoes are harvested in warm weather it makes stem tubers breathe strongly and later in the warehouse they may suffer from the lack of oxygen causing pathogens. (SPK 2019).

Cultivation System: conventional conditions.