Characteristics | Management Profile | Performance
The Atlantic (B6987-56) potato was released in 1976 (Webb et al. Amer Potato J 55:141-145. 1978) jointly by the USDA-ARS, U. Florida, VPI&SU, Rutgers U., and U. Maine. Its primary use is for the processing into potato chip. Atlantic, a determinate variety, is mid-season in maturity and has a medium to large vine. Due to its high yield and high specific gravity, measures dry matter content mostly starch, it is the major chip potato variety in North America. It has an attractive appearance and is widely adaptable. Its major growing weakness is a sensitivity to environmental stress. Its major processing weakness is the accumulation of reducing sugars under long storage and its sensitivity to adverse storage conditions. Nevertheless, it remains the standard of comparison in potato chip trials.
Summary of Plant Characteristics
- Purpose -- potato chips
- Growth Type -- semi-indeterminate
- Maturity -- medium, 100 to 110 days from planting
- Dormancy -- medium
- Vine -- medium, upright and open
- Leaves -- large, bright, medium green and closed
- Flowers -- abundant, colored pale lavender
- Roots -- shallow to medium, concentrated
- Tubers -- round and uniform, grades consistently 2.5 to 4 inch diameter; great for chipping; smooth, slightly netted, buff-colored skin; creamy white flesh
- Eyes -- shallow and white; few but well distributed
- Set -- sets in mid-hill and bulks rapidly; tubers detach easily from stolon
- Specific Gravity -- high (1.085-1.100), great for chipping
- Sugar -- very low at harvest, increases with storage longer than six months and at temperatures below 50F; may re-condition
- Stem End Discoloration -- not a factor
- External Defects -- none; resists growth cracking and secondary growths
- Internal Defects -- large tubers prone to hollow heart and brown center; susceptible to heat necrosis in sandy warm soils when dry; susceptible to shatter bruise and internal brown spot bruise when handled rough
- Yields -- medium to high with high proportion of US#1 grade
- Disease susceptibility -- (vine) prone to late blight and medium sensitivity to early blight; black leg and leaf roll; most potato viruses, medium sensitivity to stem canker; (tuber) seed decay especially soft rot, common scab, dry rot, pink rot; medium sensitivity to tuber blight and black scurf
- Disease tolerance -- (vine) PVX, golden nematode; medium to early dying; (tuber) immune to net necrosis and tolerant of pink eye
- Herbicide - susceptible to metribuzin injury
- Other -- moderate fertilization, close seed spacing, irrigation scheduling; competes well against weeds
Comments
Tables 2 and 3 show:
- Atlantic yields tend to be slightly above average in Nebraska and about average in the North Central Region.
- Specific gravity of Atlantic is consistently significantly higher than most other chip cultivars.
- Atlantic tends to have the same amount of black scurf as most chip cultivars in Nebraska.
- It stays true to shape better than most chip cultivars in Nebraska.
- In Table 3, external defects are due primarily to common scab and internal defects are primarily due to hollow heart in larger tubers.