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University of Florida Potato Variety Trials Spotlight: 'Snowden'1

Mario H. M. L. Andrade, Rodrick Z. Mwatuwa, Christian T. Christensen, and Lincoln Zotarelli 2

There are several potato varieties available in the market today. Most of them have been bred or developed in production regions other than Florida. The University of Florida Potato Variety Evaluation Program screens new germplasm from public and private breeding programs and identifies the most promising cultivars for commercial potential considering broad adaptability to Florida climate and conditions and market purpose: processing, fresh-market and specialty-type varieties. Over the years, the UF/IFAS Potato Variety Program has become an important reference to vegetable growers, seed producers, processors, crop insurance agencies, and brokers looking for alternative potato varieties to explore different markets, improved characteristics, and yield. This UF/Potato Variety Trials Spotlight presents a summary of the field evaluation of tuber yield and quality performance of the potato variety 'Snowden' cultivated in Florida.

General Comments

'Snowden' is a potato variety that is commonly grown for the potato chip market. It was selected from a cross of 'Le-nape' and 'Wischip' by Dr. Stan Peloquin and Mr. Donald Kichefski at the University of Wisconsin. It was named and released in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin's Lelah Starks Potato Breeding Farm in Rhinelander, WI. Tuber production and quality results provided in this spotlight are summarized from various variety trials conducted by the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center from 1998 to 2019.

General Characteristics

'Snowden' stems have an upright growth habit that gives this variety a competitive advantage over many weed species. Both stems and leaves have a slight pubescence. Tubers have light-tan and slightly netted skin with a white flesh (Figure 1) according to Florida's rating codes for potato tuber characteristics (Table 1). The tubers are uniform with a round to slightly flat shape. The eyes are of medium size and are uniformly distributed around the tuber. The variety has a medium tuber dormancy (e.g., time required for sprout emergence) with a high specific gravity adapted for Florida growing conditions (Tables 2 and 3). The variety has a high specific gravity of 1.075, making it suitable for the chip market. In most trials conducted in Florida, the variety demonstrated similar marketable yields and good tuber characteristics as compared to its commercial standard 'Atlantic' (Table 2). On average, 85% of the tubers produced were from tuber size distribution classes A1 to A3.

Figure 1. Typical tuber and internal flesh color of 'Snowden' potato variety.
Figure 1.  Typical tuber and internal flesh color of 'Snowden' potato variety.
Credit: Lincoln Zotarelli, UF/IFAS

Diseases

'Snowden' is susceptible to early blight (Alternaria solani), late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and common scab (Streptomyces scabies). In most trials, this variety showed slight susceptibility, less than 1%, to internal heat necrosis, corky ring spot, and hollow heart (Table 3). The UF/IFAS Extension recommendation for adisease and weed control program is described under Potato Production (Chapter 14 of the Vegetable Production Handbook for Florida, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv131) .

Season Length and Growth

'Snowden' performs as a midseason-maturity variety under Florida growing conditions. Season lengths range from 82 to 119 days from planting to harvesting, depending on growing conditions during the season, on average the season length was 100 days. Late in the season; tuber size should be checked regularly in order to harvest tubers with marketable size.

Fertilization

University of Florida trial plots are normally fertilized with 200 to 230 lb/acre N. The first application of 100 lb/acre of N (granular) is typically incorporated in the bed prior to planting, followed by one or two side-dress fertilizer applications at emergence and/or tuber initiation. Phosphorus and potassium applications follow the UF/IFAS guidelines described in Liu et al. (2020) and normally range between 45 to 100 lb/ac of P2O5 and 170 to 235 lb/ac of K2O.

Planting

A seed piece of 2½ to 3 oz is recommended for planting. This variety should be planted with 40 inches between rows and 8 inches between plants, at 3 to 4 inches deep. A seed rate of 2,000 to 3,000 lb/acre seed is expected.

Other Information

For additional information on cultivation and weed and disease management, see the Potato Production chapter of the Vegetable Production Handbook, available at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv131.

References

Hutchinson, C. M., J. M. White, D. M. Gergela, P. A. Solano, K. G. Haynes, R. Wenrich, and C. S. Lippi. 2003. "Performance of chip processing potato varieties in northeastern Florida." HortTechnology 13 (4): 706–711.

Liu, G., E. H. Simonne, K. T. Morgan, G. J. Hochmuth, S. Agehara, and R. Mylavarapu. 2019. Chapter 2. Fertilizer Management for Vegetable Production in Florida Vegetable Production Handbook for Florida, 2020–2021 Edition. CV296. Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv296

Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 2016. "Snowden characteristics." CropWatch. https://cropwatch.unl.edu/potato/snowden_characteristics. Accessed 29 April 2020.

Sisson, J. A., and G. A. Porter. 2002. "Performance evaluations of potato clones and varieties in the northeastern states—1999." Maine Agr. For. Expt. Sta., Misc. Publ. 751.

The Potato Association of America. 2016. "Snowden (Solanum tuberosum)." White Rounds Potato Varieties. https://www.potatoassociation.org/varieties/white-varieties/snowden-solanum-tuberosum/. Accessed 27 April 2020.

Zotarelli, L., P. J. Dittmar, P. D. Roberts, J. Desaeger, and B. Wells. 2020. Chapter 14. Potato Production. Vegetable Production Handbook for Florida, 2020–2021 Edition. HS733. Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv131

Tables

Table 1. 

Florida's rating codes for potato vine maturity at harvest and tuber characteristics.

Tuber Characteristics1

Rating Code

Vine Maturity

Internal Flesh Color

Skin Color

Skin Texture

Tuber Shape

Eye Depth

Overall Tuber Appearance

1

dead

white

purple

partial russet

round

very deep

very poor

2

+-

cream

red

heavy russet

mostly round

+-

+-

3

yellow and dying

light yellow

pink

moderate russet

round to oblong

deep

poor

4

+-

medium yellow

dark brown

light russet

mostly oblong

+-

+-

5

moderately senesced

dark yellow

brown

netted

oblong

intermediate

fair

6

+-

pink

tan

slightly netted

oblong to long

+-

+-

7

starting to senesce

red

buff

moderately smooth

mostly long

shallow

good

8

+-

blue

white

smooth

long

+-

+-

9

green and vigorous

purple

cream

very smooth

cylindrical

very shallow

excellent

1Adapted from Hutchinson et al. (2003) and Sisson and Porter (2002).

Table 2. 

Summary of production statistics and specific gravity of 'Snowden' potato variety grown at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center, Hastings, FL.

Year

Total Yield

Marketable Yield¹

% Standard

Size Class (Distribution by class %)²

Range %

Specific Gravity

Atlantic

C

B

A1

A2

A3

A4

A1 to A3

Culls

1998

400

354

108

n.a.

8

63

24

2

0

89

4

1.075

1999

391

356

101

n.a.

5

76

15

0

0

91

4

1.064

2000

370

340

99

n.a.

3

25

37

29

0

92

6

1.079

2001

407

378

114

n.a.

2

32

41

24

0

97

5

1.079

2002

370

336

105

n.a.

6

58

30

6

0

94

4

1.076

2003

471

417

105

n.a.

4

48

35

9

0

92

4

1.079

2004

347

263

83

12

13

64

9

1

0

74

1

1.081

2005

243

169

59

2

27

66

4

0

0

71

3

1.076

2006

326

274

82

1

13

75

11

0

0

86

3

1.080

2007

370

330

103

1

9

74

13

3

0

91

2

1.075

2008

382

320

120

2

12

73

11

4

0

86

3

1.082

2009

280

224

99

1

11

73

12

3

0

88

10

1.069

2010

398

267

97

2

23

71

3

0

0

75

12

1.071

2011

325

259

91

2

13

71

11

3

0

84

7

1.076

2012

354

307

95

1

8

67

16

7

0

91

5

1.076

2013

276

231

95

2

10

71

11

7

0

89

10

1.069

2014

344

277

118

1

15

71

8

5

0

84

4

1.070

2015

354

289

119

2

13

76

6

3

0

85

5

1.069

2016

269

195

88

4

21

68

5

2

0

75

4

1.072

2017

249

186

81

5

18

71

3

3

0

77

4

1.074

2018

261

181

82

4

23

66

5

1

0

73

6

1.074

2019

330

267

88

4

13

48

33

1

0

83

4

1.080

Average

342

283

97

3

12

64

16

5

0

85

5

1.075

Table 3. 

Yield, vine maturity, tuber characteristics, and internal tuber defects of 'Snowden' potato variety grown at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center, Hastings, FL.

Year

Vine

Maturity

(vine kill)

Tuber Characteristics1

Internal Defects

Internal Flesh Color

Skin Color

Skin Texture

Tuber Shape

Eye

Depth

Overall

Appearance

Hollow Heart

Brown Rot

Corky Ring Spot

Internal Heat

Necrosis

1998

n.a.

n.a.

7

5

2

4

7

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

1999

n.a.

n.a.

8

5

2

4

4

1

0

0

0

2000

n.a.

n.a.

6

5

4

4

4

1

0

0

0

2001

3

1

6

6

3

5

5

1

0

0

0

2002

3

1

6

5

2

6

6

1

0

3

2

2003

4

1

6

5

2

6

6

0

0

0

1

2004

3

2

6

5

2

5

6

0

0

0

0

2005

4

1

6

5

2

5

6

0

0

0

0

2006

5

1

6

5

2

5

6

1

0

0

0

2007

5

2

6

5

2

6

7

0

0

0

3

2008

6

2

6

5

2

6

6

0

0

0

1

2009

3

1

6

5

3

3

6

2

0

0

0

2010

6

2

6

5

3

4

6

0

0

2

1

2011

4

1

6

5

3

4

6

1

0

3

1

2012

4

2

6

5

3

3

6

0

0

0

3

2013

6

1

6

5

3

5

6

0

0

0

1

2014

3

1

6

5

3

4

6

0

0

0

0

2015

6

1

7

6

2

7

6

0

0

0

0

2016

6

2

6

5

2

6

7

0

0

0

0

2017

8

1

6

5

2

6

7

0

0

0

0

2018

7

1

6

6

2

6

7

0

0

0

0

2019

6

1

6

6

2

6

6

0

0

0

0

Average

5

1

6

5

2

5

6

0

0

0

1

1 See rating system outlined in Florida Rating Code Table (Table 1).

Footnotes

1. This document is HS1286, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date October 2016. Revised April 2020. Visit the EDIS website at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Mario H. M. L. Andrade, research scholar; Rodrick Z. Mwatuwa, former graduate assistant; Christian T. Christensen, regional specialized agent II, directo, Hastings Agricultural Extension Center; and Lincoln Zotarelli, assistant professor; Horticultural Sciences Department; UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611.

Publication #HS1286

Release Date:February 17, 2021

Related Experts

Zotarelli, Lincoln

Specialist/SSA/RSA

University of Florida

Christensen, Christian

Specialist/SSA/RSA

University of Florida

Related Topics

  • Critical Issue: Agricultural and Food Systems
Fact Sheet

Contacts

  • Lincoln Zotarelli