Nooksack (Solanum tuberosum)

ORIGIN: Nooksack was selected in Washington from a cross of Kennebec x A501-13. It was tested as WN168 and released in 1973 by the Washington Experiment Station and the USDA.

CHARACTERISTICS: Nooksack is late maturing and produces a medium to high yield of tubers with good appearance and excellent quality. It is well suited for frozen French fry production but can also be used in the fresh market.

Plants are large, upright to spreading. Stems are few and large with inconspicuous wings and slightly swollen nodes. Leaves are very large and dark green. Young leaves often have merged leaflets. Flowers are sparse and borne on very short peduncles. Buds are green, corollas medium-sized and white, anthers large and orange.

Tubers are oblong to long and flattened. Skin is heavily and uniformly russeted. Eyes are shallow, few and unevenly distributed. Dormancy is exceptionally long.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES: Nooksack is resistant to most external and internal defects including second growth, growth cracks, stress malformations, hollow heart, sugar ends, blackspot bruise, heat necrosis and net necrosis caused by leafroll virus. It is resistant to Verticillium wilt, Rhizoctonia and common scab. It is susceptible to PVX, PVY and PLRV. Nooksack is an exceptional storage variety due to its long dormancy and low sugar content. It has high tuber solids and makes high quality frozen French-fried products. Yields of Nooksack can be somewhat low as a result of a low tuber set and slow emergency due to long tuber dormancy. These problems can be minimized by pre-warming the seed and planting at a relatively close spacing.