Proper planting and caring for potatoes in the open field

Ensure that the variety is good at planting cut

A maximum of one month before planting seeds are required to germinate in the light. Planting material is taken out of the cellar and placed in boxes or on a tarpaulin in one layer, giving access to natural light.

We sort and sort potatoes, rejects rotten, diseased and tubers without sprouts, as well as non-standard size. This procedure is carried out before landing.

When planting

The golden rule of gardeners: planting potatoes after the leaves appear on the birch and before the bird cherry blossoms. Potatoes are a heat-loving plant. If the temperature reaches 15 degrees in the root zone, they begin to grow.

The upper layer of the soil has not warmed up enough, therefore the seeds are planted on half of the bayonet of the spade on sandy soils and to a depth of 10 cm on heavy soils.

Do not plant the tubers too deep , because in the end you get a trifle and a lot of tops.

If night frosts threaten, but shoots appear, pile up "with the head" so that the tops can be barely noticeable.

The optimum planting depth is 10-15 cm.

Soil Requirements

The site is prepared in the fall: they dig, they bring organic matter. If the soil is acidic, use lime, chalk, dolomite flour. Peat and sand are added to heavy soil, peat and clay are added to sand along with manure and compost.

The distance between rows when planting

The width of between rows is 70 cm for late varieties, for early varieties - 60 cm, the distance between tubers in the holes - 30 cm( for seed potatoes - 20 cm).In narrow aisles it is inconvenient to weed and spud.

When planting small tubers, the distance between them is reduced.

Landing Methods

A distinction is made between the traditional method of manual and mechanical planting using machinery( tractor or motoblock).

Cultivating crops under agrofibre

Using agrofibres( spanbond, agrotex, lutrasil) allows you to get a crop of potatoes 2 - 3 weeks earlier. This material helps to shift landing dates and protects against frost.

The following factors affect the yield of early potatoes:

• planting material( with sprouted eyes);
• autumn tillage with the introduction of organic fertilizers;
• pest control ( wireworm, scoop, Colorado potato beetle) and diseases( blight, fungal diseases).

Early potatoes under agrofibre are grown in the following ways:

• free shelter with white agrofibre early planted potatoes. Under it, seedlings are protected from sudden changes in temperature. When the potatoes reach a height of 20 cm and favorable weather conditions, the material is removed.
• Using black covering material that covers the beds. When warming up the soil, they make holes for planting seeds: one hole for one tuber.

Agrofibre Spanbond Lutrasil

Classic planting methods: on the ridges, in the ditches, smooth

Classic or traditional methods include planting potatoes on the ridges, in the ditches( trenches), smooth. Each option applies depending on local conditions.

• If there is an overabundance of moisture in the area, you can plant on the ridges of to protect the plants from getting wet. On heavy soils, this type of planting is also advisable. The height of the ridges reaches 20 cm, the tubers planted in them, rise above the soil.
• Sandy soils are suitable for planting in moats or trenches. Sounds like planting potatoes in the ridges, but it is planted in the trenches between the ridges.
• Smooth landing is the average between the landing on the ridges and in the ditches. Seed material is laid out on the surface or in the furrow, then falling asleep from the edges of the ground.

Planting depth depends on soil type:

• up to 12 cm - light soils;
• up to 10 cm - heavy and loamy;
• up to 5 cm - clay.

Choose the planting depth depending on the soil you plant.

Peculiarities of

Therefore, every fan of planting vegetables is obliged to know special care after sprouting potatoes. Consider how to properly care for the culture.

To prevent the saplings of potatoes from freezing, cover the first seedlings with earth. However, it should be remembered that the covered layer of earth should not exceed 5 cm. If this is not done, then of course there will be a harvest, becausetubers will give new sprouts, but the yield will be significantly lower than after shelter.

Loosening

Surface loosening is done with a rake until shoots appear. Further, is systematically repeated to remove weed grass and prevent the formation of a hard crust after rain.

Watering

The need for watering - only in case of lack of moisture.

Hilling

Conducted 2-3 times. It is required that stolons develop, and therefore tuber crops, in order to saturate root crops with oxygen and to destroy weeds.

Classic Hilling

The earth is raked up in rows with row spacing. Thanks to the first hilling, the tops are almost completely underground.

In this case, the earth, on the contrary, is not littered from the sides, but is in the middle of a bush. Stems moving apart on the sides. Access to lighting increases, competition for nutrients and light decreases. Fan hilling guarantees the possibility of increasing the crop by 2 times.

The first hilling of the is carried out when the emerged seedlings reach a height of 10 cm.

The second time spud potatoes 2 or 3 weeks after the first. First weed the beds, and then sprinkled with the soil of the plant.

Hilling is directly related to the growth rate of

tops. Top dressing

Distinguish foliar and root crops, the latter are more often used in practice.

When planting potatoes, the nesting method is used when fertilizer is applied to each well. This is the most economical way .Introduced mineral organic mixture consisting of humus and superphosphate, ash and ammonium nitrate.

Recommended 3 dressings for the growing season:

• after planting, when shoots appear;
• in budding stage;
• with flowering.

First dressing

On a bucket use half a liter of mullein and urea ( 15 g), consumption - half a liter per plant.

An alternative to manure is bird droppings containing potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus( 1.5 tablespoons per bucket).Urea can be replaced by nitrate.

Second

For the second feeding, it is not necessary to add nitrogen, as this is the period of active formation and growth of tubers. Phosphorus and potassium are applied. To 10 liters of water, 15 g of double superphosphate and potassium sulfate, in addition, half a cup of ash. Consumption for 1 bush - half a liter.

Mug Urea Superphosphate Potassium Sulfate Marsh

Last

Last application 20 days before harvesting. mineral and organic fertilizers are used: a simple superphosphate( 30 g) and slurry( 1 cup) is added to a bucket of water, used in half a liter for 1 crop.

Treatment

To protect against viral diseases that adversely affect the crop, carry out prevention. For this purpose, planting only healthy seed. To prevent fungal diseases, spraying is carried out when plants bloom and when buds appear.

Late blight does not develop on soils saturated with copper. Bordeaux mixture - a reliable means by which the seeds are processed before planting in the soil. At the beginning of growth, it is used for spraying plants. If the leaves turn black, the tops must be cut and burned.

To protect the potato field from diseases, sow aromatic herbs, calendula, horseradish on the edges of the plot. Sunflower - not the best neighborhood for culture.

Cleaning. Root crops are harvested by in late August - mid September. .It depends on the potato variety, weather conditions. Should be cleaned when dry in the yard so that the tubers are ventilated and dry.

Before digging, it is required to mow the tops with weeds, leaving the above-ground part 10 cm high. This will allow the transfer of nutrients from the above-ground part to the tuber crops, accelerate the ripening of the peel, and increase the keeping quality of the potato. Favorable effect on the quality storage of seeds.

After harvesting, do not forget to destroy the tops and weeds. is the source of many potato diseases.

The dried material with a layer of half a meter or in bags is left for several weeks for a healing period, the task of which, after the second bulkhead, is to reject damaged and diseased roots.

They are laying in storage in the basement, underground, cellar at a temperature of + 2 to + 5 degrees.

beetroot is a good neighbor for potato storage, which absorbs excess moisture .

The benefits of beet are there - it protects against overflows

Protection against pests

Folk Remedies

• Wood Ash .On 1 weave consumes about 10 kg. Sifted ash sprinkled with tops early in the morning when it is wet, 1 time every two weeks before budding. Later monthly.
• Mustard .Spray the plants with a solution prepared from 1 kg of powder on a bucket of liquid with the addition of 9% vinegar( 100 ml).
• Dusting cement .Gardeners agree that this method causes the death of the larvae.

Herbal infusions and decoctions

• Birch tar .On a bucket of water - 100 g of tar, spraying three times a week.
• Celandine : minced fresh or dried, filling the bucket with grass. Boil. For spraying plants use 500 ml of broth per 10 liters of liquid.
• Onion Husk : 300 g of Husk is poured with a bucket of water heated to 80 degrees. Press down with a load. In a day the infusion is ready.
• Bitter pepper : boil 100 g of dry pepper in a bucket of water. After adding 40 g of soap to a warm broth, spray the tops.
• Tobacco : 0.5 kg of tobacco dust is drawn in 10 liters of water for two days. Diluted 1: 2, add 40 g of soap.

Wood ash Mustard solution Birch tar Celandine Infusion of onion peel Tomato infusion

Plants - repellents against the beetle

It does not tolerate the smell of marigolds, calendula, night violet, coriander, borage. Since the Colorado potato beetle quickly adapts to stimuli, means of dealing with it must be alternated regularly.

Know that plays an important role in harvesting good crops with the right crop rotation. When growing crops in one area, even innovative agronomic technologies will not bring the desired result.

A good harvest justifies all efforts to care for the crop

So, following the technology of planting and caring for potatoes, you can get a good harvest.