Nobody likes a tasteless potato - everyone likes crumbly, with good taste. How to grow a potato is just such - tasty, good, beautiful, yielding? Harvest, quality in many respects depends on truckers-potato growers. The taste of "second bread" depends on their activity, which is related to the content of dry matter, starch, protein, vitamins, organic, mineral substances. As studies have shown, the quality of tubers is a complex indicator that can be formed during cultivation. It depends on the variety, its resistance to disease, soil type, agrotechnics, timing, methods of harvesting, quality of storage.
.I will give an example. I really like the variety, it seems, of people's selection, - Gypsy. He is a potato tuber large. When cooking potatoes crumbly, very tasty. I tried to grow it. It was trying - in another way you will not say. I loosened, in time hilled, weeded, fertilized (in the autumn, manure was scattered, ashes were planted when planted). And she dug up a small change, and that one was not enough. The potatoes were delicious, but the pleasure of their work, the harvest was not. A family friend (their site - -2 km from mine), without any additional effort, collected an excellent harvest. By the way, I took the seeds from them. Why did this happen? Everything is very simple. One experienced gardener explained this. Variety Gipsy likes lowlands, likes areas with high groundwater. At my girlfriend such site. So, no matter how much I puff over my potatoes, I can not grow a good crop of this kind of potatoes.
That is, you want to have delicious potatoes - first analyze what your soil, the weather conditions of your region, which grade is best suited, its resistance to diseases, pests, how long it has been growing here and other.
Indicators of nutritional value of potato culture are subject to very significant changes. So, the water content varies from 63 to 86%, starch from 8 to 37%, protein from, to,%, fiber from, to,%, fats from, 3 to,%, vitamin C from 4 to 60 mg per 100 g raw material (mg%).
Friable makes potato starch, which begins to accumulate especially intensively after flowering. Its quantity mainly depends on the variety, weather, soil conditions. The difference can reach 5-7% for different varieties, from climatic conditions - 3-6%. The less starch contains the early varieties, since they are not able to accumulate a lot during a short growing season.
.The most delicious is considered a boiled, friable potato with a high content of starch. But chips, for example, from this you will not do.
The starch content, friability can be increased by various agrotechnical methods:
- germination;
- shelter of early plantings;
- increase of soil fertility;
- foliar top dressing;
- growth regulators;
- balanced application of organic, mineral fertilizers;
- use of methods of senization or desiccation;
- the account of varietal features;
- taking into account weather conditions.
With the help of germinating tubers 25-35 days before planting, potato growers achieve a 3-4% increase in starch.
Even higher effect gives an early planting, the subsequent shelter of plantings and shoots with agril (non-woven protective material). Due to its lightness, it can be kept on top of plants until the end of vegetation or sheltered plants at the beginning or end of the vegetation. As a result, the duration of the active vegetation period increases, when there is an outflow of plastic substances in the tubers. They become more starchy. In addition, sheltering plants, prevents the disease of tubers.
On sandy loam soils, potato starch accumulates by 3-4% more than on cold peat. Peat soils can be improved by adding sand at a rate of 200-300 kg per hundred parts.
The best for the potato culture are easily loamy soils that completely provide the root system, young tubers with oxygen, moisture. On these soils, the amount of reserve nutrients increases by 20-25% compared to heavy loams, which can also be brought to an easy loamy state by adding humus 400-500 kg to weaving.
The maintenance of nutrients is strongly influenced by weather conditions. Usually, starch accumulates more in dry, sunny weather, less - with rainy, cold. When it often rains, the decrease in starch occurs due to both increased humidity and a reduction in the intensity of sunlight. The intensity of photosynthesis decreases, the outflow of plastic substances is inhibited or stopped, the accumulation of organic matter.
In these conditions, truck farmers should apply techniques that promote the accumulation of starch. For example, foliar top dressing, processing plants growth regulators such as humisol, etc.
There is a relationship between the yield of tubers and their starchiness. When the yield is increased, the starch content decreases. So, if at a crop of 150 kg from a hundred parts the starch content was 1%, then at a crop of 250 kg - 1, and at 500 kg from a weaving of only 12%.
.A vegetable farmer can prevent such a process if he applies a balanced application of organic, mineral fertilizers. For example, the introduction of overgrown manure will significantly increase the starch content of tubers by 3-4%. Even with the maximum yield, its decline will not be felt.
Optimum starchiness of tubers will be ensured if mineral fertilizers are applied in a balanced way, where the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus-potassium components will be 6.
The amount of starch content depends on the size of the potatoes. Therefore, the starchiness of tubers from one bush can fluctuate from 12 to 25% in varieties of one ripening group, having tubers of medium or relatively small size, the starch is contained more than large-decked.
Since the beginning of tuber formation, the starch content rises to a death of 70-80% of the leaves, after which it decreases somewhat due to the expenditure of nutrients for respiration of the tubers.
Truck farmers can increase the starch content by using senicating or desiccating techniques.
Senikation- spraying potato bushes, held three weeks before the start of harvesting, a mixture of complex liquid fertilizers of high concentration.
DesiccationIs the artificial drying of the foliage by spraying it with chemical preparations.
.Due to the simple implementation of these techniques, they can be reliable factors for increasing the starchiness of tubers.
Senikatsiyu conducted after flowering 20% solution of superphosphate, when dry, there is no wind. Due to this method, along with the increase in yield, the content of starch increases by 3-4%.
Desiccation is carried out with 5 percent solutions of copper sulfate and magnesium chlorate 7-15 days before harvesting. This weakens the water retention capacity of potato foliage, contributes to its rapid dehydration. Already two hours after treatment, the outflow of plastic substances in the tubers is markedly increased.
.The starch content rises from the north to the south. Potatoes grown to the north contain 8-9% less. This is due to a set of conditions: late planting, early harvesting, high humidity, low temperatures. However, gardening in the northern regions can increase the starch content by using techniques such as germination, flower removal, and the use of light agryl cover material. The temperature effect of the use of agril is enhanced if it is used for the whole period of vegetation.
Fertilizers have a huge effect on the accumulation of starch. Many underestimate the integrated introduction of nutritional elements: they make large quantities of fertilizers and do not contribute others, which leads to their imbalance. For example, the introduction of nitrogen fertilizers alone, while prolonging the duration of vegetation of plants. Adding phosphorus and potash fertilizers to nitrogen fertilizers, potato growers will not allow the reduction of starch.
The starchiness of tubers decreases with the use of fresh manure. They become watery, tasteless. These tubers should not be used to feed children.
Increase the content of starch by 2-4% can be, applying for treatment of tubers before planting % solution of trace elements or sprinkling plants. Positive effect has ash - 200-400 g per hundred.
The genotype of the variety has a significant effect on the content of starch. The least common are starch tubers of early varieties. Medium-ripening varieties contain starch at 3-4% more early. Mid-late - 4-6% more than early ripening. Late-ripening varieties contain starch much less than medium-ripeness. This is due to the fact that potatoes are usually harvested unripe, with green tops.
It is better to eat high-starchy varieties that break apart during cooking than soap-like ones with dense, non-decaying flesh, so the vegetable gardener needs to pick up such varieties that, along with a high yield, would ensure maximum accumulation starch.
High-yielding varieties: early varieties - Luck, Zhukovsky early, Adretta, Reserve, Nevsky, Kalinka, Skoroplodny; middle-ripening - Aspia, Golubizna, Lugovskaya and others. can significantly fill the lack of starch.
The tubers contain a fairly large amount of nitrogen compounds, on which the taste depends. This is primarily protein, free amino acids, non-protein compounds, amides, nitrogenous bases (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites).
Some substances improve the taste of potatoes - they are free amino acids, non-protein compounds. Others, if there are too many, worsen, are nitrates and nitrites.
The greatest value for potatoes for nutrition is protein. The biological value of potato protein is associated with the presence of its essential amino acids. Due to their successful combination, the protein of the tubers is complete, superior to other vegetable proteins. It is slightly inferior in biological value to only chicken protein.
The greatest amount of protein contains the tuber tissue closest to the skin, so it is necessary to clean the tubers when cooking with the smallest thickness of the peel.
The protein content is influenced by the same factors as the accumulation of starch. However, the determining role is played by mineral fertilizers.
Those truck farmers achieve obtaining delicious tubers, which bring fertilizers of complex - nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium content. These can be average doses, which include 500-800 g of nitrogen, 1000-1200 g of phosphorus, 800-900 g of potassium fertilizers per one hundred square meters.
In potato tubers is concentrated a large number of various vitamins, and the content of vitamin C tubers early varieties can be compared with berries of black currant, it should be noted that potatoes are used much more and more often.
If you consume 300 g of potatoes per day, this is enough to cover 50% of the daily requirement of vitamin C. Especially it contains a lot of young tubers of early varieties, so a young potato is so useful for children.
The highest content of vitamin C is distinguished by early ripening varieties Bryansky early, Zhukovsky early, Luck, Skoroplodny, others.
In addition to ascorbic acid, potatoes contain vitamins B1, B2, B6, PP, A. The content of vitamins is subject to a significant change during the period of growth, development, depends on climatic, soil conditions.
Less vitamins when grown on loams and peat bogs. During budding, when tubers have a mass of 4-10 g, the amount of vitamins is still very small. It increases 3-4 times during flowering.
The amount of vitamins is significantly reduced when storing most varieties. These varieties consume vitamins for growth processes in tubers.
Incorrect cooking can destroy all the efforts of truck farmers to increase the vitamin status of tubers. So, when heating the peeled potatoes in water, up to 92% of vitamins are lost before boiling, and only 7% when the tubers are placed in boiling water.
Potatoes rich in nitrates noticeably deteriorate food quality. Such tubers can even cause poisoning.
The accumulation of nitrates depends on the weather conditions, the rate of application of organic, mineral fertilizers, liming of the soil, varietal differences.
Change in weather conditions is not always available to truck farmers. In cold weather, which is accompanied by a lack of lighting, excessive amounts of rain, tubers accumulate a lot of nitrates. To reduce the content of nitrates in cold rainy weather, it is necessary to stop the introduction of all types of mineral fertilizers, for example, fertilizing. If fertilizers were introduced in the ratio 2 (nitrogen, phosphorus, potash), then there will be no increase in nitrates in the tubers.
Eliminating potatoes from nitrates can introduce reparted manure along with micronutrients (manganese, zinc, molybdenum, boron) - 20-30 g per hundred square meters.
The most effective and simple way to prevent the use of nitrates is to grow varieties that can not accumulate a lot of nitrates. There are such varieties.
These are early varieties - Luck, Nevsky, Reserve, Adretta, Zhukovsky early, Effect, Bryansk early, middle-aged - Golubizna, Lugovskaya, others. These varieties are also resistant to diseases, excellent technological and culinary indices.
.It should be noted that under no circumstances can only plant one variety. In one weather, a variety, for example, early may not yield the expected yield. A medium-ripening variety under the same conditions will yield the maximum yield. It is recommended to have 2-4 varieties of different ripeness groups.
