Planting potatoes - processing of tubers, feeding, as it affects the yield

Planting potatoes - is it difficult or not?. . My simple observations, experiments, and conclusions will help beginner potato growers, and maybe even add to the knowledge of more experienced ones. So. .. Six years I have been working in the garden in the Kuban. All these years I plant potatoes. Now I can say that every year for me is experimental, the results vary so much, the conditions change, all the new and new knowledge I put into practice.

The first two years are unsuccessful. First, the weather was not lucky - dry spring, summer were then. Secondly, there is no experience, and my knowledge was at the elementary level - I dug a hole, threw in a tuber, dug in. .. wait for the harvest. .. And the harvest - "the cat wept."

And the last two years, I think the most successful. I think I finally found something that brought me luck. I hope that readers of my article will allow to achieve even better results, since everything is based on my personal experience, observations.

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How to choose the right variety for planting

potatoes The choice of variety, I think, is the most difficult for a gardener. For example, I praise the varieties that have brought me a good harvest, and many will take offense at me - having listened to me, they “flew” with the harvest. Or, on the contrary, I first asked my friends for the first years, who, what plants, chose the same varieties, and the result in their garden was deplorable. No one should be offended by anyone. .. We're just gardeners, we know badly or not at all know agronomy. And when planting potatoes, growing them, one needs to know the composition of the soil, acidity, moisture percentage, and many other subtleties. Therefore, more often than not, we empirically choose one or another variety that will give us a good harvest.

I always plant several varieties, because the weather, which we cannot change at will, can destroy one variety, but contribute to the development of another.

When choosing a variety, the following considerations should be guided. It is imperative( but this is my opinion, my experience) should be one variety early, and the other or other middle-early, middle-late or late. I advise you to choose late and middle late varieties only when planting potatoes in the south, since the more severe the conditions, the greater the fear that they may not mature. In the south, potatoes quickly degenerate - it’s too hot, the conditions for its development are unfavorable.

Last year she planted 2 varieties - Adretta and Picasso. Very tasty potatoes grew. The harvest of all two was simply magnificent, the tubers are one to one, even, full-fledged. She took about two acres for potatoes - enough for a new crop for a family of three adults. Maybe for someone it is not a very big crop, but the taste of potatoes is very important to me, as well as the realization that it is clean, because when it is grown I use a minimum of mineral fertilizers, and from chemistry only means of protection against the Colorado potato beetle were used.

Adretta is a medium early variety, but in the Kuban during early planting( in mid-March) it is possible to get a harvest of new potatoes in May. This is a rather old variety, but precisely because it has a wonderful taste, it has been popular with gardeners for so long.

Picasso - medium late variety. I grow it for the third year, while I am not going to refuse. It is believed that Picasso contains only 10% of starch, so it is not boiled soft. But I will tell you so, this variety is ideal for soups or borscht - it really does not boil soft, it does not spoil the appearance of the first courses. But boiled potatoes are also tasty, appetizing. After cooking, the whole potatoes are in the saucepan, but add some finely chopped dill, shake it several times - fragrant, steaming, crumbly potatoes on your table!

But I was a little distracted from the main issue - planting potatoes.

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Powerful green bushes - good or bad for the crop

The most interesting observation when growing potatoes was this. The larger the shrub, that is, the juicier the stolons( stalks), the larger the leaves, the longer they stay green, the larger the potatoes grow. These data differed somewhat from theoretical data, which say that potatoes are overfed with nitrogen, instead of tubers, they are actively increasing their stems and leaves.

For a long time I was looking for the answer, why practice, theory contradict each other. Well, I decided that they contradict. In fact, there is no contradiction. I found the answer by chance in a scientific article from the Internet( unfortunately, I didn’t bookmark it, so I can’t tell you the author’s name, title).There were a lot of calculations, comparisons, more understandable to specialists-agronomists, but I did draw the main( for me) conclusion.

Large green mass allows the potato to better absorb sunlight, which is transformed by photosynthesis into energy, which contributes to a better growth of tubers. At the same time, the bushes develop a powerful root system, which, with a tripled force, receives moisture from the soil. All this contributes to a better development, growth of tubers.

That is, the main conclusion I made is to try to keep the potato bushes green for as long as possible, so that the green mass is well developed, powerful.

What did I do for this?

First, seed tubers must have a supply of nutrients even before they begin to receive food from the soil. Therefore, before planting, I sprayed the tubers with a solution of nitrofoski and Appin. Nitrophoska - mineral fertilizer. Epin - growth regulator, a stimulator of the immune system of plants. The solution was prepared as follows - 1 teaspoon of nitrophoska per three liters of water + 0.3 ml of Épin. Appin measured it out like this: in a 1 ml ampoule, and I took 1/3( these are 3 divisions) of the drug out of it with a small syringe.

And, secondly, over the years I came to the conclusion that it is not necessary to germinate tubers before planting, it is much more important to warm them well in the sun. I will write about it in more detail.

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Experience of preparing potatoes for planting

I somehow brought from the cellar for germination only two buckets of potatoes. Not because there was no more, but just the circumstances. Put everything in plastic boxes for vegetables in 1.5-2 layers, sprayed with a solution of nitrophoska, Appina, left in an apartment for germination. Periodically, I sprayed the tubers with water, as the air was dry. Spraying is necessary so that they remain dense, do not frown, that is, so that the internal supply of moisture does not decrease. It is very important for germination, to increase the number of sprouted sprouts.

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How to plant potatoes - with or without sprouts

When it was time to plant potatoes, I poured 2-3 handfuls of compost into each well, about 1 matchbox of wood ash. As if carefully I did not lower the tuber with the sprouts, they often broke off, and this reduced the number of stolons, that is, the bush could be more powerful if all the sprouts remained intact.

Before, I somehow didn’t pay attention, whether the method of planting potato germinated or not influenced the size of the potato bush. I tried mainly to plant sprouts, because at the same time the shoots appeared earlier, which means you could pamper yourself with young potatoes early.

But this year I again turned out to be experimental. Two buckets of sprouted potatoes are not enough for my family, so I had to plant the other two buckets without sprouts. Moreover, it so happened that I brought this potato to the dacha, but I did not have time to plant it on that day, it stood in plastic boxes in the open air for several days - about 5-6 hours a day the sun warmed it. Sprouts hatch, but were tiny, greenish.

I also treated the tubers with a solution of nitrophosphate + Epin before planting, and also added compost and ash when planting. The difference with sprouted potatoes was only in the absence of sprouts, as well as a rather long warming in the sun. Perhaps there was another difference - a later planting allowed the treated, heated tubers to plant in a warmer land.

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Conclusions

What are the advantages I received?

First, the lack of sprouts affected the speed of planting. I did not have to bow to each tuber, afraid to break off the sprouts. I just threw a tuber without stooping.

And, secondly, when the green mass on the potatoes was formed, I noticed that the shrubs of unsprouted potatoes are much more luxuriant, and the potatoes are larger, the number of tubers is greater.

Thirdly, I did not notice a big difference in the ripening period. Yes, the unsprouted potato ascended later, but quickly caught up with the potato, which was planted with sprouts in a colder soil. I dug it at the same time.

And the last plus! I always tried to plant potatoes at the end of March, but perhaps later planting in warm, heated land is for him only good. A month after planting, germinated and unsprouted potatoes became equal in height. But the more lush, powerful was the potato, heated in the sun, planted with barely sprung sprouts, the harvest was also significantly larger - the tubers were larger, there were more.

I got such an experimental experiment. .. Now I try to get them warm in the sun before planting, plus the processing of the tubers.