How to plant potatoes in order to get a good harvest? Planting potatoes with tubers in spring: how and when.
A wide variety of crops can be grown in the garden, but potatoes are the most popular. But in order to achieve a good harvest from her, you need to work hard and correctly perform all the necessary agrotechnical manipulations. This article will tell you how to plant potatoes correctly.
The most important point in growing potatoes is choosing the right seed. The further harvest depends on how correctly the seeds were selected and prepared. After all, even if the planting care was correct, it is difficult to get excellent root crops from bad seeds.
Prepare the seeds for planting should begin in the fall, when the harvest takes place. Seed preparation is carried out as follows:
- First, the vegetables must be sorted. For planting, you need to select smaller root crops, and leave large ones for food;
- seeds should be selected from those bushes in which the potato was formed in the maximum quantity;
- the optimal size of tubers for sowing should be 4-5 cm. This size is equivalent to a chicken egg. Some tubers are allowed bigger size. They will ripen a little earlier, and will also give a slightly larger yield;
- very large potatoes can also be used as seed material. It is worth noting here that some varieties in this case will give a lot of small root crops. In this case, there will be a significant overrun.
You can find information that potatoes cut into several pieces can be used as planting material. This option is possible, but only with a shortage of seeds of small diameter.
To obtain good harvest from pieces of tubers, before planting they should be dried in the sun. The weather should be warm and dry.
In addition, parts of the potatoes must be sprinkled with ash. Remember that such planting material can deteriorate in a rainy spring. This is because the unskinned surface is more prone to negative influence pathogens (viruses, fungi). As a result, such seeds will rot in the spring. 
It is worth remembering that when planting chopped potatoes, the weather should be dry and warm. If a it's raining there is a risk that the cut tubers will simply rot in the ground, without giving any crop or forming weak seedlings.
Planting material can be bought in special stores or outlets. In this case, do not give preference to super-elite varieties. The fact is that they will give an excellent harvest only if all agricultural technology is correctly recreated. At the same time, elite varieties are the most productive.
When buying seeds in a store, you must definitely ask the seller for a quality certificate. This document should always be accompanied by varietal potatoes. If there is no quality certificate, then there is a risk of acquiring infected planting material. As a result, the harvest will be disgusting. At the same time, it will also be necessary to carry out a soil disinfection procedure in order to get rid of diseases and pests. 
Some gardeners claim that germinated seed eyes can be used as planting material.
Video “Growing from seeds”
From the video you will learn how to grow potatoes from seeds.
YouTube Advanced:
Before boarding
Before planting, properly prepared planting material must be “awakened”. This procedure lies in the fact that before planting the tubers should be planted. For this, root crops are placed in a bright place. For example, they can be laid out in the shade of trees or under a variety of canopies. 
Such a procedure will lead to the fact that corned beef poison will begin to be produced in the seeds. Thanks to him potato tubers can be stored much longer.
When gardening root crops, direct sunlight should be avoided. In this case, they will be oversaturated with poison and eating them will be dangerous to health.
After that, you can proceed to the procedure for sprouting potatoes. It should be carried out about a month (in some sources, 20 days) before planting in the ground. Germination of tubers is carried out according to the following scheme:
- first they must be washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- after that, the planting material should be spread out in one layer (maximum two layers) in containers. For these purposes, you can take wooden boxes;
- the containers must be placed in a bright room where the air temperature is at the level of 20–22 ° C. The boxes must be placed in such a way that direct sunlight does not fall on them;
- in such a room, the boxes should stand for 2-3 weeks;
- then they are transferred to a cooler room with a temperature of about 10-14 ° C. A glazed balcony is perfect for these purposes.
Some gardeners argue that you need to start sprouting potatoes in the dark. But in this case, weak and long sprouts are formed on the tubers, which can be easily injured or even broken off during planting. In order to have a good harvest, the germination of planting material should be carried out in a bright room. As a result, the sprouts will be strong, green and not very long (no more than 1-1.5 cm). 
When sprouting potatoes, it must be moistened. To do this, the tubers are periodically turned over on different sides and sprayed with water. Moreover, it is necessary to spray root crops every other day. For spraying, experts recommend alternating plain water, solution mineral fertilizers and ash solution. This alternation minimizes the risk of pathogenic microflora appearing on the tubers. At the same time, the process of their germination is stimulated. Remember that spray solutions should be prepared immediately before use.
An excellent place for germinating potato tubers is a greenhouse. Planting material here should be laid out on a straw bed. From above, root crops must be covered with plastic wrap. As a result, for seeds will be created right conditions for fast and high-quality germination: sufficient humidity, as well as heat.
Site preparation
Before you grow this crop in your garden, you need not only to know how to plant potatoes, but also what place will be optimal for it.
Sandy and medium to light loamy soils are best suited for potatoes. It will also grow well on forest and dried peat soils. At the same time, acidic and heavy soils are not the most the best choice for potatoes. In this case, in order to improve its characteristics, it is worth adding manure to the ground. 
When choosing a site for this garden crop, it is imperative to take into account crop rotation. Potatoes can be planted in the same place only after three years. The following vegetables will be excellent predecessors for it:
- beet;
- cabbage;
- leafy vegetables;
- carrot.
In this case, you need to prepare the soil itself. This will improve productivity in the future. To do this, fertilizers should be applied to the soil. Usually the first time they are brought in in the fall, when the entire crop has been harvested from the fields, and the vegetation has also been removed. by the most the best way soil fertilizer is the introduction into it natural fertilizers, especially humus.
To prepare the land for planting potatoes, you need one square meter add 10 liters of manure, which is overripe. Under digging, you can add about 50 g of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. 
It is worth noting that in the presence of acidic soils, in order to achieve excellent fruiting, it is necessary to lime. To do this, 400-500 g should be added to the soil per square meter. dolomite flour or notice.
If autumn fertilizers were not applied to the soil, then this procedure can be carried out immediately before planting the planting material. This procedure will be part of the seat preparation.
Thus, the preparation of a place for planting potatoes is carried out according to the following scheme:
Please note that special attention in the preparation of the landing site should be given to lowland areas. In the lowlands, drainage must be provided through which excess water will drain.
But it must also be remembered that the preparation of the landing site should be carried out immediately before planting the planting material:
- beds and holes are formed at the chosen place;
- fertilizer must be applied to the bottom of each hole in order to enrich the earth with the necessary useful trace elements, as well as to protect root crops from pests. To increase yields, it is recommended to add to the pits wood ash and humus (one handful each). Any other fertilizers can be applied;
- in addition to fertilizers, onion peel can be placed at the bottom of the holes. Its smell will scare away such pests as two-tailed, wireworm and bear from your plantings;
- after adding all the components to the well, they must be mixed well.
It is worth noting that some gardeners advise putting black beans in the holes. However, in reality, such manipulations do not always bring obvious and positive result. Therefore, few people know and use this method in practice.
When the planting material is prepared for planting, and the place is chosen correctly, you can proceed to the direct planting of seeds in the holes. However, here you need to choose the right time.
When to plant
One of the most important points in growing potatoes is the choice of planting dates. Even if all the preparations were made correctly, an incorrectly chosen landing time can cancel out all your efforts. 
It is worth noting that the choice of planting dates directly depends on both the variety of potatoes and the weather conditions of the area. At the same time, do not rush. It is better to wait until the weather is warm outside. But do not wait too long, as the earth should not dry out very much. Here, as elsewhere, we need golden mean. According to popular wisdom, tubers should be planted in the ground when small leaves appear on birch and poplar.
Professional gardeners say that the ideal time for planting will be the time when the soil at a depth of 10 cm has warmed up to 10 degrees. At the same time, the temperature at night should also not fall below 10 ° C. 
You can find information that planting tubers occurs after strong sprouts have formed on them, and the soil has warmed up to 6 ° C. Although potato growers may argue with this statement. In this case, the planted tuber will not always germinate.
Landing technology
In order to plant potatoes correctly and get a good harvest, it is necessary to adhere to a specific planting material planting technology. The key to success in this situation will be the correctly chosen landing pattern, which should be 80x35. Such a space between the rows will be quite enough for the bushes to be comfortable. With more frequent planting, the bushes will shade each other. At the same time, they will be poorly ventilated, which can lead to late blight. In such a situation, there can be no talk of any high-quality hilling.
Reducing the gap between plants is allowed only in a situation where the site is small, as well as when growing early ripening varieties on black soil. In this case, the bushes form not very high and powerful greenery, which does not affect their yield. In this case, the distance between the rows may not be 80 cm, but 60 cm. 
Variations are also possible with the distance between neighboring plants. If the planting material consists of small tubers, then the distance of 35 cm can be reduced to 20 cm. For early varieties, this parameter can be 26 cm (about one and a half spade bayonet). Late varieties will give a good harvest with a distance between tubers of 30 cm.
It is worth noting that when growing potatoes on heavy soils, the tubers are planted at a distance of 45 cm from each other.
Planting depth is also important. Their optimal deepening should be carried out by 7-10 cm. This parameter depends on the characteristics of the soil and the size of the planting material:
- large tubers should be planted deeper;
- small potatoes are planted closer to the surface.
- for light soils, a depth of 10 cm will be normal;
- for clay and dense soils, the holes should have a depth of no more than 5 cm.
In the prepared holes, tubers should be planted with a sprout down. Under them, the ground should be loose. When the potatoes are planted in the holes, they are covered with earth from above and the soil is leveled with a rake.
As you can see, growing potatoes is not so difficult.
Video “Planting for a good harvest”
From the video you will learn how to plant potatoes and get a great harvest.
YouTube Advanced: please provide correct link
Potato is a very tasty root vegetable grown in all gardens of the country. But before you get big harvest, you need to spend a lot of time and effort on planting potatoes. It's about that how to plant potatoes, we will talk in our today's article.
It seems that there is nothing easier, and all gardeners and summer residents already know how to plant potatoes. There is a mass about planting potatoes useful information on the Internet, a huge number of magazines and books have devoted an uncountable number of articles to this topic. Nevertheless, starting to plant potatoes on your own, you constantly discover something completely new and unexpected. Experience in planting potatoes is accumulated by summer residents after each successful (or not very successful) harvest.
Quality potato seeds are the key to a good harvest!
I think it's no secret to anyone that the fundamental factor excellent harvest potato is what seeds are used when planting it. And you need to start harvesting seeds in the fall, during harvesting. Why in autumn? Autumn for selection seed potatoes is the most successful period. Potato planting material should be taken from the bushes that gave the best yield. The size of tubers for planting material should be at least 4–5 centimeters. It has been noticed that the larger the tubers of planting potatoes, the earlier it will ripen, and the yield from each individual bush will be higher.
Some summer residents also plant sprouted seed eyes or chopped potatoes. Indeed, cut potatoes after a short drying in the sun and dusting with cut ash can give a very good harvest. Only for this you need ideal wet and warm weather. But if, after planting, the weather is rainy or cold, then there is a high probability that the cut potatoes will rot, without sprouting, or giving very weak sprouts.
Getting ready to plant potatoes
Soil and its preparation
The best soil for growing potatoes are sandy loam, light and medium loam; cultivated and fertilized soddy-podzolic and gray forest soils, as well as drained peatlands.
Not so long ago, people believed that potatoes tolerate high soil acidity well. It has now been proven that potatoes growing on acidic soils are most susceptible to pests and diseases.
Potatoes are in dire need of nutrients ah, especially during tuberization.
Start preparing the soil for planting potatoes on next year follows at the end of this summer. Fertilizers are applied for digging: 13 g / m² of ammonium nitrate or 10 g / m² of urea, 10–13 g / m² of 30–40% potassium salt, 15 g / m² of double granulated superphosphate.
How to prepare seed potatoes for planting?
Seed potato tubers selected for planting must be planted in a bright place (under various canopies, in the shade of trees) so that corned beef poison is developed inside the tuber, which allows the potato tuber to survive for a long time. At the same time, direct contact with the tubers should be avoided. sunlight. We have already considered the issue, so we will not repeat ourselves.
Germination of potatoes should begin about 20-30 days before planting. Before germination, the tubers must be washed in a solution of potassium permanganate. Then the planting material is laid out in one (maximum two) layers in boxes. Boxes must be kept at a temperature of 20–22 ° C in a bright place, avoiding direct sunlight on potato tubers. Usually, potatoes begin to germinate in the dark, so long, weak sprouts appear that can easily break off during planting. Ideally, the sprouts should be green, strong and have a length of no more than one - one and a half centimeters. After two or three weeks, boxes with seed potatoes can be moved to a cooler place with an air temperature of about 10–14 ° C, for example, to a glazed balcony.
During germination, potato tubers need to be moistened by periodically turning over and spraying them. Tubers need to be sprayed every other day. For spraying, plain water, ash solution and mineral fertilizer solution are alternately used. This alternation of spraying reduces the risk of potato disease, stimulates its growth. The solution must be prepared immediately before spraying.
A good place to grow potatoes is a greenhouse. Spread the potatoes on a straw bed and cover polyethylene film. So you provide him with warmth, light and sufficient humidity - excellent conditions for the emergence of sprouts.
Before planting, potatoes must first be pickled, thereby protecting them from the effects of an aggressive soil environment. At the same time, after processing potatoes with special dressing preparations, a long-term effect is formed on the seed material. protective film. Almost no one, by the way, does this, and then all gardeners unanimously complain about various infectious troubles. There is no need to be afraid of these "chemicals", they are not absorbed into the plants. For etching, a solution of 20 g is used. boric acid in 10 liters of water. Tubers in baskets or nets are immersed for a few seconds in the solution, and then dried.
Potatoes are ready for planting, but the ground has not yet warmed up - what should I do?
Very often summer residents have to deal with a situation where the planting potatoes are already ready, but due to the late spring it is not possible to prepare the soil for planting. In order to save the planting material, in this case, you can put the potatoes in grooves prepared in advance, filling it with humus, sawdust or ordinary earth. For insurance, you can cover the groove with a film. The tubers in such a groove will lie without problems for 1-2 weeks, after which it will be possible to plant them in a permanent place.
It's time to plant potatoes...
How and when to plant potatoes?
We have already talked about that, so today we will consider some general principles to be followed when planting potatoes.
First of all, pay attention to the choice of a place for planting potatoes. The most common mistake most summer residents make is that potatoes are planted for many years in a row in the same beds. But we all know perfectly well that the place needs to be changed periodically. At the same time, in order to obtain a good harvest, it is also necessary to fertilize the soil. If the ground contains a very small amount of sand, then the potatoes will grow poorly. In this case, the earth must be specially loosened with sand in order to ensure the supply of oxygen to the potato tubers.
The most suitable period for planting potatoes is around the time when leaves begin to bloom on birch trees. At this time, the soil should warm up to 9 ° C at a depth of about ten centimeters. By the way, there is such a popular sign that you need to start planting potatoes when birch leaves become the size of a penny coin.
Potatoes should be planted at a depth of 8-10cm, while the beds should be located from north to south, the recommended planting pattern is 80x35cm. You can plant potatoes more often according to the 60x60cm scheme, however, in this case, the stems will interfere with each other's growth. Densely planted plants are not blown enough, which increases the likelihood of late blight. In this case, high-quality hilling will not work, so many tubers will turn out to be green, and such potatoes are not suitable for food.
The best option is to plant potatoes with an indent of 90 cm between rows. In this case, hilling is easier and the tops work better for the harvest. Keep in mind that the larger the planting material, the less often you need to plant. Whatever planting scheme you choose, you need to plant potato tubers at the same depth, planting in even rows, leaving a layer of loose soil under the tubers. All this contributes to the creation optimal mode for plant growth.
If desired, during the planting of potatoes, you can make a separate hole for each tuber and fill it with fertilizer, ash and humus, and only then lower the potato there. After laying the tubers, the holes are covered with earth, leveling it with a rake.
How to cut potatoes for planting
Many gardeners after a lean year have to cut potatoes before planting in order to reduce seed consumption. Doing this is highly discouraged. By cutting just one diseased tuber, with the same knife you will infect several more potatoes. In this case, do not be surprised why then you will not have a crop. If you still have to cut seed potatoes, then do not forget to at least periodically disinfect the knife by dipping it in a concentrated solution of manganese or in a 5% solution blue vitriol. Another nuance is that the tuber must be cut not across, but along. After all, the highest quality sprouts appear on the so-called top of the tuber. By cutting the potato across, you will get two unequal halves, one of which will give good sprouts, while the second, on which there are no top "eyes" at all, can germinate much later.
What should be the planting potatoes?
It is best to plant potatoes the size of a chicken egg. The smaller the planting material, the weaker the bush will grow out of it, respectively, there will be less harvest on it. So why not plant the largest tubers, because they have a much larger supply of nutrients? Yes, but this will not lead to a significant increase in yield, and the consumption of planting material will increase significantly. So it's best to stay in the golden mean.
Planting potatoes, as we have already said, must be selected in the fall, moreover, from the most powerful bushes marked in advance with pegs. If you listen to this council and you will select not the best tubers for planting, but tubers best plants, then long years you won't need to buy seed potatoes and the crop will remain stable. If the yield becomes worse over time, then you need to buy new planting material. It is recommended to renew seed potatoes at least partially once every five years.
How to choose seed potatoes in retail outlets?
Before you buy potatoes for planting, you should have an idea of what you are buying.
Super super elite is a top class seed material grown from microtubers. It contains all characteristics of the variety and is free from different kind viral diseases.
superelite – small size tubers that are a first year crop grown from super super elite tubers.
Elite- These are planting tubers, which are the second year crop obtained from super elite potatoes. They are considered the most productive. They are recommended to be used for landing.
Next come the categories of seed potatoes grown from elite tubers: first reproduction, second, etc. All these categories also give a good harvest, but they accumulate more and more various diseases from year to year. Potatoes after the third reproduction are suitable only for eating them.
The same potato variety should not be grown for more than 3-4 years, or it is necessary to renew all planting material after this period of time.
Before buying planting potatoes, be sure to ask the seller for quarantine and varietal certificates. In no case do not buy potatoes in the absence of such a document. Buying a pig in a poke, you run the risk of bringing serious pests and dangerous infections to your site. So, for example, such a quarantine object as a potato moth comes very close to the Perm Territory. And the potato moth is many times more serious than the wireworm familiar to all of us, since it eats away the entire tuber, which leads to a complete loss of the crop.
Do not forget to properly fertilize the soil before planting and periodically, since there are plenty of funds for this now!
Well, now you know how to choose the right planting material and plant potatoes in your area. 
Rich harvests to you!
The beginning of May in our area is the traditional time for planting potatoes. So it's time to think about how to plant it this time, because recently new, original methods have been added to the usual methods - there are plenty to choose from.
Traditional ways of planting potatoes
There are three common methods: smooth fit, ridge and into the trenches. Moreover, this is just the case when an arbitrary choice does not give the best results, because each of the options is intended for very specific conditions and in others it simply may not justify itself. Only the basic requirements remain common: to arrange plantings in the direction from south to north, so that the plants are illuminated evenly and receive a sufficient amount of light; keep distances. Also, do not forget about fertilization (I usually use ashes and compost); it is useful to add onion peel to the holes or trenches, which protects the plantings from the Colorado potato beetle. Between rows of tubers:- for early varieties - 60 cm
- for late varieties - 70 cm.
- for early varieties - 25-30 cm
- for late varieties - 30-35 cm.
The distance between plants is important to observe. A photo
It is considered optimal planting depth:
- on light soils - 10-12 cm
- on heavy and loam - 8-10 cm
- on clay soils - 4-5 cm.
In this video, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Department of Potato Genetic Resources of VIR named after V.I. Vavilova Kiru Stepan Dmitrievich talks about how to determine the correct planting dates and how to plant potatoes correctly.
ridge planting
This is a method in which ridges about 15 cm high with a distance of about 70 cm between them are made in the area intended for planting potatoes, and then tubers are planted in them.This technology will be expedient where they lie close to the surface, the soil suffers from waterlogging. The method will also be useful on heavy soils, which are quickly compacted, preventing air exchange. In practice, combs are sometimes used simply because there is a tractor :)
For example, in the village where I had a dacha, everyone plowed plots for potatoes with a tractor. And since the tractor driver had necessary fixtures for hilling, planted in ridges - to minimize manual labor. I refused this idea, even though we have loams: in dry years, moisture leaves such ridges very quickly, and abundant watering is required. And where I live now, there is sandy soil at all - here even the beds have to be made with sides, because the earth crumbles. Yes, and moisture does not linger in such soil, so another method is more suitable for us.
Planting potatoes in trenches
These are, in fact, the crests on the contrary: on sandy soils, poorly retaining moisture, and also in arid climates, we do not raise the tubers above ground level, but, on the contrary, we deepen them, laying them in trenches laid taking into account all recommended distances.
Naturally, if you use this method in areas with high humidity or very dense soil, there is a risk that our potatoes will simply suffocate or rot in the damp soil.
Smooth fit
If you got a site on the southern slope, where the soil warms up quickly, and the soil is quite loose and moderately moisture-intensive, you can plant it using the “under a shovel” method. This is best done with two people. Rows of future plantings are outlined, then one of the participants in the process, moving along the intended line, makes small holes (someone simply lifts a layer of earth to lay a tuber under it, someone prefers the holes - then the soil from the next "landing point" is covered previous). The second one follows and lays out the tubers.
We once used this method when planting potatoes in the first year on newly plowed virgin soil. The tractor left behind huge layers of earth - it would not have been possible to depict any ridges or trenches there in any case. Somehow they broke large clods with a hoe and put tubers under the shovel - just as they are, as it turns out. By autumn, the site had changed - thanks to loosening, hilling, there were noticeably fewer weeds, and there were almost no large clods left. The method paid off, I used it in the future.
Unusual ways of planting potatoes
I think that I will not list all the options in any case - the ingenuity of our summer residents knows no bounds. Usually, new method invented to solve a specific problem (task). For example, they got a plot overgrown with grass, but they don’t have the strength to raise virgin soil. Or there is not enough space, but you want to grow potatoes. Then, if the idea justified itself, you can develop it.And planting material and botanical potato seeds for growing your own seed tubers can be selected in our catalog, which combines the offers of large garden online stores. .
Perhaps you know other ways to plant potatoes? Or have you experienced one of the new methods in practice? Tell us in the comments - how do you plant potatoes, are you planning any experiment this season?
planted and grown with my own hands, is always much healthier and tastier than store-bought. But in order to really grow a quality home crop, you need to know when and how to plant potatoes in open ground. Next, consider the nuances of planting for a rich harvest.
What you need for a good harvest
The main factors on which the quality of future potatoes depends are the growing conditions and the planting material itself.
Growing conditions
Plays an important role in obtaining a good harvest choosing the place where they plan to plant potatoes. Pre-prepared potatoes should be planted in a bright area in the direction from north to south.
The optimal hydrogen content in the soil is 5-5.5 units, although root growth is also possible in acidic soil. The soil should be breathable and loose. Most suitable for potatoes are medium and light - sandy, loamy, sandy and black earth.
Important!High density and lack of air in heavy clay soils can cause poor development plants. With excessive soil moisture, the tubers are affected by rot.
Before planting potatoes, the land should be cultivated twice:Depending on the variety
Experts distinguish 5 groups of potato varieties according to ripening time:
- mid-early;
- mid-season;
- mid-late;
- later.
At the beginning of this month, the tubers begin to germinate. By the second decade of April, the ground is already warming up, and you can start planting. Among the early varieties ripening in 50-65 days, the most popular are:"Impala", "Red Scarlett", "Dnepryanka" and "Rosalind".
Medium-early potato varieties, such as Sineglazka, Zabava, Mriya, Nevsky, ripen in 65-80 days. Their landing is best to start in early May. However, it must be borne in mind that early and mid-early varieties of potatoes have less keeping quality, starchy content and worse taste.
Did you know?A very common variety« Sineglazka» has the original name "Hannibal", which was given to him in honor of the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, Abram Hannibal. He was the first in Russia to conduct experiments on selection and storage of potatoes.
Mid-season varieties are best planted at the end of May, as they mature within 80-85 days. It is these varieties that are the most productive and prolific, moreover, they do not require frequent.
"Desire", "Kuroda" and "Zdybak" are medium-late varieties of potatoes that ripen from 95 to 110 days. Their planting is best planned for the end of May.
Using the lunar calendar
There is such a thing as auspicious days for planting various crops on, suburban area etc. The moon has a direct effect on the development of the potato.
Depending on its location, planting, processing, watering and weeding of the soil are carried out at certain intervals. In order to achieve a good harvest, it is necessary to adhere to the recommendations of the lunar calendar, by which you can determine whether it is worth planting potatoes on a given day.
For 2018, experts have identified clear dates that are most suitable for planting potatoes:
- in May: 4-6; fourteen; 30-31;
- in June: 1-2; 10-12; 29.
- May: 15; 20-23; 27-29;
- June: 13, 16-20; 23-24; 28.
Correct calculation is the key to a rich harvest
The choice of which days to plant potatoes or not directly affects its quality and environmental friendliness, as well as the yield in general. Although this is a simple process, it requires sufficient attention and adherence to the rules.
Did you know?The potato is the most important non-grain crop in the world. It is the 4th most important crop among all crops after wheat, rice and corn.
Primarily, it is necessary to determine the goals of planting potatoes. If you need new potatoes in early May, then choose early varieties that ripen quickly. But at the same time, remember that early does not mean high-quality. Mid-season and mid-late varieties in this case are the most optimal for obtaining a rich harvest of tasty and healthy potatoes.
It is not uncommon for people to grow potatoes for feeding livestock. In these cases, late varieties should be chosen. They are stored for a long time and ripen well, resistant to pests and diseases.
Since the choice of the date for planting potatoes affects its yield, do not delay the planting of potatoes. In the early stages, before the appearance of the carrier, the plant matures to a state of resistance and suffers less from diseases and pests. When determining the timing of planting potatoes, one should also not forget about weather conditions, state
You've been growing the same variety from "seeds" for years own production? If seed tubers are meticulously taken only from the best bushes, then this is acceptable. In other cases, the variety will degenerate. High-quality new potatoes for planting will give a completely different result.
Reference
Early ripe (early) varieties - harvest 60–65 days after planting; medium early - after 70–75 days; mid-season - after 80-85 days; medium-late and late-ripening - after 90-100 days or more ..
Where can I buy?
We recommend that you only go to trusted places for seed potatoes and do not look for them in the market, in a greengrocer's shop or on the side of the road. Take a closer look at the varieties recommended for your region (zoned). Be sure to pay attention to their ripening time. Usually summer residents need early ripe and mid-early varieties - they allow you to serve young potatoes to the table as early as possible. For stocks for the winter, mid-season varieties will be needed, and in the southern regions - also mid-late and late varieties. Having decided on the variety, carefully inspect the tubers: they should look healthy, without dark dots, spots and other defects.
When to plant?
Seed potatoes should lie down in loose soil, warmed up at a depth of 8–10 cm to a temperature of at least +10 ˚С. An approximate signal for planting potatoes can be given by birches near your dacha - leaves should appear on them no smaller than a 50-kopeck coin. In the non-chernozem zone optimal time usually occurs on May 8-12. Rain is a reason to postpone planting until the soil dries.
Training
Seed potatoes had to be taken out of storage places a month before planting, "wake up" in a warm room and kept in a cool place with diffused lighting. The ideal tuber, ready for planting, is dark green in color and has strong sprouts.
Those who send one little thing for planting are wrong: seed potatoes should be no smaller than a chicken egg in size. Planting larger tubers is not forbidden. If there is not enough planting material, and the potatoes are large, then it is permissible to cut them into two halves a day before planting in the direction from the top to the base. In this case, both parts should remain with sprouts.
Before planting, potatoes are soaked for half an hour in a solution of one of the following drugs: Maxim, Copper oxychloride or Bordeaux liquid.
6 landing rules
Rule 1 Potatoes do not like acidic soils. Land overgrown with horse sorrel or horsetail is not suitable for potatoes without prior liming.
Rule 2 Grow potatoes in one place no more than once every 3-4 years. Divide the garden into 3-4 plots and annually occupy only one of them with “second bread”. Move it to the next compartment annually.
Rule 3 Potato is a light-loving crop. It must be grown in the brightest place. Do not plant potatoes in the shade or under trees. Furrows should be oriented from south to north, but not from east to west, so as not to provoke competition between plants.
Rule 4 The soil for potatoes should be dug up to a depth of 22–28 cm. But this depends on the type of soil: it is enough to dig up heavy soil to a depth of 18–20 cm without turning the clay layer under the fertile layer.
Rule 5 When digging potato field before planting, it is advisable to add rotted compost or humus (up to 4 kg per 1 sq. M). Fresh manure is not recommended, as it provokes scab damage to young tubers, and is also a breeding ground for weeds. One of the complex mineral fertilizers (azofoska, or nitrophoska, or nitroammophoska) is added to the humus - about 30 g per square meter.
Rule 6 The depth of planting tubers is chosen depending on the type of soil. On heavy soils, it should be no more than 7–8 cm, on light soils - 10–12 cm, on peaty soils - 13–14 cm. In low areas with close standing ground water potatoes are best planted on ridges or beds about 25 cm high.
The average planting pattern is 70 × (25-30) cm. Large tubers are less common: the step in the row is increased to 35–40 cm.
Questions and answers
Unusual technologies
read about original ways growing potatoes. Some plant it without digging - they lay it directly on the ground and fill it with straw. Others plant the tubers not in the garden, but in a bag, barrel or can with holes for draining water, then, instead of hilling, pour the earth into the container. How do experts feel about these inventions?
L. Kryshkina, St. Petersburg
Potatoes can be grown in a variety of ways - both on different nutrient substrates and in containers. But be aware important detail: leaves and stems of plants need plenty of light (do not put them in the shade), while the underground parts should be reliably darkened. Without this circumstance, the tubers may turn green and become unsuitable for food.
under protection
Is it possible to protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and late blight without poisonous spraying?
T. Solovyova, Dmitrov
Get rid of the Colorado potato beetle natural methods not so easy. You will have to regularly remove pests and laying their eggs by hand (take a closer look at the leaves from below). Folk remedies can be relatively effective only before the first rain. At the same time, there are many effective chemicals fight against Colorado potato beetle in personal subsidiary plots: Ivanhoe, Tsunami, Inta-Vir, Sharpei, Prestige and others.
It is impossible to defeat potato late blight with home remedies, however, there are non-poisonous biological preparations (Fitosporin, Sporobacterin, Alirin-B, Albit). You can protect plants and fungicides (Bordeaux mixture, HOM, Homoxil and others). If late blight affects 25–30% of the tops, it must be mowed.
Flowers - down?
Is it true that potato flowers take crops from plants and need to be cut off?
V. Plotnikova, Myshkin
Flowers do not affect the potato harvest at all! At the same time, if people want to breathe air, move around, let them remove the inflorescences, it won't get worse either.
Ash and more
Is it true that there is scab on potatoes from adding ashes? If so, what do you feed her?
A. Chashchina, Smolensk
Ash has nothing to do with scab damage: it is infection, whose pathogens are found in the soil. It can be aggravated by the addition fresh manure and liming the soil. Ash is a valuable source of potassium necessary for potatoes, and it is not only possible, but even necessary, to introduce it into the soil when digging or into a planting hole (in addition to organic and mineral fertilizers). In the process of growth, potatoes will need additional nutrition. It is rational to carry out top dressing with one of the complex mineral fertilizers: they “powder” the soil (according to the instructions) before the second hilling. Foliar top dressing with a weak solution of fertilizer with trace elements is also useful - this contributes to good development plants and consequently increased yields.
By the way
Many foreign gardeners have long been fond of ornamental potatoes. It blooms very beautifully and smells pleasant - just like French perfume! These plants decorate flower beds, and sometimes even balconies. It is difficult to grow it. To get seedlings, you need a greenhouse. But you can’t eat this potato: the nodules are bitter and contain a lot of toxic substance - solanine.
New
Tell us about potato novelties - ours and foreign ones. Which of them do you recommend trying?
G. Lipkina, Serpukhov
In 2015–2016 in State Register breeding achievements approved for use, there are new varieties of potatoes - foreign and Russian. Pay attention to the ones that are created in your area. For the Central region, these are the Vympel and Grand varieties. But the "foreigners" are poorly adapted to our conditions.
New varieties of purple potatoes Northern Lights, Amethyst and Lekar are now undergoing state tests. Wait: their tubers are very healthy.
Does it make sense to take up space in the area for potatoes? And if so, how to get a crop without extra effort? What varieties should be chosen, how to prepare tubers? These and other questions will be answered by Stepan Chiru, Doctor of Biological Sciences.
Once, while in the USA, I told the seller in the store that I grow potatoes myself. He was surprised and asked: do you really not have it in stores? When I replied that there is affordable price, he was even more surprised and wanted to know what was the point of starting this fuss.
But really: why do I grow potatoes? First, I want to get a safe and healthy product. Now the whole world is moving towards growing organic vegetables and potatoes. Such products are sold separately from the usual ones and cost 1.5-2 times more (I myself saw this in Germany).
And secondly, I want tasty potatoes. The fact that tubers from your garden are tastier than purchased ones is not self-hypnosis, but the truth! Tastes really differ as day and night. And this applies not only to potatoes, but also to any vegetable.
Solid benefit?
Potatoes are not only tasty food! I'm sure being around his plants is good too. They release physiologically active substances into the environment in small doses, which positively affects human health (if he is not allergic). By the way, it is they who protect the potato itself from many diseases - maybe people too?
True, every medal has two sides. It has long been known that green tubers are not affected by diseases and do not rot. This is because the potato produces solanine in the light - an antiseptic that protects it from "ill-wishers". At the same time, tubers "with greens" should not be eaten. They are poisonous, and the toxin is not removed or destroyed either by cooking or by other types of cooking. Cases of severe potato poisoning are known, one even fatal (paradoxically - in South America). Therefore, even slightly green potatoes should be thrown away. It is not enough just to cut off the green barrel, because solanine is easily carried with juice throughout the tuber.
It is interesting
Scientists of the Department of Potato Genetic Resources of the All-Russian Institute of Plant Industry named after V.I. N. I. Vavilova always spend a lot of time among the plantings of potatoes. It is interesting that among them there were many centenarians - many employees successfully worked up to 85–90 years old, and one scientist lived well up to 97 years old. With foreign experts the same story. The most famous potato grower in the world (English scientist Jax Hawks) lived to be 92 years old. Peruvian experts working with potatoes are very long-lived. Possibly recipes. traditional medicine with potatoes - not an accident?
Difficult or easy?
Growing potatoes is not that difficult if you know how to handle them. First of all, it is desirable not to fall under the power of common misconceptions.
Misconception 1: there are varieties of potatoes that do not need care - you just need to plant, and then come and dig.
In fact, few living organisms can be grown without doing anything with them. Any plant or animal during the growth period requires nutrition and care. If your resources (health, free time) are limited, then you need to plant exactly as many potatoes as you can "pull".
Misconception 2: there are no storage conditions - it makes no sense to grow potatoes at all.
In an ordinary closet or in a pantry in an apartment, you can keep a bag or two of potatoes (mid-ripening varieties) until the New Year.
Misconception 3: to feed a family for a year, you need to occupy a whole field with potatoes and spend a mountain of seed material on planting.
good variety and competent agricultural technology allow you to easily get 200 kg of potatoes from one hundred square meters. This harvest is enough for two people for a whole year. For planting, you need 400 tubers.
By the way
An interesting pattern - if Western Europe they love potatoes with yellow flesh, in the East they still prefer white. Poland is divided in half: those living in the west of the country love yellow, in the east - white. In Germany, the same thing: lovers of white pulp come from the GDR, and yellow pulp from the FRG. But now this situation is changing. People learned that yellow potatoes contain more carotene and vitamin C - they began to eat it more often, tasted it and got used to it.
Three secrets of success
Potatoes are not the simplest, but far from the most complex culture. The main thing is to know only three secrets of success: this is the right variety, optimal nutrition (soil) and competent agricultural technology (which includes protection). If one of the points is not fulfilled, nothing will work. With a bad variety, you can do anything - the result will not please you anyway. Against the background of poor nutrition, not a single variety will show its capabilities. A good variety, good nutrition and excellent soil mean little if you do not follow the agricultural practices.
seed potatoes
It is very important to know: if you yourself reproduce the same variety of potatoes from year to year, then its quality and yield properties are reduced. The main reason is the accumulation of tubers infected with pathogens of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases.
In this regard, there are two ways to obtain a stable annual crop:
Annually select seed tubers only from the most productive and healthy bushes. This is within the power of anyone who loves to grow this crop and has the conditions for storing seed potatoes.
Update the "seeds" of potatoes. Purchase elite material of a variety you have already tested (if you are used to it) or a new, more promising variety with complex resistance to diseases and pests, combined with high yields and good taste.
Where can I buy? Do not purchase potato planting material in markets where grocery stores, from cars, on roadsides or in villages! The fact is that in the last decade, due to the weakening of quarantine control, the most dangerous pest potato plantings - golden potato nematode.
Alas, going to a store or farm that produces seed potatoes is also not always a guarantee of quality. When buying, do not hesitate to demand a certificate (or certificate) for seeds or an act of tuber analysis issued by the city or regional (district) seed inspection. Visually evaluate the tubers: they should look healthy, without dark spots, scab spots and other defects.
How many seeds will you need? Before you go for seed potatoes, you need to decide: how much crop does your family need and what will it be used for? If you grow potatoes not only for food, but also for seeds for next year and have the conditions for its storage, you need to take this fact into account in your calculations. Having decided on the quantity, carefully study the descriptions of the varieties.
The variety decides the success of the business
Over the entire history of potato breeding in the world, more than 11,000 varieties have been created, including in our country (since 1924) - more than 400.
Ripening time is important. If you plan to serve your own young potatoes to the table from the middle of summer, then you can not do without early ripe and medium early varieties. For stocks for the whole winter, mid-season, mid-late and late varieties are suitable. Their tubers tend to accumulate more nutrients, vitamins, amino acids, starch and protein and are better than young ones. palatability. In the garden, it is desirable to have two or three varieties different terms maturation (their ratio is set according to the needs of the family).
True, northerners have less choice. For gardeners in the Far North, where the growing season does not exceed 70–75 days, it makes sense to grow only early ripening potatoes, in last resort- medium early. AT Northwest region you can grow varieties from early to mid-season, but for the Chernozem region, all options are suitable.
Regionalized = Verified in a given region. The entire territory of Russia is divided into 12 soil-climatic regions for zoning crop varieties. Breeders are trying to create varieties for specific soil and climatic conditions. You have found new variety, recently recommended by the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the current year for use in your region? This means that it has successfully passed two years of government testing in your area.
"Cosmopolitans". Varieties that perform well in various climatic conditions can be counted on fingers. There is a "record holder" - the Nevsky potato. He is already about 40 years old, but he still remains the leader of our country in terms of area occupied (growing from Kaliningrad to Far East). None foreign country There is no such "universal". In terms of taste, Nevsky is inferior to many varieties, but in terms of crop stability and unpretentiousness to growing conditions, it still has no equal. Its closest rival is the early variety Udacha, which shows excellent results in many regions of the country and has field resistance to late blight.
Potato loves the light
Reference
Potato varieties are divided into five groups according to the ripening time:
early ripe (early) with growing season 60–65 days (from planting);
medium early - 70–75 days;
mid-season - 80–85 days;
mid-late 90-100 days;
late - more than 105 days
Carefully!
According to the latest data, today more than 30% of arable land and garden plots in Russian Federation infested with golden potato nematode. The trouble affected both large agricultural firms and garden plots.
It is very difficult to deal with this pest. It is worth it to get into the garden (with planting material, on wheels or on shoes that have been in an infected area), the damage will become noticeable already in the second year. But it will be possible to get rid of this pest only after 10 years - and only on the condition that all this time there will be no potatoes on the site! To protect your garden from quiet uninvited guests, we advise you to pay attention to nematode-resistant varieties.
Where is the ideal?
Most often, most amateur gardeners want to have a universal variety: productive, tasty, resistant to diseases and pests, not very late. However, you need to know: the more positive qualities in a variety, the more difficult it is to create and the less durable it is.
Do not grow potatoes in the same place
Preparing for landing
It is advisable to spread the tubers for germination a month before planting. If you do this earlier, the potatoes will lose too much moisture and germinate less vigorously.
First of all, the seed material should be carefully checked for signs of diseases. It is impossible to plant tubers with a shape atypical for this variety - pear-shaped or elongated. Such material, as a rule, gives a low yield. If you take potatoes out of cold storage already with sprouts 4–5 cm long or more, these sprouts must be broken off. Do not worry: if you follow the rules of germination, new sprouts will definitely appear on the tubers.
To “wake up” the tubers, they are placed for a couple of days in a bright room with a temperature of 20–22 ° C, and then transferred to a well-lit, but cooler place (10–14 ° C) - on a veranda or on a windowsill in a not too hot room.
The ideal tuber, ready for planting, is dark green in color and has strong sprouts. If the tubers are large, it is permissible to cut them into two halves a day before planting in the direction from the top to the base. In this case, both parts should remain with sprouts.
Another important point- preplant treatment of tubers. They are soaked for half an hour in a solution of one of the following drugs: Maxim, Copper chloride, Bordeaux liquid, diluted in accordance with the instructions.
Landing Rules
It is undesirable to grow potatoes in the same place - pests and pathogens accumulate in the ground. Divide the plot into 3-4 sectors and occupy only one of them with potatoes. Plantings annually move to the next sector.
Potatoes do not like acidic soils. The acidity should be at least pH 4.5-5, otherwise do not expect a good harvest. One of external signs very acidic soil- an abundance of horse sorrel or horsetail on it. The rest of the soil requirements are very dependent on the variety. Some grow well on light sandy soils, others are able to produce a good harvest even on clay soils, and for others, only black soil is needed. Therefore, carefully read the characteristics of the variety.
Potatoes are very photophilous and do not tolerate shade. Therefore, in no case do not place it under the trees, otherwise everything will go into the tops, and not into the tubers. Furrows should be placed from south to north, but not from east to west. Otherwise, you will provoke competition between plants, the struggle for the sun, and in this case a rich harvest is also not expected.
old and new
Not all varieties have a long life. Only a few stay "afloat" up to 100-130 years (Russet Burbank, Early Rose), others - 20-40 years, and many - no more than 2-3 years after they are approved in the State Register. The most durable are resistant to numerous diseases (especially to viral ones that contribute to the degeneration of potatoes) varieties.
How to deal with the wireworm?
Many summer residents complain: they would be happy to grow more potatoes, but the wireworm interferes. To defeat this pest, you must first get rid of weeds, especially perennials, and most importantly, wheatgrass.
In addition, liming the soil and adding phosphate rock to it is necessary, but this is undesirable before planting potatoes, as it can affect the quality of the tubers. In autumn, it is useful to add ash (up to 1 l / m 2) for digging the soil.
It is impossible to get rid of the wireworm without autumn and spring digging and loosening of row spacing.
If a wireworm is in the garden, strict adherence to crop rotation is necessary: it is advisable to plant annual legumes in front of potatoes and root crops. The cultivation of white mustard or rye on green manure (green manure) helps to defeat this pest. Rye suppresses the development of weeds, especially couch grass, which attracts wireworm like a magnet.
Sometimes you have to select the larvae manually. To do this, use baits from pieces of potatoes, carrots or beets, into which twigs must be stuck and buried to a depth of 10-12 cm. After a day or two, maximum three, the baits must be inspected and the pests gathered there must be destroyed. After the destruction of the wireworm, you need to renew the sections of the baits again, sprinkle them with water and bury them in other places to the same depth. In early spring, small bundles of straw and leaves can also be laid out on the site. The beetles gathered there should be caught and destroyed.
Are colored ones better?
Exactly 20 years ago - in 1995 - American breeders, together with biologists and nutritionists, drew attention to potatoes with colored pulp, which have been eaten for centuries. North American Indians. Analyzes have shown that the antioxidant properties of such potatoes are not inferior to those of the most useful vegetables - broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, or even exceed them! Pigments that impart purple, red, orange, or yellow, have a high value for the human body.
But the most beneficial for health was potatoes with purple flesh. By the way, these are not transgenic plants at all. There is evidence that colored varieties appeared at least 2000 years ago among people living in the Andes around Lake Titicaca (this is Bolivia and Peru), while potatoes were introduced into the culture there more than 9000 years ago. After the discovery of America, colored tubers were brought as exotic to the courts of the kings of England and France, but they were appreciated all over the world relatively recently - after scientific research.
American scientists conducted clinical studies on numerous volunteers - people with the initial stages of cardiovascular disease, cancer diagnoses in the early stages and eye diseases. All of these patients regularly ate purple potatoes for two years.
Without prejudice
I regularly treat my guests with colored potatoes. I often hear the phrase: “I like white potatoes more.” I urge you to try. If the guests refuse, I suggest tasting this dish with your eyes closed. After that, everyone is usually surprised: “What, it tastes like an ordinary potato!” Let's think about whether it is necessary to refuse useful new products only because of habits or conservatism? Remember: after all, 20 years ago, we didn’t see kiwi or avocado in our eyes, and then we tasted it - and began to eat these healthy fruits more often. Is it bad?
The results were amazing. Oncological diseases of the first stage stopped their development. The state of the cardiovascular system and eyes improved significantly.
After this became clear, the US Congress allocated large funds for research and development of varieties with colored pulp - about $ 200 million. Already after 2-3 years - in 1998-1999 - such varieties were created and entered the consumer market.
It must be said that new potatoes the population really liked it - it was literally swept off the shelves. True, such a demand arose not for empty place: The general public was first introduced to the results of scientific research. Now 5-6 new varieties are grown in the USA, plus there are also old ones brought from South America(actually, such potatoes were known 100 years ago, they just didn’t pay much attention to them before). The area under colored potatoes in the world is constantly increasing.
Our country has not remained aloof from global trends either. So far, one variety has been included in the State Register, medium-yielding, but with purple flesh - Violet. It is also on sale, but so far the demand does not match the merits of this potato. Many have not tasted it yet or experience visual antipathy - and completely in vain!
We also recommend
Switching power supply: repair and refinement
Remote control of light
Swimming lessons for preschool children
Notes for the master - home household alarms
Clock propeller on Atmega8
Device and relay application examples, how to choose and connect a relay correctly Microcontroller and relay simple switching circuits
Loading...