Kuban potatoes for the price of bananas. Agricultural technology for growing potatoes in the southern climatic, arid regions in drought conditions Growing potatoes in the Krasnodar Territory is an interesting technology: video

Potatoes are grown in temperate climates around the world. In the countries of the Northern Hemisphere, it is, if not the basis of the diet, then a significant part of it. Since its appearance on the Eurasian continent, many varieties have been bred with different characteristics. In areas with a short summer, early-ripening ones are especially valued. And in other regions, gardeners plant early varieties in order to have young potatoes on the table already in June. Their only disadvantage is that they are not suitable for winter storage, so they are grown in small quantities.

General characteristics of early ripe potato varieties

Potatoes of early varieties are characterized by a short growing season. It begins to grow actively as soon as the soil temperature reaches +10 o C. The crop can be harvested after flowering. It should be noted that during this period, young tubers have a very thin skin, and they cannot be stored for a long time.

Early varieties, depending on the period of reaching technical ripeness, are classified as follows:

• ultra early (34–36 days);
• early (40–50 days);
• medium early (50–60 days).

Potatoes need another 15-20 days to fully ripen. Fully ripened tubers are stored up to 5 months.

Ultra-early varieties are very popular. Due to the rapid maturation, they allow you to feast on young potatoes already a month and a half after germination. Their yield is lower compared to late varieties and varies from 1.5 to 4.5 kg per 1 m 2, depending on care and watering.

To be with a fresh harvest throughout the garden season, many vegetable growers and summer residents plant varieties with different terms maturation. When the ultra-early potatoes are already running out, the medium-early ones ripen, and then the late ones, which are stored until the next season.

Ultra early varieties

These varieties give the most early harvest. From germination to flowering, when you can try young tubers, a little more than a month passes.

If potatoes are supposed to be stored, then you should wait another 2-3 weeks before digging so that the skin gets stronger.

Table: characteristics of ultra-early potato varieties

Variety	Vegetation period (in days)	Characteristic
Bellarosa	45	An early ripe variety with a high yield (up to 350 kg per hundred square meters), resistance to diseases and large (200–600 grams) oval brown fruits with high taste characteristics. Due to the short growing season in the southern regions of the country, the harvest is obtained twice a season. It is planted to a depth of at least 25 cm. This variety is best planted after legumes, since it does not give a large crop on depleted soil.
Rosara	45–60	It tolerates drought and waterlogging, is immune to fungal diseases and powdery mildew. There is also a significant minus - it is attractive to the Colorado potato beetle. Oblong-oval tubers of red, sometimes Brown color with yellow flesh, excellent taste, weight 80-150 grams. Up to 30 tubers can form in one bush, depending on the frequency of watering. Productivity - 350–400 kg per hundred square meters.
Impala	45–60	It is characterized by high yield, keeping quality, resistance to diseases, excellent taste. Tubers are oval, yellow, weighing 90-160 grams, with yellow flesh. Grows well even in adverse conditions. Productivity - 370–600 kg per hundred square meters.
Ariel	45–60	High-yielding variety (up to 490 kg per hundred), suitable for long-term storage. Allows you to get two or even three crops per season. Resistant to various diseases. It does not need top dressing, but loves watering and frequent hilling. Tubers weighing 80-170 grams, light yellow.
Zhukovsky early	45–60	One of the best tasting varieties. Tolerates drought well low temperatures, diseases, regularly gives high yields (up to 500 kg per hundred square meters) on any soil. Long stored. The tubers are even, pink with white flesh, weighing 130–150 g. When boiled, they do not turn blue for a long time. Suitable for growing in all climatic conditions.
Caprice	45–60	Unpretentious to growing conditions. Disease resistant. It has a high yield (up to 400 kg per hundred square meters). Tubers are oval, yellow, weighing 90-120 grams, very good taste.
Uladar	45	Grows on any soil. Tubers are round or oval, light yellow, weighing 90-180 grams, poorly boiled. Suitable for long term storage. Productivity - up to 350 kg per hundred square meters.
Lapis lazuli	45–60	Characterized by early formation of tubers, resistance to diseases. Can give two crops per season. The tubers are yellow, weighing 90-120 grams. Productivity - up to 260 kg per hundred square meters.
Prior	45–60	high yielding dutch variety. In Russia, the yield reaches 100-140 kg, in Holland - up to 400 kg per hundred square meters. It tolerates low temperatures well. Produces very tasty yellow tubers.
Spring	45–50	The early maturity of this variety allows even in the North-West of Russia to harvest two crops per season. From 1 m 2 get 3-4 kg of potatoes. Due to the very short growing season, it is suitable for cultivation in the Arctic. Tubers are predominantly oval, weighing 180 grams. Possesses average resistance to diseases. Productivity - up to 600 kg per hundred square meters.

Photo gallery: ultra-early potato varieties

Rosara is attractive to the Colorado potato beetle
Impala is resistant to adverse weather conditions
Ariel can produce two or more harvests in one season.
Zhukovsky early - high yielding variety with excellent tuber flavor
Prior is resistant to temperature drops
Lapis lazuli quickly forms tubers

Early varieties

Early varieties ripen a little later than ultra-early ones. They can be harvested and eaten on average 2 months after germination.

Table: early potato varieties and their characteristics

Variety	Vegetation period (in days)	Characteristic
Alyona	60–70	A table variety with a yield of 170–190 kg per hundred square meters. Does not require special care. Tubers are oval, light red, weighing 80-160 grams.
Luck	60–70	It adapts well to extreme weather conditions and any type of soil, tolerates both drought and waterlogging. Possesses good keeping quality. Gives relatively high yields - about 1.2 kg per bush. It is recommended to plant only in well-warmed soil. The tubers are oval, light yellow, with a very mediocre taste, weighing 125–250 grams. Up to 20 fruits are formed in one bush.
Karatop	50–60	High-yielding variety (up to 500 kg per hundred). Tubers are oblong-oval, yellow, weighing about 130 grams, good taste. Resistant to cancer, late blight, leaf curl virus.
Kamensky	60	Productive (185 kg per hundred) variety resistant to diseases and the Colorado potato beetle. The tubers are elongated, red, weighing about 100 grams, very tasty, with a high starch content.
Romano	60–70	Unpretentious to the type of soil, tolerates drought well. High-yielding (up to 320 kg per hundred). The tubers are red, weighing 70-80 grams, good taste.
Gala	75–80	High-yielding (up to 600 kg per hundred), resistant to diseases, very unpretentious (suitable for growing in all regions), ideal for mechanized harvesting. The tubers are round, yellow, weighing 70-120 grams, good taste, do not lose their density during cooking. An average of 10–15 fruits is formed in a bush.
Nevsky	75–80	One of the most popular variety in Russia. Recommended for cultivation in all regions of the country. High-yielding (380-500 kg per hundred), excellent taste, resistant to diseases. Well adapted to any conditions. The tubers are the most beautiful and even compared to other varieties. Its disadvantage is that it requires compliance with the following technology: seed potatoes in the spring from storage for planting should be taken only not sprouted, then germinated and planted with short strong shoots. The tubers, which winter storage overgrown with long sprouts, categorically not suitable for planting. It is also impossible to break off and damage the sprouts.
Red Scarlett	75–80	Gives consistently high yields (up to 600 kg per hundred square meters). Recommended for cultivation in almost all regions of Russia. The fruits are large, weighing 70–110 grams, with red skin and yellow flesh, which even when heat treatment does not change its color. Doesn't boil over, good for frying.

Photo gallery: early varieties of potatoes

Alena - disease resistant variety
Luck grows on any soil in any weather
Kamensky is resistant to the Colorado potato beetle
Karatop gives friendly early harvests

Features of planting early varieties of potatoes

Planting potatoes en masse begins in early May, after the end of stable frosts. The sowing depth depends on the type of soil and the size of the tuber. If the earth is light, loose, then potatoes can be planted to a depth of 20 cm, in heavy soil - no more than 10 cm. Large tubers are planted deeper, small ones closer to the surface. In dry areas, planting is deepened even more.

The main condition for starting potato sowing is warming up the soil to at least +10 ° C to a depth of 10 cm. Otherwise, the tubers will freeze and rot. The peculiarities of planting early potatoes include the fact that only germinated tubers need to be planted. Otherwise, all technical processes are the same as in the cultivation of medium-late and late varieties of potatoes.

Video: tuber preparation

How better tubers prepare potatoes for sowing, the earlier and more friendly the harvest will be.

You can do this in the following ways:

1. Sprout potatoes for 25-35 days, spreading in bright room at a temperature of +12...+15 o C.
2. At the same temperature, germinate the tubers by placing them in boxes with wet peat or sawdust.
3. Germinate seed tubers in plastic bags in a cool room.
4. Dry the tubers at a temperature not lower than +10 ° C.

Sprouted potatoes require very careful handling. Planting tubers with damaged sprouts will not produce a crop.

Strong sprouts on seed potatoes - the key to fast and friendly shoots

Soil preparation

soil to spring crops start cooking in September-October. Simultaneously with the autumn digging, fertilizers are applied to the soil. Suitable fresh manure which will rot over the winter. In the spring, it is brought in only when it is rotted, otherwise the plants will “burn out”: when fresh, it releases a large amount of heat. To get rid of the Colorado potato beetle and its larvae, urea or ash is introduced into the soil. You can add fertilizer during planting. In this case, onion peel or ash is placed at the bottom of the hole. The main thing is not to overdo it with fertilizers, as not only their deficiency, but also their excess reduces the potato yield.

In order for the potato to grow well and bear fruit, it needs loose and light soil, which contributes to the saturation of the roots with oxygen.

Stony and dense soil is completely unsuitable for him. Excessive soil moisture causes the development of fungal and bacterial diseases. But on sandy loam, gray forest soils, light loams and drained peat bogs, potatoes will grow well.

Clay, acidic, sandy soil and salt licks can only be used after improvement. Straw humus, sand, soddy soil, ash, lime or manure are introduced into heavy clay soil. The rotted straw, peat, organic and mineral fast-acting fertilizers are added to the sandy soil. It is best to add compost or clay flour to the soil. Sandy loamy soils should be regularly fertilized with compost and peat, and mineral fertilizers should be applied - often, but in small quantities. Loams at autumn processing should be fertilized with organic matter, adding manure and compost.

Photo gallery: organic soil additives

Decayed manure is the best organic fertilizer
Overripe straw enriches sandy soils with organic matter
Ash contributes to soil deoxidation and protects the seed material from pests

Planting seedlings

Can you plant potatoes? seedling way and get a harvest 2 weeks earlier. At the end of March, you need to start preparing the seed material for planting. At the end of April, it is sown, and in mid-May, ready-made seedlings are already planted in the ground.

Seedling method allows you to get a harvest earlier

Growing early seedlings has its own characteristics. As sprouts appear, they will need to be sprinkled with earth all the time until the box is full. Thus, the plant develops a developed root system. When the seedlings rise 15 cm in height, they can be safely planted in the ground, but only in well-heated soil.

If the seedlings are planted in a greenhouse or greenhouse, then the ripening period of the tubers will be further reduced by about two weeks.

Features of growing early potatoes

Because early potatoes have a very short growing season, by the time any infections begin to spread, the crop is already harvested. Colorado beetle also fails to ruin it. Therefore, early potatoes are not subjected to pesticide and chemical treatments. The main thing that early varieties need is watering and top dressing.

Fertilize early plantings of potatoes according to their characteristics:

1. Early varieties are much faster saturated with fertilizers applied to the soil than mid-season and late ones. Therefore, it is best to use easily digestible fast-acting dressings.
2. The introduction of humus creates the necessary nutrient, well-balanced environment in the soil. Manure warms and nourishes the soil.
3. An active increase in the green mass of the plant is given by nitrogen supplements. But the excessive growth of green mass impairs the development of the root system and, accordingly, reduces the number of tubers.
4. Early varieties need more phosphate fertilizers than late crops.
5. When feeding potatoes with humus, there is no need for potash fertilizers. Most often, potash fertilizers do not have any effect on the yield and quality of fruits.
6. Minerals in fast-acting forms contribute to an early harvest.

No-till technology

For an early harvest, you can use the no-till method. Its essence is simple:

1. The beds are marked with a width of about 4 meters and a boundary between them with a width of 30 cm.
2. On the bed, transverse grooves are drawn at an interval of 90 cm.
3. Tubers are laid out in the grooves at a distance of 25 cm from each other.
4. The laid tubers are sprinkled with ash and fertilizers and covered with earth from above. The ridges will be higher than with a traditional landing.
5. For the entire period of potato growth, until the tops are intertwined, it will be necessary to weed the aisles several times.
6. Grown bushes require hilling. When hilling, the earth must be raked from the space between the furrows; at the same time, shallow grooves are formed between the rows of hilled bushes.

Photo gallery: no-till potato planting method

The tubers are neatly laid out at a short distance from each other.
If necessary, fertilizers are added to the grooves before backfilling.
Land for hilling is raked from the aisles, deepening them

About 10 days before harvest, cut the tops in half. When harvesting, you need to pull it out, destroying the comb with movements in the opposite direction from the landing side. Thus, the grooves will be half-filled, but noticeable. next spring potatoes should be planted in them, covering with earth from the former ridges, which, in turn, will become grooves. This will change the landing rows.

Video: how to plant, grow and harvest potatoes in a no-till way

When growing potatoes with this method, the moisture in the soil lasts longer, the consumption of fertilizers is reduced and the harvesting process is facilitated. This method is suitable for small, waterlogged and inconvenient areas.

Outdoor cultivation

There are the following traditional methods of planting potatoes in the ground:

• trench;
• smooth;
• ridge.

Trench - the most suitable method for warm climates, light and sandy soil containing no moisture. Dig furrows 10-15 cm deep at a distance of 70 cm from each other. Tubers are laid in them: large ones at a distance of 40 cm, small ones - 30–35 cm.

Trench planting is ideal for regions with hot, dry summers.

A smooth landing (under a shovel) is carried out as follows: a hole is dug, a tuber is placed in it with sprouts up and then sprinkled with earth on top. Landings are made in a checkerboard pattern with an interval of 60-70 cm from each other. Hole depth - 10 cm.

Landing under a shovel is the main method practiced by most gardeners

The ridge method is used on heavy, waterlogged soils. At a distance of 70 cm from each other, ridges 10–15 cm high are created, in which tubers are planted at intervals of 30 cm.

Growing potatoes in ridges saves them from excess moisture.

When planting early potatoes, the following rules should be followed:

• it is necessary to land in early May;
• choose a site for landing should be sufficiently illuminated, without stagnant water;
• it is better to arrange the rows from north to south;
• as the bushes grow, watering, hilling and top dressing should be carried out.

Hilling is carried out after the first shoots, as well as after watering and rains.

Watering is required several times:

1. Half a month after germination.
2. During flowering.
3. When the ground gets too dry.

Top dressing is necessary during the period of enhanced growth of tops, budding and flowering.

Growing potatoes under cover

You can get an early harvest of potatoes by growing it under a film or agrofibre. When sheltering a site with landings, favorable conditions for the rapid growth of plants and the development of their root system.

Under the film of potatoes - ideal conditions for growth

Under the film, potatoes will survive the frost perfectly and will grow much better. Tubers under cover usually mature 2-3 weeks earlier than in unprotected ground.

How to grow early potatoes under the film:

1. Plan in advance the layout of the beds and prepare required amount films.
2. Choose an early variety. Select only large tubers for sowing.
3. Sprout seed potatoes.
4. Protect the potato plot from the winds.
5. Wait for a good warming up of the soil.
6. Make a film shelter: frame or frameless. With frameless sheltering of seedlings, the film is pressed down with heavy objects so that it is not blown away by the wind. With frame covering, the film is stretched over the arcs.
7. Observe temperature regime. In sunny weather, the soil under the film can warm up to +45 ° C, so it is necessary to open the film for ventilation.

When growing potatoes under a film, the crop can be harvested already in the second half of May.

In the same way, potatoes are grown under agrofiber. The only difference is that the agrofibre, unlike the film, transmits not only light, but also air, so it is not necessary to open it for ventilation.

With sharp drops in temperature, a double shelter of plants is used: a film is stretched over the fiber.

How to grow early potatoes in a greenhouse

In a greenhouse, potatoes always bear fruit well, if the necessary conditions are met.

You can get an early harvest of potatoes when growing in a greenhouse, if you follow the following rules:

1. For sowing, you need to select large tubers in mid-November and spread them out in a place well lit by the sun so that they turn green.
2. When the sprouts reach 1 cm, the tubers should be transferred to boxes, sprinkled with wet peat or sawdust and taken out for 1-2 weeks in a heated greenhouse. By the time of planting, the tubers should already have strong shoots and rudiments of roots.
3. The holes are dug according to the scheme 70 * 25, about 8 cm deep.
4. Peat or humus is introduced into the hole, a tuber is placed on top and sprinkled with earth.
5. Watering after planting is not required. The first time you will need to water the potatoes when sprouts appear and the soil dries.
6. When the plants start to bloom, the humidity in the greenhouse will need to be maintained at 80-100%. The air temperature must be regulated as follows: during growth, budding and flowering in the greenhouse it should be +21 ... + 23 ° C, with mass formation of tubers + 17 ... + 19 ° C.
7. Top dressing with fertilizers is carried out in the same way as in open ground.

When growing potatoes in a greenhouse, it is not exposed to any diseases, and the yield reaches 3.5 kg per 1 m 2.

Features of planting and growing in different climatic zones

Growing potatoes in different climatic zones has its own characteristics. In order not to make an unfortunate mistake and not be left without an early harvest, you need to choose varieties suitable for growing in a particular area.

middle lane

Central Russia is its European part, characterized by a temperate continental climate, snowy and frosty winters and humid summers. Average daily temperatures during the year range from -10 o C to +24 o C. Soils are not too enriched nutrients. From high humidity potatoes are often exposed to diseases. Late varieties do not have time to form fruits. Therefore, for cultivation here, you need to choose early varieties with better adaptation to any type of soil.

In this climate, you can even get two crops of potatoes per season.

Moscow region

The climate of the Moscow region also does not allow growing late varieties of potatoes, because planting is carried out in late April - early May. Local vegetable growers have to choose from early, mid-early and mid-season. It is necessary to grow zoned varieties adapted to local climatic conditions. Since the soil and climate of the Moscow region are often the cause of the spread of potato diseases, you need to choose varieties that have good immunity. Early Zhukovsky is suitable for this region, as it has good disease resistance, and it can grow in any climatic conditions and on any soil. In addition, the following varieties successfully grow in the Moscow region:

• Gala;
• Nevsky;
• Red Scarlett;
• Rosara;
• Uladar;
• Caprice.

Southern areas

The southern regions are not the most favorable area for growing potatoes due to the too warm climate. Potatoes grow well in moderate humidity and medium temperature. In hot weather, the processes of growth and formation of tubers slow down. Soils in the south are predominantly dense black soils. They interfere with the normal growth of tubers, cause their deformation. However, potatoes southern regions grown quite successfully, choosing varieties that are zoned and well adapted to elevated temperatures and black soil:

• Impala;
• Zhukovsky early;
• good luck;
• Red Scarlett;
• Dita;
• Roco;
• Romano;
• Picasso.

Far East

The climate of the Far East region is contrasting, but generally too cold for growing potatoes: average daily temperature July is only +11 ... + 13.5 ° C. However, the daylight hours are long, in July-August its duration is about 19 hours. Thanks to this, plants have time to grow green mass and even form tubers, but only ultra-early varieties with the shortest vegetative period. Growing late potatoes Far East is not expected, since the frost-free period here lasts from 52 to 111 days. Suitable for growing in this area:

• Priekulsky early;
• Yenisei;
• Spring;
• Falensky;
• Amur and others.

Central Chernozem

The mild climate of the Central Black Earth Region is the most favorable conditions for growing potatoes. 55 varieties of this vegetable are cultivated here. Compared to the Moscow region, the yield here is one third higher. Good ones weather allow you to get two crops per season. Nevertheless, experts recommend growing only zoned varieties to obtain high yields and save fertilizers and pesticides. The most common here are Red Scarlett, Ramos and Nevsky.

How to Harvest Two Harvests of Early Potatoes

The easiest way to get two crops a year is as follows: when picking early potatoes, the bush is dug up, removed from it large fruits, loosen the ground, make a deeper hole and immediately return it to the ground, without violating the integrity of the root system. The soil near the plant is trampled down with a foot. After that, you need to water the bushes with water, and preferably with a solution of mullein. When the water is absorbed into the ground, you need to loosen it upper layer. Further, the plants require regular care.

The tops should be fresh, without yellowness and any signs of disease. In the first 6-7 days after this procedure, it usually fades a little, but then it quickly recovers, taking on its usual healthy appearance.

The second harvest is not worse than the first. Repeated harvesting of potatoes begins after the tops die off or die from frost.

Difficult to choose from a large number one sort. Therefore, when planting, it is necessary to focus on the varietal characteristics that are priority for you personally, the main advantages and disadvantages, the desired ripening period, and also take into account the requirements for climatic and weather conditions.

I have already read a lot of letters on how to get a good and early one. And most readers write about how to properly plant it.

Preparation of furrows for potatoes in autumn

They are right, of course, but I believe that the most important thing is to prepare the soil in the fall. I personally prepare the beds at this time. I'm digging rows, throwing back the ground.

I put any decaying organic garbage into the furrows: corn stalks, sunflowers, a little pigeon droppings, even bird feather I'm on the move! Then I dig the next row and cover the furrow filled with organic matter with the soil taken out of it. And on top I cover it with a thick layer of fallen leaves (photo 1). And so everything goes into the winter.

Planting potatoes in the Krasnodar Territory

I plant in the spring, strictly certain time-22 March. By church calendar on this day, the feast of the forty Martyrs of Sebaste is celebrated (my grandmother always planted exactly 40 tubers, and they never let her down). I plant in three rows in a checkerboard pattern. Landing, by the way, I spend with the help of an interesting tool, which I read about in a magazine.

On the shaft of a shovel, at a height of 10-15 cm from its working tip, a crossbar 25-30 cm long is nailed (photo 2). I press it with my foot, the shaft enters the ground, I pull it out - the landing hole is ready.

In it - a pinch of ash, and on top I put a tuber with sprouted small sprouts-roots. I fill the hole with my hand or foot. After that, I pour some hay, straw and leaves on top of the ground.

Beds for Kuban potatoes

I have fenced beds for potatoes: their width is 80-90 cm, the length is different. The passages are covered with old linoleum, roofing material, boards. I put low arcs along the edges of the beds, on which I attach covering material without tension. I press its edges to the ground with boards. And that's it. Even if there are frosts, the leaves and straw warm the potatoes that have come out.

In mid-April, I open it, remove the weeds and close it again: the nights are still cool. I completely remove the covering material only if there is a very strong heat. This is how potatoes grow in organic matter (photo 3). And I start digging the harvest already in mid-May. And immediately in place of the dug bushes I plant the seeds of cucumbers, and How to deceive the tubers

But a good harvest cannot be expected without a good planting material. Therefore, now I want to talk about how to save tubers until spring. All the difficulties with storing potatoes are due to the fact that it is impossible to maintain in the basement desired temperature 2-3° when it's warm outside.

But even in December, “overboard” can be at least 10 °. Last year, for example, good frosty days could be counted on the fingers. And what's the point? Yes, in sprouts on potatoes! The tubers intended for food will not get anything from them, but the planting ones will become bad - because of the large sprouts, the yield will decrease.

Here is how I solve this problem. I'll start with the same early potatoes. In our region, many harvest two crops: the seed dug out in May is re-planted in August (harvested in October).

And I store the tubers until the second planting in plastic boxes for vegetables, which have sides 10-15 cm high. At the bottom of each of them I spread newspapers in two or three layers and put the seed potatoes, and always in one row (photo 4 ). I put the boxes in a pile in the corner of the room, not covering anything, but so that a direct line does not fall on them. sunlight. Occasionally I spray potatoes from a spray bottle to spray flowers. Sometimes, in order for the sprouts to “spread”, I cut off their tips with scissors.

And most importantly, in the upper boxes, the sprouts themselves grow no more than 2 cm and do not stretch further, freeze. The trick is that this potato is waiting to be covered with earth, and therefore does not release more “tails”, but this is exactly what I need!

Of course, the tubers in the lower boxes “think” in a completely different way (after all, they are almost in the dark, since there are several floors of boxes above them), and their sprouts grow as they should. Here they have to break off, but this work is not so much. Conveniently. So the potatoes are preserved without hassle until August. I also keep the one that I dig out in the fall.

If you doubt the correctness of my method - try it. Make one box in the fall and put it somewhere in the corner, you will see everything for yourself. I was also hesitant at first, and my family laughed at me when I told them about my idea. But the successful experience convinced everyone. This is how I always keep my seed potatoes. In the same boxes I store all the potatoes for food (I put them, however, in two layers). Everything lies very well. And even in this anomalous warm winter I had to sort through only once, and even then purely for order.

No cabbage, no birch on potatoes

And now I want to talk about other garden topics that are no less important than growing and storing potatoes. For example, . Some summer residents scream because they cannot cope with it. I, too, as soon as I didn’t fight it: I grew plants inside buried plastic cups without a bottom, wrapped seedling stems with hard cellophane (the plants were sick, but it didn’t save from pests), buried bottles of beer and baits, fertilized with chicken droppings on autumn (kapustyanka became smaller, but did not completely disappear).

Mulching potatoes

The way out was found by itself, when I began to tightly mulch all my plantings, even began to close the aisles with mowed grass and large stems(photo 5). And for the first couple of years in the spring, the cabbage crawled out to the surface almost dead. I did not immediately understand what was the matter. Only after digging in the literature, I understood everything for myself.

After all, the kapustyanka lives only in loose, dug up earth. And she cuts the plants, creating open spaces so you can bask in the sun. Please note: it is not found in forests and meadows, because there is no open land there! And here - a thick layer of mulch. In general, on the mulched beds, over time, the cabbage was completely gone.

The same mulch now saves me from a weed called a birch. Weeding it is a waste of time and effort. I have more than 12 acres of land, and this weed is not there. And what do I observe in hundreds of local vegetable gardens? People removed, for example, potatoes in July, and the rest of the time the land is bare. And this is in the heat of 40 ° in the shade! This is an aggressor birch for us, and for the land, it is our own daughter, who will shelter her from the heat with her body. Therefore, the growth rate of the weed is cosmic.

What am I doing.

In the summer, I always have mustard seeds in my pocket. For example, I cut out a head of cabbage early cabbage- and immediately sowed a few things. Until the entire bed is freed, the mustard will grow. I will break it at the root and lay it here. The earth should always be covered: in summer - from heat, in winter - from frost.

In autumn, more fallen leaves can be added on top. Photo 6 shows how my beds hibernate.

All the proposed methods have been tested by me for more than one year - I am responsible for them. I use a lot of advice myself on a regular basis. After the experiment, some had to be abandoned, they did not suit me personally.

Svetlana Vladimirovna Zarya. Krasnodar region. Timashevsk

Perhaps someone will find my request surprising, but still: please send me

preparing for landing in February
When landing in optimal early dates potato yield increases by 25-30%. And vice versa: if you are late with planting for a week or two, its yield drops sharply.
In our conditions best time planting potatoes - the end of the second and third decade of March, the first decade of April. The main thing is that as soon as the soil ripens, that is, at a depth of 10 centimeters it warms up to plus 6-7 degrees (usually at this time the first buds appear on the trees), potato seeds are planted.
Now is the time to grow them. This is usually done in light warmth indoors 35-45 days before disembarkation at a temperature of plus 15-17 degrees. And at a temperature of plus 20-25 degrees - in 20-25 days. The tubers are laid out in one layer in boxes, on racks or on the floor. Maybe two or three layers. Throughout the entire period, it is necessary to systematically inspect the tubers. At the same time, stunted, thread-like sprouts seeds are removed.
If the air in the room is dry, then for the entire period of germination, you need to moisten the potatoes two to three times. If you want to get the earliest harvest, germinate the planting material in the light for 30-35 days. And after the appearance of green sprouts, another 7-10 days in a humid environment, so that roots form at the base of the eyes.
As soon as they appear, moisten the tubers with a solution of 100 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium chloride or sulfate per 10 liters of water. This solution can be replaced with 5 g boric acid for 10 liters of water. Treat the tubers with a solution mineral fertilizers and before boarding. For them it is additional source nutrition, especially needed in the initial period of growth. For 10 liters of water you need 200 g ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Potatoes directly in nets or boxes must be lowered into the solution for one hour. Then dry and plant.
Good results are also obtained by sprouting potatoes in combination with preplant dusting with wood ash - 1 kg of ash per 50 kg of tubers. This procedure accelerates the emergence of seedlings, flowering of plants, and the yield increases by 10-15%.
Until recently, it was believed that potatoes are quite reconciled with the increased acidity of the soil. But this is a delusion! It has been established that if potatoes grow in an acidic environment, then its yield decreases, it is more susceptible to damage by pests and diseases. It is desirable that the reaction of the soil solution was close to neutral - pH = 6.0-6.5. Acidic soil must be limed when digging - for one hundred square meters 30-50 kg of fluffy lime.
organic fertilizers bring in the fall for digging. Mineral - during planting in the spring in the hole or furrow. To do this, nitroammophoska is added to one well (one Matchbox) and one incomplete glass wood ash. It should be remembered: excessive doses of mineral fertilizers, especially urea, reduce the yield and starch content of potatoes.
The best predecessors potatoes in the beds are carrots, lettuce, spinach, beets, cabbage, cucumbers. Ideal - clover. This wonderful crop creates a large supply of nitrogen in the soil in a form that is better absorbed by plants. After harvesting the green mass for hay in the fall, this area is dug up.
About what varieties of potatoes are best planted with us - in the next article.
Lilia SADCHIKOVA, head of the Goryacheklyuchevsky department of the branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "

In the Kuban, the statistical regional agency issued the results of monitoring prices for vegetables, fruits and other important components of the daily menu of the inhabitants of the region. And it turned out that in the Kuban the prices for potatoes are 7 to 10 times higher than in any Russian region. At the same time, the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Evgeny Gromyko claims that in Russia there is an overabundance of potatoes and they are not bought even for 4 rubles per kilogram.

Sochi residents are very rich people

In early September, public criticism from the then acting governor of Kuban Veniamin Kondratiev subjected to the mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov for product prices. It should be noted that the criticism was fair. Prices last year and early this year in Sochi beat just Olympic records. Looking at the price tags for vegetables grown in the region, the eyes become round, like those of a lemur, and a phrase from Mikhail Zhvanetsky's famous monologue about a tank, price tags and a counter comes to mind: "Dap, lope !!!". And all because in Sochi almost nothing is produced of its own.

Before the new year, we already wrote about the difference in cost in covering holiday table between Sochi, Moscow and other regions. Now the gap in prices is increasing every day.. In neighboring regions - Volgograd, Rostov regions, Adygea and Astrakhan region. potatoes are 10-15 rubles cheaper than in the Krasnodar Territory. In addition, buckwheat, rice, bread, milk, meat, and fish are cheaper there. And if we talk about the Kuban itself, then here, of course, the highest prices for everything are in Sochi.

On January 23, in the Olympic capital, at the monument to the world leader of the revolution and the proletariat, the communists held a rally about the old people's travel benefits and utilities. Once again, elderly citizens and social activists raised the issue of food prices, which differ significantly from Krasnodar.

“My fate has turned out so that for the last two years I have been living in two cities - in Sochi and Krasnodar,” says Natalya Kalinovskaya- assistant to the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Krasnodar Territory Sergei Obukhov. - I envy the people of Krasnodar with white envy. I don’t understand why in Krasnodar you can buy a kilogram of potatoes for 8 rubles 50 kopecks, cabbage - for 10 rubles, and in Sochi the price of potatoes in the store reaches 36 rubles per kilogram ?! Meanwhile, the mayor's office has a whole department for pricing policy. So every time I go to Sochi from Krasnodar to my mother to drag potatoes and other products in trunks, Kalinovskaya shared.

That is why, the head of the Kuban, “walking” last September with the mayor of Sochi past food stalls with price tags, said that Sochi residents are either very rich people, or there is a terrible shortage of food in the city, or Sochi residents are starving, unable to get “vitamins” from farm beds.

Did the Kuban run out of potatoes?

Returning to the top news about the cost of potatoes in the Krasnodar Territory, we will not discover America if we say that in Sochi more than 90 percent of all products are imported. This fact, along with rising prices due to holidaymakers and the absence of local farms, which ordered a long life during perestroika and preparations for the Olympics, give rise to marvelous prices. According to Krasnodarstat data, the cost of a kilogram of potatoes on the territory of the Kuban municipalities averaged at least 23 rubles. The record holders for prices are Sochi with a minimum price for a "second bread" of 35 rubles and Novorossiysk - 29 rubles. Cabbage - in Sochi 40 rubles, along the edge - 27 rubles per kilo. Carrots by municipalities In the Krasnodar Territory, on average, it costs around 33 rubles. In Novorossiysk, about 40 rubles per kilogram and in Sochi - 47 rubles. Kuban apples in Sochi are about 100 rubles, in the region - from 60 to 75 rubles. And we are talking about the fact that they grow beautifully on the land of the Kuban and can cost a penny. Especially, of course, potatoes.

riddle of the year

Experts in the trade industry and suppliers say that this year there was a noble potato harvest in Russia, but for some reason this grace of nature bypassed the Kuban. Kuban potatoes have already reached almost the cost of bananas and oranges. Imported potatoes sold through chain stores do not fall below the mark of 26 rubles, and not every Sochi resident can afford local ones, which are sold in the markets.

According to the head of one of the Kuban farms where potatoes are grown, the price at which potatoes are sold is influenced by weather conditions.

— This year we were not able to sell potatoes at a normal price, because it was raining, we did not harvest anything. We didn't hit the price. Early potatoes were sold for 10-12 rubles. Previously, it was sold for 20-25 rubles, the farmer said, adding that the stocks of potatoes in the Kuban were depleted, and only seed material remained in the warehouses. There is only one way out - to bring potatoes to the Kuban, the granary of Russia from neighboring regions.

Deputy head of the ministry Agriculture Yevgeny Gromyko said that the large potato harvest, contrary to logic, led to strange results. The price turned out to be beneficial for the consumer, but not for the producers. In 2015, the potato harvest increased by 2 million tons and reached a total volume of 33.6 million tons.

According to Gromyko, a large potato harvest has led to an overabundance of it in the markets and tubers are not bought even at 4 rubles per kilogram. But here's the mystery, why, with such a cost of potatoes in the regions of Russia, in the same Sochi and Novorossiysk, this potato on the market costs from 35 to 50 and even 80 rubles per kilo? From which overseas countries is it brought to us?

Subsidies to farmers can reduce the cost of potatoes?

It became known that the Kuban government intends to revise subsidies to farmers. According to the Vice Governor Andrey Korobka, in 2016, the Kuban agrarians are tasked not only to maintain a positive growth trend in harvesting and processing, but also to increase production as part of the import substitution program.

“Now we need to think about how, in the conditions of import substitution, not only to feed the Kuban, but also neighboring regions. All possibilities are open for this. federal authority focuses the regions on effective measures that will stimulate an increase in agricultural production, the official said.

In the Ministry of Agriculture of the region, according to the press service of the government of the Krasnodar Territory, they intend to pay Special attention this year, state support measures and the discussion of their criteria - the procedure for providing subsidies to farms will be changed and measures will be taken to increase wages in farms.

“It is unacceptable when an enterprise receives tens of millions of subsidies, and the salary of employees is 9-10 thousand rubles,” the vice-governor emphasized.

According to the head of the accounting and financial department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kuban Svetlana Makarets, The amount of state support for farmers is increasing every year. Over the previous five years, enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of the region received 35.8 billion rubles of subsidies. Moreover, if in 2014 this figure was at the level of 6.2 billion rubles, then in 2015 it already amounted to 8.1 billion rubles, including 1.7 billion from the regional budget.

In general, this year the region allocated 1.9 billion rubles from the regional budget for the development and state support of agriculture. The total amount of state support funds in 2016 is planned to be at the level of 2015.

As for ordinary Kuban people, people hope that thanks to such support, the price of potatoes on the shelves in stores will decrease, but adequate - will not equal the cost of exotic fruits.

Timely planting of potatoes has a very great importance in obtaining high yield. It is possible to have a good vernalized planting material, a fertilized and cultivated area, but be late with the planting date and this will drastically reduce the yield.

Too much early boarding in cold soil usually slows down emergence, causes sprout disease and sparseness. With a belated planting, young plants, developing rapidly, do not have time to form a powerful root system, do not productively use winter moisture reserves, and, falling into dry and hot weather, undergo mass wilt.

The optimal planting time is usually considered to be when the soil temperature at a depth of 10 - 12 cm reaches 7 - 8 °C. In the conditions of the Krasnodar Territory, where the soil warms up very quickly, the best results are given by early planting dates. As a rule, it is necessary to start planting potatoes simultaneously with the mass sowing of spiked crops (second, third decade of March).

Experiments carried out at the Krasnodar vegetable and potato breeding station found that best timing landings in the Kuban zone are March 15 - 25.

Planting potatoes should be carried out as soon as possible (5 - 6 days).

In experiments with the Lorkh variety at the Krasnodar Vegetable and Potato Breeding Station in 1948, a crop was obtained from the planting date on March 20, 141.3 centners per hectare, and from planting on April 6, 121 centners per hectare. Similar data were obtained with other varieties.

It is necessary to plant potatoes in loose soil, that is, so that there is a loose layer of earth above and below the tubers. This condition must be remembered and observed.

Potatoes are planted under a hiller, a KP-2 potato planter, or under a shovel (on small areas). It is not recommended to plant under a plow in the conditions of the steppe and central zones of the Krasnodar Territory, since in this case lumps are formed and the soil dries out.

When planting under the hiller, the field is marked for the required row spacing. Following the traces of the marker, furrows are cut with a hiller and planting is carried out on the same day, with immediate sealing of the furrows. The row spacing is usually taken as 70 cm. Such a row spacing provides mechanization when caring for potatoes and harvesting them. You can also plant 60 cm between rows, but such a row spacing excludes machine care and cleaning. The distance between the tubers (in a row) is given: for medium and late varieties 30 - 35 cm, for early 25 - 30 cm.

The depth of planting potatoes depends on the properties of the soil. On light soils (chernozems and sandy loams), tubers must be covered by 12 - 14 cm, and on heavy and clay soils by 10 - 12 cm.

The planting rate per hectare is determined by the size of the planting material and planting density. When planting tubers weighing 60 - 80 g, with a feeding area of ​​70 cm × 30 cm; 70 cm × 35 cm planting rate ranges from 24 centners per hectare to 35.6 centners per hectare.