Potatoes are the head of everything!
Many gardeners, especially in villages, have been planting potatoes for many years, and they seem to know everything that is needed to plant them. But, alas, the harvest does not always make the owner happy, someone has a harvest year, and someone, on the contrary. So, in order for the potatoes to be good, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil for planting, as well as the material with which we will plant, in order to ensure high-quality planting of potatoes in the ground.
Planting material.
Planting material plays a special role in planting potatoes. Seed tubers should be prepared immediately when harvesting the fall harvest. Usually, potatoes are taken from bushes that have produced more potatoes.
Usually, small potatoes are selected for planting, their size reaches up to five centimeters, but larger ones can be used. Usually, if a large potato is planted, then in the future it will grow faster and it will have more root crops on the bush.
Many gardeners like to plant cut potatoes. But cut potatoes also need to be planted correctly. If you are going to plant potatoes in this way, then dry the places of the potato cuts in the sun and dip them in the ash, then you will enjoy the harvest.
But in order to plant such potatoes, you need to take into account that the weather must be warm, otherwise your divided potatoes will simply rot in cold weather and will not give any harvest. So, decide for yourself which tubers you will plant for further harvest.
The tubers of seed potatoes must be removed from the cellar in advance of the planting season, treated with a solution of potassium permanganate and put in boxes, so they will lie before planting and give small sprouts.
It is recommended to keep them warm for the first time, at about twenty degrees, for two weeks, and then put the boxes in a cool place. Moisten, turn and spray tubers with water or ash solution before planting.
What do you need to prepare the soil?
The soil for planting must also be prepared in the fall after the next harvest. We remove all the grass and tops from the harvested potatoes. All tops are usually burned on site. The entire planting site of the future culture is plowed or dug up with a shovel.
Usually, after plowing, large lumps do not become smaller. Who rarely fertilizes the soil, then in this case, add humus. You can also use phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, they are distributed over the site before they start digging the soil.
If your potato planting site is in a lowland, then make special small grooves so that water leaves along them in the spring.
After the snow has completely melted and the air temperature heats up, your soil will also warm up, at this moment it should be plowed again or dug up with a shovel, only at this time you need to grind the lumps, then level the soil, thereby preventing it from drying out.
If sand is added to your soil, future potatoes will grow better. Consider the moment of the location of the beds, the optimal location from north to south, and bury the potatoes in the ground at least ten centimeters.
Potato planting time.
How many people, so many opinions. One half of the people plant potatoes very early, the other, on the contrary, prefers to plant late. Here you do not need to be guided by the timing, since the weather in different regions is different, and even in your area in one year you planted earlier, for example, and in the next, perhaps, you will plant later due to weather conditions.
Usually, potatoes are planted when buds bloom on a birch, and leaves appear on poplars.
Potatoes are different in maturity.There are varieties that ripen early (usually after two months), then mid-ripening varieties (ripen in about 90 days) and the latter are the varieties that ripen the very last (we dig them out at least after 110 days).
Correct planting of potatoes in the ground.
To plant potatoes correctly, you need to take into account the depth of the hole, depending on the type of soil, its moisture content and how good the seed potatoes will be used for planting.
Tubers are planted about a meter from each other, or one step of an adult. The depth of the hole will be approximately half of the palm. After the emergence of shoots, the bushes must be covered with earth, so it will begin to grow faster.
By following these simple rules, the future potato harvest will not upset you!