Potato harvest: 15 ways to grow in your home garden

Potatoes are a pretty unpretentious vegetable crop. It can grow on any soil. But sometimes the potato crop does not make us happy despite the good care. Why is this happening? What does the harvest depend on? In this article we will try to reveal the basic techniques and secrets in order to grow a rich harvest.

Potato harvest: ways to increase

Correctly selected planting material.

The selection of planting material should be started in the fall, after the harvest. We select healthy, not cracked, regular fruits for seeds. Deformed tubers often indicate the degeneration of the variety, and it is better not to use such seeds. The seed size should be medium, up to 100 grams. Small tubers do not have enough strength to give strong sprouts, large ones will wake up for a long time.

In the spring, sort the potatoes that were set aside for seeds again. Throw out all the tubers that have frozen and rotted during the winter. Examine for the presence of diseases (nematodes, scab, etc.). IN

Potato harvest: processing tubers before planting

The tubers must be germinated before planting. There are several methods of sprouting potatoes: in the dark, in the light, wet, in boxes, in plastic bags. You choose how to germinate. The most important thing is that after germination, the tubers have strong sprouts.

You can plant potatoes in several ways, but the most effective among them are planting under:

1. Trench. Mainly used on sandy soils. The landing site is being prepared in the fall. To do this, they dig a trench 30 by 100 cm in size. Hay is placed in it, manure with ash is placed on top, and all this is left to rot until spring. In the spring, tubers are laid out in the trenches and sprinkled with earth.

2. Holes. In the fall, the garden is dug up, organic fertilizers are applied, then the soil is mulched. In the spring, holes are dripped and potatoes are planted there, sprouts up. The depth of the holes is approximately 10 cm.

3. Combs. Suitable for heavy soils. In autumn, sand and ash are brought into the ground. In the spring, ridges are made in the garden (with a plow, a tractor, etc.) and potatoes are planted in them. The distance between the ridges is 80 cm.

Fertilization

In the fall, when preparing the soil, organic fertilizers are applied so that they have time to decompose during the winter.

In the spring, before planting, either mineral fertilizers containing potassium and phosphorus are applied, or organic fertilizers containing the same elements, for example, a solution of chicken manure.

In addition to these dressings, a good effect is given by:

Urgasa is a powder used for composting. It is brought in in the spring, before planting. Scattered between rows, covered with earth and watered. After a while, earthworm fertilization will be spread throughout the garden.

Piksa is a bioorganic fertilizer that is applied to the holes during planting.

Kemira is a nutritional mixture in the form of granules. They are also brought into the holes, sprinkled with earth, and then put the potatoes. The dosage is 20 grams.

Gibbersib is a growth regulator. Seeds are soaked in it before planting or germination for two hours.

Epin is another growth stimulant.

Silk is an immunomodulator and growth accelerator. It helps to resist stress, illness. Accelerates photosynthesis, as a result, tubers grow large, with a high starch content.

Watering

The first watering should be carried out no earlier than a month after planting, otherwise you can damage the resulting roots. Use only warm water for irrigation. Water in the evening or morning. You do not need to water the bush with a direct stream, as this will damage the roots. Better to pour out half of the bucket, wait for the water to absorb, and then pour out the remaining water. During flowering, potatoes need to be watered more often than every ten days, pour about 15 liters of water on each plant. When the tops begin to wither, the policy will be reduced to 3 liters, and just before harvesting, stop altogether.

Potato harvest: hilling

Hilling potatoes should be carried out at least three times. When the height of the bush is 10-15 cm, then when tubers begin to form and for the third time at a plant height of 25 cm.

You can huddle both manually (with a hoe, plow) between the beds, and with the help of a walk-behind tractor. Whichever method you choose, remember that hilling is carried out only on wet ground.

Pest and disease control

The pests of this vegetable are wireworm, nematode, bear and Colorado potato beetle. Common diseases: scab, late blight, rot. To protect potatoes from them, you need:

· Dig up the ground in autumn so that the larvae wintering in the upper layers are in unsuitable conditions for life.

· Select the seed carefully, free from signs of disease.

· Before planting, disinfect the tubers and, if possible, the soil.

· Observe the crop rotation. Do not squeeze potatoes in the same place for several years in a row. Or at least give the land a rest and sow it with green manure for this time.

· Choose varieties resistant to these pests and diseases for planting.

Secrets of increasing the yield.

Disinfection of tubers.

Before planting, tubers can be treated against pests and diseases, with various solutions, for example, a solution of potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide and others. Soak the tubers in the solution for about two hours.

Treatment of tubers with a nutrient solution

A few days before planting, potato tubers can be treated with a nutrient solution. To prepare it, you need to mix forty grams of any nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Dilute with 10 liters of water and pour over the sprouted tubers.

Make a stimulating incision

For better growth, you can make a cross cut ¾ of the thickness on the tuber, or an annular cut to a depth of 1 cm. Then leave the potatoes to germinate at a temperature of at least 10 degrees.

Choose the right landing site

Plant potatoes in furrows, trenches, holes, directed from north to south. So potatoes all parts of the garden will be illuminated at different times of the day.

Also, the place for planting potatoes should be flat, water should not linger in the garden. From soils, it is better to choose non-acidic loams, drained peatlands.

Break the stem

After the plant blooms, after three weeks, you can make a break at the bottom of the stem, at a height of 15 cm from the ground. Do not break the stem completely. Such a break will not allow the stem to recover and the plant will spend all the nutrients on the harvest.

Choose good predecessors

Plant potatoes in the place where legumes, cereals, pumpkin plants used to grow.

Do not plant densely

Potatoes should not be planted close to each other, as the bushes will shade each other, and the percentage of infection is higher in cramped conditions. The optimal width between the bushes is 70-80 cm.

Potato Harvest: Pick Flowers

Potatoes need flowers to create seeds. The seeds are in the fruit - these are green tomatoes that form at the end of summer. But we don't need such seeds. Therefore, you can pick off the flowers and then the yield will be greater, since the plant does not spend energy on flowers and the creation of seeds.