2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The key to a good harvest, first of all, is the preparation of the seed for planting. If at this stage critical mistakes are made, the crop obtained in the fall will not please either in quantity or quality. What are the features of preparing potatoes for planting?
About the quality of seedlings on tubers
To get a good crop of potatoes when propagated with tubers, it is important to ensure the availability of high-quality, healthy sprouts. For this, of course, it was necessary to take care in advance that the tubers intended for spring planting were well preserved - they did not dry out, did not rot, did not germinate ahead of time. And such phenomena are not uncommon when the storage temperature is above normal. Therefore, planting material is recommended to be kept in a cold cellar. But so that the tubers do not freeze at the same time, you need to insulate the boxes with the tubers with a reliable shelter.
There is a technique in which potatoes should be taken out for germination exactly three weeks before the planned planting date. Having withstood all the conditions, strong sprouts with a length of about 1 cm will flaunt on healthy selected tubers. Their color should be close to green, possibly with a shade characteristic of the variety.
Planting material germination technique
Germination is carried out in the light, in a warm room. When the planting material is kept in the dark, the sprouts are far from ideal. They are easily recognized by their unhealthy white color. They stretch out and become very fragile, threadlike, break off easily. If you lose these buds when planting, some varieties will not even be able to produce a crop. And healthy seedlings have a high degree of elasticity, and it is possible to separate them from the tuber with great effort.
In the first week, the temperature of the content of tubers is maintained at the level of + 18 … + 20 degrees C. The potatoes are then moved to cooler conditions. For example, in a greenhouse, where the thermometer should not rise above + 10 … + 15 degrees C. Here the potatoes are stored for another two weeks - before planting.
To protect the planting material from damage by such parasites as wireworm, Colorado potato beetle, bear, as well as various putrefactive diseases, scab, immediately 3-4 hours before planting, experts recommend treating the tubers with growth stimulants with the effect of an insecticide and fungicide. Such a trick will allow in the process of further care to trample less on the beds in order to process plantings from diseases and pests.
What is the difference between elite tubers?
When it was not possible to select your own tubers for planting, this is an excellent reason to acquire an elite crop. What is its advantage? The fact is that during the reproduction of several generations of potatoes, the variety accumulates diseases in itself and begins to degenerate. And elite varietal tubers are obtained by seed propagation. They are grown in a production environment, but you can get the same at home.
Elite varietal tubers are more expensive, but not large in size. However, they have such characteristics only in the first year when obtained from seeds. In the future, they will delight you with the size of the tuber, and the amount of harvest, and taste characteristics.
To speed up the reproduction of such varietal material, after germination, you can use such a technique as dividing the tuber, if many sprouts have appeared on it. Start cutting the tuber from the apical bud. Then the rest of the potato is divided into parts. You can start planting right away. In this case, you need to take into account the weather conditions. So that the planting material does not rot, the earth at a depth of 15 cm must warm up to at least +10 degrees C. Planting depth is approximately 5-6 cm.
Recommended:
How To Germinate Potatoes Correctly Before Planting?
Potatoes are one of the most popular garden crops that you can't do without! And everyone who has grown it at least once is well aware that the key to good yields is high-quality preparation of planting material, which is carried out with the help of sprouting tubers. Unfortunately, with unprepared potato tubers, high yields cannot be obtained, and if suddenly the harvest pleased you anyway, then this is just a matter of chance, and nothing more! So how to germinate correctly
Planting Early Potatoes: How To Prepare The Tubers?
In the second half of February, it is already worth starting to think about which method of preparing planting material to start in order to get a harvest of early potatoes. Gardeners have invented a lot of such methods, and everyone can choose something suitable for themselves
Planting Potatoes With Seeds
The most common way of growing potatoes is vegetative, when selected tubers are planted in open ground. This method is simple and popular among amateur gardeners, with good planting material, high yields are obtained, But nevertheless, vegetative growing of potatoes has its drawbacks
Preplant Preparation Of Potatoes
Some 150 years ago, the cultivation of potatoes for the peasant was a novelty, but today it is called the second bread. If in the 19th century they even feared it, calling it a damn apple, now they treat culture with respect, and many are looking forward to an early harvest to feast on fragrant boiled young tubers. And although it's still winter outside, it's time to prepare the planting material for the spring harvest
Ah, Potatoes, Potatoes
So, at the very mention of potatoes, potatoes, all the kindest, pleasant, tasty, homemade, some cute summer song about this vegetable garden crop comes to mind. These are the tips of experienced gardeners we have collected here for better growth and harvest of the main heroine of the story - potatoes
